chris498

I disagree whole heartedly with this idea.... the county is in servere financial straits and cannot afford to waste money so foolishly. While I agree that utility trucks are extremely useful, they are costly as well. Here is another great situation where surplus vehicals can be obtained for low costs and put to use in meaningful second carriers. Used military pickups and vehicles are very very common in fire departments across the United States..... Stepney Fire Department in CT. obtained two 1990's vintage Suburbans for the local phone company.... for a nominal amount of money they were refurbed and placed into service as a Utilily vehical and a chiefs car. Check out www.stepneyfire.com and www.gowansknight.com for more info on these projects. In Katonah, we kept our 1992 Suburban Chief's Unit after it was replaced by the new 2211. A few bucks for a tune-up and some body work and bingo..... utility.... not pretty and it gets the job done. Lets leave county money to training and dispatching facilities, and leave the purchasing of the equipment as a responsibility of the fire districts..... besides, each department seems to have different ideas on what a utility should be able to do.... how fiscally responsible would it be to go out and by 50 some odd pick up trucks with plows, when what I really need is a van to transport people because we already have a pick up?????? Sorry to be soo against the idea, but that is just how I feel.

Very very good Jay. Yes in fact the 1951 FWD went to Orleans Mass. via the help of ex-chief Lynn Pike of BHFD. Orleans had a pumper similar to the BHFD engine that had drive-train problems.... because of a tax lw in effect in MA. at the time Orleans could not afford a new pumper..... BHFD sold the engine to Orleans, I think in 1980 actually. It served for roughly two years. And Jay you were correct on 199 as well.... good work. As for the Katonah LaFrance's 115, and 117 went to work in Northport Maine, each serving about ten additional years in their new homes before they were retired.

Some times it is very difficult to have cops all over the place when there is sooo much going on, espcially when you consider how many stop lights and intersections there are in many of Westchesters towns...... additionally, the cops were busy patroling comercial areas that night, running EMS calls, etc. I think that in a situation as abnormal as the one we all faced on the night the lights went out, the Fire Service can expect topick up some slack to help resources that are already stretched thin. In the event that maybe a small section of a fire district is without power, I would expect to see the cops directing traffic instead of the FD, but like I said, the power was out everywhere.....

Ya, this firehouse was built around 1959 or so to provide better protection in the growing Worthington area of Greenburg. Currently Fairview keeps the Mack Tower, the Pierce Enforcer, and the Pierce Arrow at this station.

We were kind of busy for us at least, 4 alarms....2 CFA's, 1 PIAA, and 1 Possible Structure Fire, which turned out to be at the funeral home because a power surge blew out their phone systems. We had to set up operations at several points along Rt. 35 because of traffic lights out at major intersections and on and off ramps for 684 and the SMP. It was a long night. We had a pool going to see when the power came back on..... kind of fun..... it beat Floyd back in '99 when the whole downtown area was under 8 ft. of water.....

No takers??? Ok, I'll give you a hint....BHFD's 1963 FWD Young gave the second part of it's life to teaching others..... In fact, part of it is still teaching.........

In Katonah we do not have a ladder truck.... we have target zones in our district where we get automatic MA from Tower 57 if any structural call is reported, this includes commercial alarms. Target zones include the downtown area, schools, shopping centers, and the medical group. This agreement has worked very well in my opinion, BHFD has had a ladder co. for the last 60+ yrs. Additionally they are about two miles away from Katonah's downtown area. But, I have been a big proponent of KFD having a ladder for many years.... I do not think that we need a tower ladder, nor do I want one..... but a 75ft. Straight stick might lend itself to our operations quite nicely. Additionally it might lend it's services to town of Bedford Fire Services as well....... but what do I know?!

I have to agree as well with DG795... commericial chassis are fine if that is what you can afford, but seriously, fire apparatus custom chassis are held to the highest level of standards.....they are built specifically for this job..... I prefer custom...... the only way I could see a commercial chassis is for a smaller 4wd go anywhere truck, like a mini-attack..... Custom chassis are more expensive, but you look around and see how many custom chassis fire trucks are still in service after say 25 years, and compare that with the number of commercial fire trucks the same age that are still in service..... You do pay more, and in the end you get more..... not to mention better turning radius' and better visability....both of which I think you would want in an emergency vehical.

Does anyone know who won the election in Bedford last night? Did John get re-elected? What will this mean for the new firehouse plans if the other guy wins?

This place is going to be phenominal!!!!! Hands down one of the nicest firehouses in Westchester..... I can't wait to see it when it is done..... very jealous. They should call it the Taj Mahl.

Ok, Bedford Hills Fire Department once operated two FWD pumpers, the first a 1951 retired in 1981.... the second a 1963 FWD Young retired in 1991 after the new 199 arrived..... both units went on to different careers after BHFD..... where did they go? Bonus points.... Katonah FD once operated 3 indenticle ALF pumpers from the 1960's. E115 a 1962, and E117 a 1968 retired during the 1980's where did they go after KFD......?

Pelhams Mack has been retired.... I think it went to W.C. training center for a while... but it is no longer in Pelham

Katonah ...... no really it was the Bedford Police Department

Yonkers several pumpers and Towers, Hastings (1978 Pumper), Pelham Manor (Pumper and Tower), Fairview (Spare Tower), an those are just the CF's. Banksville has 2 MC Pumpers and a Mack R Tanker, Bedford has a Mack R Pumper, Vista has a Mack R pumper, Eastchester Engine 29 (Mack CF) and Engine 27, Mack MC pumper, Chappaqua has a Mack MC Pumper and a Mack MC Rescue..... Briarcliff has a Mack MC Pumper..... Port Chester has a 1980 Mack Cf Pumper.... Brookside Engine.... Thornwood has a 1974 Mack Cf Pumper.... Harrison 1989 MackCF/Ward 79 Pumper, and a Mack MC Pumper... Dobbs Ferry a Mack CF Aerialscope Tower......

Happy 100th! Are you guys going to create a journal for the anniversary? If you are I'd love to know how to get one..... I like to collect this stuff. Good luck on a Great Year!

I hope I'm still around to make it to the parade..... my dad took me to see Somers 50th Annv. back in 1981..... I was five years old, I remember only 4 things about that parade, first......it rained the whole way through, secondly, I was soooo impressed by how many fire trucks Somers had (in Katonah then we had 7, Somers had 7 Pumper alone at that point), third, Somer was great because they had a Cadilac Ambulance, and also, being very young, trying to figure out just how they got soooo many fire trucks into that little firehouse?!?!?! Little did I know there were 3 other stations.....hey what do you want? I was five! Sooo at any rate, I think it will be cool to march in that parade.... man you guys are way ahead of the game in planning......

I hope N. Wh. Plains gets the vote to go forward with this project, god you guys deserve it. Best of luck to all!

That is going to be an awesome site...... PFD Headquarters is soo cool because of the all glass front..... Just imagine driving by there..... seeing two brand-new Seagraves and a Aerialscope all in the same firehouse.... I hope Seagrave gets the bid...... keep us posted guys!

I believe E29 is a 1969 Mack CF that was rebuilt once in the 1980's by Ward 79 (used to be Ward LaFrance) and then again in the last couple of years by a company called Chivis. Nice truck..... I think it was 1 of 3 or 4 near identical engines...... speaking of Macks...... Mt. Kisco E103 is one of my personal favorites =D>

Glad to hear old 61 is getting a good home, I hate to see old fire trucks put out to pasture........ Hard to believe how Maxims are left in Westchester........at least the od Max was replaced by a beautiful new SEAGRAVE!!!!

Hi! I'm Chris from Katonah Fire Department. I'll have 10 years in the fire service this spring. Apparatus is my biggest interest, with FD history running a close second. I really enjoy the site Seth!

Yonkers bought a Mack B pumper from Hastings on Hudson at some poit... but that was after 1978 at least.......

A 1994 or 95 Ford F 550 4dr cab EVI light duty rescue. 4WD. Kind of nice, kind of plain.... apparently not big enough for what they want/need at this point.... Replaced a 1984 GMC/E-one non walk through body with monster 4x4.... that thing was a beast! Excited to see the new Seagrave.... Purchase is going to have one of the nicest fleets in Westchester!

Mack has always made a dependable and classic looking firetruck. Macks continue to be reused in the fire service because of their availability (thanks in part to FDNY), and because killing a Mack is soo difficult. Mack stopped offering complete custom fire apparatus in 1984 because of increased competion in the apparatus world..... though they continued to market and produce the CF chassis through 1990. Mack discontinued production at that point becuase they would had to completely redesign the cab and power-train for the Mack Cf in order to bring it up to then current standards..... I think they felt it was not financial worth their while to undertake such a project.... also important to remember the major resession USA was involved in at that point.... that same year when Mack announced they would end production of the CF chassis, Sanford, Pirsch, FMC, Maxim, and Ward 79 all stopped making fire apparatus.... Quite a statement I think about the times. It is sad that Mack no longer offers custom chassis for the fire service.... I wonder though how they might fare today if they were to try and break back into the industry.....there is a lot of heavy competion out there.

South Salem rumored to have ordered an ALF pumper..... Purchase working on a new rescue.....