SageVigiles

Not enough...

Maybe Chris can organize an air drop???

I would probably be totally for this if they kept all the Camden PD guys on for the new Metro Division. I'm usually in favor of consolidating agencies. Cut back on the city's political involvement, put more resources at the disposal of the department, etc. But to lay off 51% of the guys and backfill the rest from the existing County Department? That just pulls the resources from the smaller, currently safer, towns to solve the problems that Camden City's politicians made in the first place. This is a penny-wise, pound-foolish move that is going to get people killed.

Rest in Peace Commander. A TRUE National Hero. Godspeed.

I totally agree with you, but its still not gonna go well for NYPD, even though they did drop the perp as well. This is going to get ugly.

Good point Sue, that's kind of what I meant about controlling ventilation though. I've been hearing a lot lately about the push to control ventilation INSIDE the building, because an amazing amount of fire and gases can be contained with a simple door or window being shut. Underwriters Laboratories study down in NYC and a few others are re-affirming that controlling your access/egress points can have a substantial effect on the fire spread and make your life a lot easier when it comes to controlling it. It almost sounds like a no-brainer thing to talk about, because we tell civilians to do it when their houses are on fire, but its often forgotten by the FD on the fireground. Unfortunately I've also heard a lot of chatter after this report about NOT searching above the fire floor without a hoseline, that I disagree with. I cannot remember a time when I've had a hoseline on a search of the floor above. Most departments are not making their Truck Company drag a charged hoseline around during their aggressive primary search, its just not an efficient use of resources. That being said, in apartments like the one in this fire, its absolutely critical your second line gets in to protect that common interior stairwell to ensure ALL your personnel have a safe means of egress.

This is a pretty hairy one, but there's definitely some good knowledge to be gathered from this. I think I posted the ATF Model of this fire on here a few months back, if you haven't seen it there's a link in the NIOSH report. Definitely shows the importance of proper control of ventilation and protecting the stairwell, I think out of everything to take away from this report, those are the two most realistic things the individual firefighter can do to prevent something like this. Rest in Peace Firefighter Falkenham

I believe Stamford, CT is trying to beat the world record for most people trained in CPR at a single event, so if you or any of your family are looking to learn, that's not a bad place to do it.

Don't feel too bad, originally so did I!

Deja Vu all over again, I'm 99% certain we discussed this last year. I think that topic was more geared towards the question of whether these departments are spending the money on radiological/HAZMAT related expenses or if they are just going to general operations. I mean, Entergy is a private company and they can do whatever they please with their money, but it would be nice to see that money come with a stipulation that it go specifically towards equipment and training that would have practical use for a response to Indian Point, especially since all the Homeland Security money towards HAZMAT/CBRNE training and equipment is starting to dry up.

Good luck! I like to see departments donating their trucks to departments in need HERE instead of other countries.

Very short time period, in my experience.

So my department is looking to purchase some turnout gear and I'm trying to do some research on different materials and manufacturers to see what's out there before we get too deep into the process. In the past we've just gotten whatever is cheapest and/or whatever the career department got, more often than not they bought whatever was cheap as well. We might be coming into some additional funding that might give us some more freedom to get a better quality product. As far as materials, I'm curious as to what everyone likes as far as outer shell, moisture barrier, etc, and why they like a particular configuration. Its funny, with all the fire classes I've taken no one has ever really explained how to spec turnout gear specifically, and what to look for when you're doing the research. I know I'm probably opening a gigantic can of worms here, but I'd also like to hear some thoughtful recommendations of what manufacturer you'd recommend, including why you like the product specifically. Not looking for "XYZ Department uses that, so we get that because its gotta be good" I'm looking for something a little more substantive. We had a rep from a company called INNOTex come in last week, I've never heard of them before but it did have some different features I haven't seen before. Could be marketing BS, could be something, I honestly don't know enough yet. Has anyone had any specific experience with them? If anyone has any reading materials that can help me, PM me and I'll give you my email. Thanks in advance.

Do the "normal" engines not carry LDH? If not, what are they using for water supply? I only ask because we have a few departments around here that aren't using LDH and its a constant debate back and forth.

Actually its in New Jersey. North Hudson Regional Fire Rescue covers North Bergen, Union City, Weehawken, West New York, and Guttenburg in NJ. If you're a big reader of Fire Engineering or listener of their Blogtalk radio shows, Deputy Chief Anthony Avillo is pretty active with FE's work, he's with North Hudson. After listening to his shows I asked him for some training materials that I could use for my guys and he was more than helpful. Good guy and by all accounts a great Chief. Their website: http://nhrfr.net/aboutus.htm The apparatus in question: http://fdnytrucks.com/files/html/otherstates/Hudson%20County/North%20Hudson.htm Unrelated to your question, that's a pretty interesting concept... merging several smaller departments in order to create a larger regional department capable of providing a vast array of traditional and specialized services to the public they protect... Craziness.

http://www.avfa.org/ We just launched a new website, the first in a long line of steps for us to join the 21st Century. Take a look, let me know what you think and I'll pass any suggestions along to our people.

Monthly drills? Wallingford does them weekly. We underwent a voluntary OSHA audit and now all trainings are entered into a database. If you miss an OSHA required annual training (IE: Bloodborne, Hazard Communications, Confined Space, HAZMAT, SCBA, etc) you are off the trucks until you come in and make it up. Period, end of story, no negotiations. So far, no major problems. Because we've outlined the expectations and the consequences for not following them, and our guys have met those expectations. The only members we've lost as a result are the ones that never wanted to learn anything in the first place.

Weather Forecasts: 60% of the time it works every time. My prediction? Some days it might snow, some days it might not.

No, you wouldn't.

Haha, he's right, I end up thinking like a tech instead of a firefighter sometimes...

Personally, I would recommend just about anything from RAE Systems. Our HAZMAT team uses a bunch of their meters and we're very happy with them. http://www.raesystems.com/industry/fire-and-hazmat They actually have a 4 gas meter with a Photo-Ionization Detector (PID) built in, which is pretty handy if your guys know how to use them. Knowing Marlboro the way I do, I'd imagine you probably don't do that much major HAZMAT stuff, but the RAE Systems meters can be networked to a central computer if you have a major incident so you can oversee what multiple units in the field are sampling in real time. With a few mouse clicks any mutual aid companies or HAZMAT teams that use the RAE technology can be added to your computer. Maybe that's useful to you, maybe not, but its something to at least look at. I'd suggest you reach out to the sales reps and have them come in to talk to you and show you what they have. Everybody can make a 4 gas meter but some of the manufacturers can offer some pretty interesting features. Also I'd recommend talking to your local HAZMAT team and see what they're using. Chances are they've probably done a lot of research and played with things that do/don't work. Most HAZMAT teams usually have 1 or 2 big meter geeks that can talk your ear off with the pros/cons of each manufacturer. The absolute best advice I can provide is to make sure you find a good service company for your metering package. Meters are going to break and are going to need service above what your guys can do in station. Making sure you get good customer service on the maintenance side is going to alleviate >90% of your problems, so take care of that on the front side and you'll probably end up okay. A meter does you no good if its out for service for weeks at a time and you can't get ahold of the guy whose supposed to be fixing it. Good luck.

I think that Jack nailed it on the head, from our town's perspective anyway. I see both sides of it, but for the CYA factor I'm kind of glad we have the policy.

In Wallingford, CT we have a policy prohibiting us from resetting fire alarm systems.

None taken, I have no say in how the 3 fire districts and PD run the communications, nor do I want any. The funny part is our secondhand radios the volunteers bought from someone else are apparently easy to be converted to narrowband. I don't understand how or why that works, I'm not a radio buff, but apparently that makes life easier for us.