SageVigiles

That is a great statement. 99.9% of supervisory decisions should be intuitive. Yes, there's those occasional "grey areas" but more than a few people I consider to be excellent leaders have always taught me that if it feels like the the wrong decision, it probably is.

Is there a flyer or something that you have? I'll pass it along to some of the units in CT.

It does seem blatantly obvious, almost insultingly so, to conduct an entire study that tells us "inspect your SCBA, if its broken, don't wear it." But then again, if they had to do this study and found it contributed to LODDs, it must not be obvious to everyone.

Every single adult on that boat should be charged with a crime. How do you have 27 people on that boat and kids running around without PFDs? Disgusted.

I believe that if you message a moderator they will be able to reopen it if you explain why you'd like it opened. I'm fairly certain that was a policy here.

Oh, and the new ordinance does protect the Allingtown Volunteers in that our building, apparatus, equipment, etc. cannot be taken over by the new Board of Fire Commissioners. Since we're chartered separately, we don't really fall under their authority. It also authorizes the Board of Fire Commissioners to provide funding to the Volunteer Association, it sounds like it will be the same as past practice as far as we're concerned.

Actually Izzy, it went a little further than that, there was actually a provision in the City Charter forbidding the City of West Haven from operating a fire department. A charter revision was proposed a few years back to change that, and the revision passed, which is why the city was legally permitted to absorb the Allingtown District. Its been quite the spectacle of political theater to watch this all unfold. I'm just happy the career guys in Allingtown won't have to worry as much as they did in the past about the security of their jobs. Its a small department (Chief, Deputy, 4 Captains, 5 FF/Paramedics, 11 Firefighter/EMTs) with only 5 guys on per shift, so losing anybody would have been a big hit to the safety of the community.

Actually neither. The agency everyone knows as "West Haven Fire Department" is actually titled the First Fire Taxation District of West Haven (in the city we just call it Center District) So that's where a lot of the confusion is. The Center District is actually not an agency of the city government, nor is the West Shore District. Both departments are independent districts operated by their own elected Boards of Fire Commissioners and their own Chiefs, Fire Marshals, etc. Its a massive confusing mess. We used to have 3 separate districts/departments each running at a different tax rate, different command structure, etc. None of which reported to the city government. As of today Allingtown is no longer a Fire District, but a department of the city. Our department will only cover the section that used to be covered by the Allingtown District and only those residents will be taxes for its services. The volunteers will remain being called the Allingtown Volunteer Fire Association. The article is actually incorrect, the AVFA was founded in 1907, the district wasn't actually founded until 1909. We are a separately chartered organization with our own Chief, but we fall under the command of the career department. We're actually the only volunteer fire agency in the city with a Chief.

This is a LONG battle finally finished. There are still 2 independent Fire Districts operating in West Haven, both with much larger pension liability, but they don't have the issues with passing budgets that we at had in Allingtown. Some people are hoping the other 2 districts follow the same path, but I'm not holding my breath for that just yet. Its a step in the right direction.

"The building is your enemy, and you must know your enemy" -Brannigan

Once again Cap is spot on, its easy to put a sticker on your helmet that says "Never Forget," its quite another to actually remember.

Another watershed moment for the fire service. Its unfortunate that this is the only way we change and learn. Rest in Peace Brothers.

I don't think that Chief Flynn hates volunteers necessarily. I believe that he expects firefighters and fire departments to be responsible and accountable for their actions. I think he doesn't think that we should accept BS excuses why volunteer agencies shouldn't be held to high standard of professionalism. I think he believes that fire departments should have a certain degree of transparency to the citizens they protect. I think he believes that firefighters should be properly trained and equipped to do the job and should be willing to do ALL of the parts of their job, not just the glamorous parts. And I think I agree.

If he wants to move to West Haven I'd be happy to have him...

Rest in Peace Chief, thoughts and prayers to his family, co workers and friends.

I don't mean to put words in his mouth, but I think the point was that in these times no ridiculous "cost-cutting" method in public safety should be unbelieveable, since they're constantly happening right before our eyes. At least that's how I read it.

Bottom line, the volunteer service can't keep saying "we're no different from the career service" if the standards aren't the same. Professional ethics, training, whatever you want to talk about. Its time for ALL volunteer agencies (my own included) to make the decision: put up or shut up.

One of the greatest posts on this forum, ever. Well said sir.

New Marine Unit should also be in soon.

CT is also a "Home Rule" state and the state technically cannot "require" any department to have its personnel trained for to the Firefighter 1 level, but its the accepted standard/benchmark/whatever you want to call it. Will this mean you're going ProBoard in NY?

Welcome Brothers and Sisters. Don't stop learning. Ever.

Rest in Peace Sister.

Excuse me good sir, just who do you think you are injecting something like logic into a discussion such as this??? For shame...

I went a few years back, great event. I'm sure it will be packed this year with the new FDNY boat in service and the Space Shuttle on the Intrepid.

Agreed, but I look at like a RIT/FAST, you don't need it until you NEED it. I remember the day before my Firefighter 1 class started, Brookfield, CT had a fire, nothing out of control, but one of the Captains dropped and went into cardiac arrest. The medics were able to revive him and he's still around. If they had to wait for EMS, would it have had the same outcome? Maybe not. Just something to think about.