SageVigiles

Even IF there was a reason for him to remove his weapon from the holster... He must have missed the key safety rules. All guns are always loaded. (Treat them so!) Never point the gun at anything you are not willing to destroy. Keep your booger picker off the bang switch until you are ready to fire. Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.

Its also possible that their swiftwater gear is kept on the engine/truck/rescue and this is literally just the truck that carries the boat.

Okay, I'll bite. What kind of "special operations" does this agency perform?

Morningside VFD, located just outside Washington, DC in Prince George's County, Maryland, will have 20 Private Rooms for Firefighter/EMT or EMT Only Members who desire to participate in our Live-In Program. We are actively recruiting Live-In Members for a potential Move-In Date of September 2016. Applicants with current FF1/EMT or EMT only will be given preference.Online Application is available at http://goo.gl/forms/BcBGgMLaJbrXgflV2Interested individuals are strongly encouraged to attend the MVFD Live-In Open House scheduled for August 5th, 6th and 7th. The MVFD is a 100% Volunteer Company in the infamous "Southside" of Prince George's County, MD and responded to over 8,000 runs last year. Home of the Busiest Rescue Squad and All Volunteer Ambulance in Prince George's County, we also staff an Engine Company, and Rescue Engine. There is no secret about it, we hope to expand our services to even more in the near future - you can be a part of our success and join one of the most active 100% Volunteer Fire Departments in the United States. Contact us Today!And we're always recruiting out-of-state volunteers as well. Out of state members are required to provide 36 hours of service per month.https://youtu.be/NdcjcmoEKbc

Of course I've heard the term, my point is that it is a misleading term used so that a department can advertise they have "100 Firefighters" when really there are only 25 are qualified to actually fight a fire.

That's interesting, because I searched NFPA 1001: Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications for the term "Exterior Firefighter" and there is no qualification listed under that...

I think that may be a cultural thing in the NY and New England area. Down here there are a ton of two-hatters, and most stations welcome them in with open arms, because they value the different ideas and different experiences. More than 50% of our officers are career firefighters elsewhere.

I know the answer to this one Willy! When you don't have enough actual Firefighters, you can still hit it hard from the yard!

I wish they'd come to DC.

As usual, the answer likely lies somewhere between the two extremes. First off, stop it with the selfies. Not just on the fireground, stop them altogether. Everywhere. Please, I'm begging you. You look ridiculous. Our department has a pretty liberal social media program by fire department standards; we have a "blog" style website, Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube, all run by the Line Officers and the Chiefs. As part of our recruitment/retention grant we purchased several HD helmet cams and GoPro cameras to capture footage of fires, rescue locals, and yes, response to calls. Say what you want, but it has paid off. We advertise how busy we are, the experience you can get at our station, and the benefits to membership, and it works big time: our active membership roster grows every month, and we always have people coming to do a ride along to see if Morningside is the place for them. The days of recruiting with the signboard in front of the station are over, folks. We also invite some of the firefighter YouTube TV series to ride along and film us (The Battalion TV and Into The Smoke, Battalion has posted their video already, ITS is still working on their season). Our Chiefs encourage the membership to post photos and videos of what we're doing, it helps get the message out about what we are doing and it keeps people coming in the doors. We police ourselves and people who stray outside of the accepted norms are quickly corrected. Youtube videos are produced by the membership (we have a couple former film students) and approved by the Chiefs before posting. There's sort of a tradition around here of taking a "crew shot" on the bumper of the rig following a fire or a pin job. Other than shots of the rigs and training evolutions, those are probably the most common things you see down here. https://www.facebook.com/morningsidevolunteers/?fref=ts https://twitter.com/morningsidevfd https://www.instagram.com/mv27fd/ https://www.youtube.com/user/MorningsideVFD27

I've been pretty silent on this issue for awhile, but this is getting pretty out of hand. Just a a disclaimer, I am a Firefighter at a 100% volunteer house. Since our company made the decision to go 100% volunteer 2 1/2 years ago, we have been staffed with volunteers only 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, averaging about 6 men on duty at a time. So nobody can claim that I drink any IAFF Kool-Aid... I'm simply going to make my point on the basis of public safety only. Port Chester's decision to lay off the eight career Firefighters was just plain stupid. By PC's own admission, Port Chester has only 150 active, interior-qualified volunteers (though I've heard the actual number may be half that, but I'll take them at face value) to staff 7 companies. Dividing those evenly, we're looking at around 21 volunteers per company. I'd assume most of these people have day jobs, and to my knowledge PC volunteers do not have live-in members who provide daytime staffing, so realistically, how many guys get on the road during the day for a call? How can anyone argue that response times will NOT go up? It's just simple math, folks. In most places, the volunteer model will not provide the same level of protection that a combination model will. If the accusation that the Chief ordered his men to damage the house is true, the Chief (and any volunteers who followed that obviously illegal order) should be removed, and criminal charges should be considered. "Firefighters" who pull that kind of crap have no business wearing the uniform. People like that are the reason volunteers are treated like second-rate Firefighters in so much of the country. The PCFD Volunteers need to make a decision regarding their leadership. I really hope they have some Line Officers who are considering running against the Chiefs and fixing this mess. It's not about career or volunteer, it's about the service you provide to the public.

So by that logic, a Crime Scene Unit (or for that matter, almost any other Detective or investigative resource) shouldn't respond lights and siren either... After all, the victim in a Homicide case is already dead, right? Bottom line: The collection and preservation of evidence is a time sensitive matter, so you can absolutely justify it (and many agencies do). Are Fire Chiefs in New York required to take some sort of Fire Investigation training? Are they required to re-certify after a period of time? If not, by what method are they basing their cause and origin determination? I know (since mine just lapsed) that in CT, Fire Officials (Marshals, Deputy Marshals, Investigators, and Inspectors) are required to complete professional development training hours every three years in order to maintain certification. There are also professional certifications (CFEI and CFI) out there that are accepted in some states. ATF has their own certification process as well for their Certified Fire Investigators.

This raises a few questions for me, perhaps because I don't know the structure of NY's fire investigation system... 1. How would a Fire Chief know what did or did not cause the fire unless they were a trained/certified Fire Investigator? If they were a Fire Investigator, why would they need a C&O Team? 2. Is a trained/certified Fire Investigator NOT routinely dispatched on every fire in NY State? If not, why not? I typically don't like to get into lights/siren discussions, but this one catches my attention. As I mentioned in my previous post, according to the Supreme Court, in order to avoid needed a warrant to make entry, the investigator needs to be on scene before the FD leaves. Why wouldn't a Fire Investigator need to respond with lights and siren?

Michigan v. Tyler, Fire Marshal can enter without a warrant to determine cause and origin within a "reasonable" amount of time. In my experience, the generally considered best practice is to have an FM unit on scene before suppression units take up. So they should absolutely be dispatched sooner rather than later, and they should be responding as any other emergency unit would. Down here our Fire Marshals are members of the FD who go through the police academy and respond to fire scenes, they're generally added on or right after the Working Fire Dispatch.

Willy, good to hear from you Brother! Wallingford's system of using FF/EMTs on the Medic Units isn't really an issue of seniority: Traditionally, Wallingford only hired Paramedics. A few years back they made a change, splitting one transporting medic unit into 2 units during the day tour. To split the units they hired FF/EMTs under the "EMS Division." As I mentioned, unless things changed since I moved down here, Wallingford will only let people move over to the "fire side" if they get their Medic. I'm not trying to discourage anyone, but I want to make sure anyone interested understands the system.

Wallingford is a combination department. Just a note, unless some substantial change has been made, FF/EMTs for Wallingford only ride the Medic units unless working overtime.

As I understand it, fire inspections are handled by the "Code Enforcement" department.

It is possible that the Fairfax County Fire Marshal's Office is the unit investigating the cyber bullying aspect. They are sworn LEOs, as are most Fire Marshals in the DC area. Firefighterclosecalls.com has links to the forums in question, there are some very disparaging comments about volunteers as well...

Seth, Kevin Swain is from my station, I did not have the pleasure of knowing John, he was detailed to station 823 from another Battalion that night. Kevin is doing better and is in good spirits. Many of our surrounding departments have stepped up to help. Volunteers from Kentland (PG County) and La Plata (Charles County) have been staffing our engine. College Park (another PG house) has provided us with a coverage Ambo. DCFD E15/R3/BC3, Fairfax Squad 411, Bladensburg FD, Berwyn Heights FD, Accokeek FD and many others have been providing meals for our troops. We appreciate all the support.

Rest Easy Skillet.

Wait, you mean to tell me agencies are pre-planning their responsibilities before a multi-agency incident? Instead of just showing up and doing whatever you want or having a fight over whose jurisdiction it is, or who has the most brass on their collar? I am both shocked AND appalled at this blatant and willful display of preparedness and cooperation.

Down here, the only volunteer Officers who are assigned radio numbers are Chief Officers and those individuals acting as Volunteer Safety Officers or Captains acting as Battalion Chiefs in areas where Volunteer Battalion Chief slots exist. If they are responding on a suppression apparatus, then they are responsible for the position on the apparatus that they are riding, and they assume the appropriate callsign. In my opinion, using your Chief Officer number to sign on with your apparatus only adds confusion. Also, most of our units don't actually "sign on" to the radio, we use status buttons.

Morningside Volunteer Fire Dept. Prince George's County, MD. Station 827 The ambulance on the left, a used Ford/Horton unit that was purchased from a department out West, has been placed in service as A827. This is our first company-owned ambulance. For the first time in years, there are no PGFD-owned apparatus in our station. The former A827, which is less than a year old, has been returned to the County. It will be assigned to another station, we don't know which one just yet.

Maybe if NYC paid their cops a decent wage guys wouldn't be jumping ship. 1% raise for cops, double digits for city council... The city shows no respect to NYPD.

I don't think its fair to compare Willy! Good to hear from you again Brother! Hope you're doing well. Unfortunately I'm going to have to disagree with you though, as both a volunteer in PG and a resident of Fairfax County. Comparing PG's volunteer program to Fairfax County's is like comparing apples to aircraft carriers... PG's volunteer program is HUGE because of the financial problems of the county. Simply put, if all of the volunteers left tomorrow, PGFD would not be able to provide adequate services to the citizens. There are several 24/7 career stations in the county, but most of them have some combination of career and volunteer personnel. I think there are 5-6 stations that are 100% volunteer; however, only 2 are 100% volunteer and staffed 24/7 (Bladensburg Co. 9 and Morningside Co. 27). Several more have career staffing during the day and volunteer staffing at night, or some combination thereof. There's a reason I drive 30-45 minutes to PG to ride firetrucks as opposed to joining Annandale "Volunteer" FD in Fairfax County which is 5 minutes from my house. Most of PG county consists of low income communities. Some of the largest facilities in the county are non-taxable (University of Maryland, NASA-Goddard, Fort Meade/NSA, Andrews Air Force Base, etc.) Thus, the county does not have the tax base to provide career staffing for every station 24/7. They can barely afford the staffing they have now, they keep canceling career classes. So the volunteer companies work very hard to recruit/retain members. Which is made easier by the fact that we run a LOT of fire, simply because it is a low income community. Guys from all over the country come to PG to volunteer. In my station alone there are probably 4 or 5 guys from Dutchess, Orange, and Ulster Counties who drive down AT LEAST once a month to ride with us. If every Fairfax County volunteer stopped riding the rigs, I would argue that there would be no noticeable difference in service. Every station is staffed 24/7 by career staff, the volunteers barely supplement manpower at all. Now, if they stopped fundraising and paying for stations/apparatus/equipment, that would definitely be noticed. But that's the deal that works for them. Economically, I think most of Westchester is going to be closer to Fairfax County, maybe with the exception of some of the bigger cities. But until NY allows county fire departments, its purely academic.