SageVigiles

Putnam Lake used to call New Fairfield to standby in their station, which is probably about a mile down the road into NY state. Now we USUALLY standby in our own quarters to cover calls when Putnam Lake is stripped of resources because they are operating in Brewster or Patterson or wherever. It seemed sort of odd for us to go down to someone else's station when the time difference isn't really that big of a deal. It cuts the turnout time from when you're dispatched to get to the firehouse, which I think is sort of important when you are going to a town you might not be 100% familiar with. Particularly when PC911 requests us to the scene where PLFD is operating. (Note: I only use PLFD because that's the department we usually standby for, Sherman we go direct to the scene for fires and Danbury rarely, if ever, calls NF for mutual aid) I get what you're saying though, you should be able to get out the door in the same amount of time. But if a nearby department asks you to standby, what reason do you have not to? I guess what I'm trying to say is that its being a good neighbor. Cutting a few minutes of time between dispatch and response when you know there's a decent chance you're going to the scene just makes sense to me.

Service information has been posted: WAKE: June 8th, Tuesday Lillis Funeral Home, 58 Bridge St, New Milford. 1600 to 2000 hrs Funeral: June 9th, Wednesday St. Francis Xavier Church, Rte 109, New Milford, Ct 1000 hrs. Cemetery: June 9th Burial at Center Cemetery (Rte 202) to follow Mass transit will be organized for personnel, the details are still being worked out. The good news (if such a thing exists) is that P.O. Hassiak will be given Line of Duty Honors. The Ceremonial Unit will be organizing the details and an Operations Plan is being developed, New Milford PD is going to need assistance for the services, I'd imagine my guys are going to be requested to help.

Thanks, everybody over here is really shaken up... this is so tragic. State Police and New Milford Police are taking care of the investigation, but its an obvious blow to the department.

May Officer Hassiak rest in peace, I know I can speak for the rest of the Danbury Police Explorers and the whole DPD family when I say our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, children, family and friends. RIP 506 Deputy Chief Alex Cardella #903 Danbury Police Explorers

My advice? Don't be crazy.

NFD, that Military Police Soldier from Waterford, correct? My roommate last year is with the CTANG and ROTC through U of New Haven, they are technically in the same Battallion.

A big Hoo-ah to that! Memorial Day isn't about barbecues and beer, lets remember those who have sacrificed their time, their health and most importantly their lives for our freedom. Thanks to everyone out there who puts their lives on the line to defend their neighbors both here and abroad.

Having an up to date spare fleet is NOT a "luxury" its the result of good financial planning. Kudos to Yonkers for not just throwing up their hands and saying "oh well" when a rig goes out of service, they plan ahead and make sure they have what they need to continue the same level of consistent service.

New Fairfield does this for EVERY new development.

Good point, there was also very poor apparatus placement by the chauffeur of the lawn tractor... Seriously though, great job to the Millbrook boys. Just goes to show you we don't always need to go offensive! With situations like this its much safer to let it burn as opposed to go hard chargin' in and try to put it out, in this case that probably would have made the situation worse. Hats off to the IC and his advisory team, making the right decisions keeps everyone safe.

Much, much lighter. I was wearing a 45-minute model, and it felt much lighter and more comfortable than a 30 minute SCOTT, and I was wearing a suit when I had it on, haha.

At the Congressional Fire Services Institute conference in DC last month, DHS was showing off some Science and Tech exhibits to members of Congress, and I got a chance to try one of these on. I CANNOT wait until these hit production. Light, small, reduces the need for someone to go Lo-Pro through studs during a wall breach. They are a bit wide though, but not on the more broad shouldered guys.

This is something I posted in another forum on the issue, which I'll share here. It was in response to someone talking about combination departments in a semi-positive light. As a member of one of those combination departments where career works EXTREMELY well with volunteer, I somewhat agree with you. But it starts with expectations. What do you expect your volunteers to be able to do? What steps are your volunteer organizations taking to ensure they can provide adequate coverage at ALL times? Because there are some really creative ways to do so OTHER than just hiring part-timers. (Hint: There are ALOT of fire science students out there between UNH and the community colleges who would love to help out other departments) Those who claim that there will always be animousity between career and volunteer ARE the problem. There doesn't have to be, stop accepting the problem and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Everybody needs to lighten up and stop feeling so threatened by change that they freak out and circle the wagons every time a new initiative comes up. But it goes both ways, the volunteers need to respect the fact that the career department is in command (at least in most department by SOP) and the career departments need to recognize that the volunteers are (generally) there to help and stop crying the "DEY TOOK ER JOBS" song. I for one think it starts with training. As Sun Tzu said, "For how you train, so shall you fight" if your career and volunteer staff train together on a regular basis, you will work together. If you put up walls between the two sides, that will come out on the fireground. Respect, humility, training and common sense is whats needed to fix most of these problems. That being said, the issue in Stamford is that of a charter revision. If the state and city charters could get amended, the volunteer departments AND the career department could be folded into one chain of command and one set of SOPs, which would make sure everyone is one the same page and stop knuckleheaded decisions like this one from being made.

This issue isn't a career or volunteer one, its one of egos. That being said, the main problem with the whole Stamford situation is the State and City Charter system that Connecticut has. By changing the language in the charter, Stamford could easily re-align the outlying companies (TOR, LR, etc) to fall under the command of the Fire Chief of the City of Stamford. But the problem is getting the citizens off their butts and involved in the process. There are two ways to do that, emphasize the financial problems with the system or wait for a crisis. I'd prefer the former over the latter. In West Haven we are dealing with the same situation, just without the "cancel our rivals" mentality. Three separate fire departments with their own chain of command, none of which reporting to the city. Why? "Because that's how we've always done it." That's Bravo-Sierra and we all know it. The fire service needs to start changing to provide better service for the CITIZENS, not for ourselves. Is Stamford ready for a 100% career department? Maybe, I don't know their call volume. Will the citizens support that financially? Probably not, I'd be willing to bet almost definitely not, in this economy. So work with what you have, and be constantly improving the system to adapt to what the city needs. The "tradition" argument just doesn't cut it anymore, it wasn't good enough for riding the tailboards, it wasn't good enough for not wearing the SCBA, and its not good enough for this. Consolidate, and do it soon.

There is no reason to necessarily get RID of the volunteers entirely, but they should DEFINITELY be put somewhere within a command structure underneath SFRD, not with independent fiefdoms. The problem is that this Ass-Istant Chief is barely accountable to anyone, particularly not the city government who would be able to get rid of someone within SFRD who made such a knuckleheaded decision.

I accept Steve's friendly amendment to the motion. Its just that Stamford has been one of the shining stars of political dysfunction in the fire service, not counting the guys with consent decrees or other discrimination areas. Anyone catch the speech by Lieutenant Frank Ricci (NHFD) at FDIC? Politics over Merit is the fourth horseman of the fire service...

This is an absolute embarrassment to ALL of us firefighters. Something needs to be done about Stamford and it needs to be done NOW.

Date: 5/12/10 Time: Approx 1300 Hours Location: Providence/Worcester Rail Line IAO Rt 25 near Bundy Hill Road and IAO Quinebaug River, Lisbon, CT Frequency: Multiple Units Operating: CSP Patrol and Aviation Lisbon Fire CT DEP HAZMAT Connecticut Eastern Region Response Integrated Team (CERRIT) HAZMAT Team (Norwich, Groton units) Region 4 Incident Management Team Region 4 Communications Team Weather Conditions: Cold, Cloudy, Drizzle Description Of Incident: Train Derailment, at least 6 cars, 3 into the river, trees and wires down, Rt. 12 closed until further notice Reporters: Writer: SageVigiles Known Products Involved: Latex (~25,000 gallons, leaking) Butane (Residue levels, don't know if that car is leaking) 1,3-butadiene (Don't know levels or if leaking)

Sounds like trouble waiting to happen. There is a reason we use the incident command system, including staging, to prevent freelancing on the fireground. Having a company just "show up" to "help out" without being called creates a supervision problem and puts additional strain on Command's ability to safely control the scene. NIMS prohibits self-dispatch, and any FD, regardless of the type, should follow that.

You'd be hard pressed to find one department that is 100% NFPA Compliant.

Great shots!

The Northeast Regional Law Enforcement Education Association Presents: Connecticut Stations Day May 8, 2010 CT Police Academy Meriden CT Hosted by the CT State Police This program was established in 1992 to promote training and competition between explorers. Even though this is competition we strive first for training and for the youth to have a positive fun experience. Right now we average 35+ police departments with as many as 450 cadets and advisors in attendance. We have both "random" events and "Individual" events. The difference is the random evens are randomly selected on the schedule for you to participate in. The Individual events are mainly individual skill type events and you decide who participates in those events. Due to scheduling concerns cadets will be limited to the number of events they can participate in. "Random" Events: Building Search Crime Scene Investigation Crisis Intervention Domestic Disturbance DUI Enforcement Felony Stop First Aid High Stress Situations MV Stop Reported Assault Shots Fired Suspicious Persons Unknown Response "Individual" Events: Firearms (Up to 2 shooters) Judgemental Driving (Up to 2 drivers) Leadership Reaction (5 person team) Mountain Bike (Up to 2 bikers) Obstacle Course (1 male, 1 female per team) Additional Event: Tactical Challenge (SRT/SWAT/ESU) NOT INCLUDED in Best Overall Score Registration Info will be posted soon, but mark your calendars!

Danbury Police Explorers did great again this year! Congrats to my team and to the others who competed. 1st Place Leadership Reaction 2nd Place Tactical Response Event #1 1st Place Felony Stop Event #1 3rd Place Best Overall Post A few others I can't recall off the top of my head, I'll get the list and post it on here. Oh, and Andrew (GPDExplorer) Greenburgh did pretty well for themselves, as per usual. Posts that Competed (That I can remember, I'm sure there were more): Connecticut: Danbury Police Explorers Windsor Police Cadets Bristol Police Explorers Fairfield Police Explorers Manchester Police Explorers CSP Troop B Explorers CSP Troop K Explorers CSP-Stafford Police Explorers Stratford Police Explorers New Britain Police Explorers Hartford Police Explorers Greenwich Police Explorers New Haven Police Explorers West Hartford Police Explorers Waterbury Police Explorers Enfield Police Explorers Meriden Police Explorers Massachusetts: Milford Police Explorers Newton Police Explorers New York: Greenburgh Police Explorers Port Chester Police Explorers Suffolk County PD Explorers (5th PCT) Suffolk County PD Explorers (6th PCT) Amsterdam Police Explorers Westchester County PD Explorers I'm sure there were more, I can't remember that many... haha. Special thanks to the Connecticut State Police for letting us use their facility 2 days before they have a Training Troop start. Also thanks to the National Guard for hosting the leadership reaction course and for a Military Police K9 demonstration

Exactly my point 129, unless you've been there, you don't know.

Taser or potentially rib-crushing tackle. I'll take five seconds of electricity please. People need some perspective, police officers don't have sunshine and hug cannons they can use to get people to comply. Anyone who has actually BEEN Tasered (yes, I have) knows that it hurts like hell, but the pain is temporary, 90% you'll be fine in fifteen minutes tops.