SageVigiles

Looks like a Toyota front end, I'm not sure how I like it yet...

Congratulations Sarge! Wish you the best of luck in retirement. And good luck to Senior Master Sergeant/Chief Wilson, God knows you have a helluva lot of potential disasters taking off and landing there everyday.

This is why I'm glad we have CT General Statute 7-313e in Connecticut, ranking fire officer is in command of an incident.

May he Rest in Peace. Izzy, where is Beacon Falls?

I think I was confusing PER-261 (Technical Emergency Response Training) with PER-260 (WMD Technician.) Maybe I wasn't sure which was live agent. I still have to call up my regional contact to figure all the specifics out, I'm going to apply for dates in June/July.

I'm an EPA (40 hour) HAZMAT tech and am applying to the New Haven Area Special Hazards Team through my membership with the Wallingford Fire Department, with hopes to take the longer NFPA 472 class, as soon as I can find someone to pay for it.. I've taken multiple HAZMAT courses in college and its definitely an area I'm interested in and have some abilities in. So yeah, by summer I'll be on a team. Besides the fact that Anniston DOESN'T require you to be a HAZMAT Technician at all. This definitely won't be my first time taking a HAZMAT course, and its a great resume builder when I go to apply for federal law enforcement.

Nightrider much?

I've had a few instructors and professors who've attended. Said it was a great time, but do NOT just go out there for a free trip to Vegas. This is a LIVE fire WMD course at the National Test Site, where students actually operate in a radioactive atmosphere. Its some serious stuff, and if you think its tough operating in a suit in New England, wait until you do it in the Nevada desert. A buddy from school and I are going to apply for the Chemical, Ordinance, Biological and RAdiological (COBRA) Training Facility in Anniston, Alabama. That's the live-fire class with Sarin and VX. I'm really interested in HAZMAT so that's the first one I want to go to, though the NTS nuke course is definitely on my list. There is also a Biological Agent class and a "Kinetic Materials" (read: Explosive) course. They are all spread out about the nation. The best thing is, like OoO said, Uncle Sam picks up the tab.

The Northeast Regional Law Enforcement Education Association presents: Cadet Police Academy July 25 to July 31, 2010 University of Hartford West Hartford, CT Course Description: Basic Phase: Classroom training, Drill and Ceremony Training/Competition, Basic Firearms Safety, Range Time, PT of course! Advanced Phase: Advanced classroom training, Advanced hands-on training, Competitions, Firearms Safety and Range Time Mock Police Department Phase: First Year: Cadets work as "Police Officers" assigned to a Patrol Squad in a mock department which responds to simulated calls for service, arresting & booking procedures, mock courtroom scenarios. I BELIEVE that they can also try out for SRT and Crisis Negotiation Team the first year now. Second Year: Cadets, having a year of Mock PD under their belts, can apply for ranking positions within the department including Detective, Detective Sergeant, Patrol Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain or Chief. Written test required for all positions, Oral Boards for Chief of Department. Career Development Phase: PT, Resume Writing, PT, Mock Civil Service Exams, PT, Mock Oral Boards, PT Test, Advanced firearms training, more PT, best described as HELL WEEK, but it is WELL worth it if you desire a career in law enforcement. By far the smallest phase with the highest dropout rate, for good reason. Mountain Bike Phase: Fairly self-explanatory. Cadets go through the real course of training from the International Police Mountain Bike Association. ALL PHASES get firearms safety training and range time with POSTC or NRA certified instructors. Registration Information Cost will be $350.00 Per person Space will be limited to 400 participants & Staff Registration packets will be available in the near future For more info email assoc-info@nerleea.org Cadet Police Academy PM me if you/your organization is interested and you can't reach NERLEEA

Wow, definitely one of the more interesting and creative conversions I've seen. These guys should team up with Norwalk FD, some creative stuff comes out of that shop as well, awesome catch Seth.

New Fairfield? FD shovels them out, fortunately most of our DPW crew has some relation to the FD and they don't bury them. West Haven? FD shovels them out, good luck getting the local skells to shovel them for you. Wallingford? Water department shovels them out, I do love my new department.... Haha.

My father tells me its snowing in Westchesta already. Hopefully we get some of this up in CT,

I'm posting this under apparatus photos, because I was far away from the scene and couldn't actually see anything. This was all taken from the Outer Command Post, where the media was kept. First up is the Outer Command Post itself, consisting of Middletown Police Departments' Mobile Command and Marine Unit vehicle, as well as Newington's CP-8, called mutual aid to assist. This was the location of the Public Information Officer. I honestly have no idea what these trucks do, but I can identify them as state vehicles, probably State Police due to the last 3 characters in the license plates. Two of these trucks showed up one behind the other: Middletown Police Ford F-250 Quick shot of the media pool before most of the national networks started descending. State Police Fire Marshal:

Note: Incident Alerts should NOT be updated inside a working fire. But we appreciate the dedication...

Joe, I don't think it was USAR, I thought USAR operates the 2 Ford utility bodies that are marked and the roll-off "dumpster trucks" from what I understand. But the license plates DEFINITELY identified them as CSP.

Date: 2/24/10 Time: Approx 0300 Location: I-95 N/B, Exit 40 off-ramp. Cross street Old Gate Lane. Frequency: 154.340 (Milford FD), C-Med South Central, CSP Trunked System (Troop G) Units Operating: Milford Fire Department, AMR, CSP Troop G, CSP CARS (Car Accident Reconstruction Team), Yale-New Haven Hospital SHARPS Team (ER Doctor Flycar) DOT, United Illuminating Company Weather Conditions: Rain, light fog Description Of Incident: Tractor Trailer rollover on the off-ramp with Extrication Reporters: Writer: SageVigiles Tractor Trailer rolled over onto its' driver side, taking out numerous power lines and 2 poles, one of which ended up on top of the truck. FD units had to wait for United Illuminating to cut power before beginning extrication operations. Driver was reported to be unconscious. Patient extricated by Milford FD and transported via AMR to Yale-NH Hospital. State Police Troop G (Bridgeport) and CARS Team investigating. DOT closed the off-ramp during extrication and investigation operations. I drove past this on my way back to New Haven, not as much of a traffic nightmare as I thought it would be. By the way, if anyone was wondering, the truck was carrying oranges.

More photos of Truck 4's first structure fire at www.nfvfd.org. Also pictures of its first Chimney fire if you look around.

Meriden Police Department: Cromwell Fire Utility 1: Kensington FD: Hunters Ambulance MCI supply trailer, being towed by Kensington Fire: One of the newer AMR Dodge Sprinters, not sure if its from Hartford or New Haven

Governor Rell arrives at the incident, the two Troopers on the Governor Protection Detail responded with lights and siren. So yeah, I beat the Governor there, haha. Connecticut Valley Hospital (CVH) FD, they were definitely the closest station to the scene. This picture is all cut off, but I was messing with my camera as they came in, so I couldn't get a great shot: State Police, I believe this was a K9 vehicle, not sure if it was Arson, Explosives or Bloodhound unit State Police, honestly, your guess is as good as mine with this one: A FEMA employee, I think he identified himself as a USAR coordinator, or something to that effect: Hunter's Ambulance Supervisor, on the return: Initial Press Conference, yeah, I sorta jumped in there: State Police Lieutenant Paul Vance, Public Information Officer: LT Vance's team: The Lion's Club arrives to provide food/drink for responders, family members and union members: United States Coast Guard response vehicle:

Date: 2/21/10 Time: Approx 1140 Location: 88 Route 37, Portofino Restaurant Frequency: 155.675 Units Operating: NFFD, NFPD, NF Fire Police, Putnam Lake FD, DHCA*EMS (Danbury Hospital EMS) Weather Conditions: Sunny Description Of Incident: Working Fire in a 2-story commercial strip mall. Came in as an AFA. Reporters: Writer: SageVigiles Got the call from my sister saying my pager was going off like crazy. I should have stayed home last night, then I would be at this job right now... Ball Pond and Truck 4 were slightly delayed, coming from training with Putnam Lake.

Chris and Bnechis, I absolutely agree with what you are saying, I'm just bringing up the points that the voters/taxpayers might not SEE those things as relevant to them. The truth is the public at large doesn't see any problem with the service, because they just don't know better. All they know is how many mils they pay in the taxes, and that eventually a big truck shows up if and when they call. But like I said, nobody ever EXPECTS to use the fire department, so to try to justify the initial costs of a new regional organization would be a fight, simply because of the fact that people will say "I don't care, because my services are fine now, I don't use them and I don't want to pay any more for them." Response time maps are great, but it sounds like everyone is assuming all taxpayers and voters are educated in these things, when nothing could be further from the truth. There's a difference between someone saying that a truck is five minutes out, and them being able to look down the street at their local station. Think about it, anytime somebody goes to close a fire station we have this problem, even IF the company isn't being shut down and response times are under the acceptable margins, there is almost ALWAYS a community outcry. Anyway, I'll stop playing devil's advocate now.

Izzy, you are right, but the point is that the city finally made a decision in the right direction. There are tons more bureaucratic hurdles that we need to collectively jump through to get this process off the ground, and it still might never get done, but we're trying. The key is that EVERYONE has a seat at the table. The city, the districts, the union, the volunteers, the taxpayers association. Exclude somebody and the entire process is going to go in the crapper. Interestingly enough, were just discussing the issue of consolidation in my Fire Protection Law class a few days ago over at UNH. Regionalization works wonders down South, because that's all they know. Schools, DPW, Police services, sanitation, etc are by-and-large county run services. Up here in the Northeast we aren't used to this, and our "home rule" issues (and egos that hide behind them) get in the way of what might be a more efficient system. We did, as a group, come up with some issues that may come up in a consolidation effort: 1. I'm a taxpayer in town A, why should my tax dollars go to paying for firefighters in town B, where the land values are lower and they don't pay their fair share? Of course, this is a stupid argument, it should be for the good of the region as a whole, but for an area NEW to rationalization of services (WCPD nonwithstanding, because alot of the municipalities have town/village/hamlet/whatever police) people are selfish enough to ask these questions. 2. The "County Fire Department" closed the firehouse that was next door to my house because it was deemed "not efficient" enough. Now I have to wait longer for the fire department because they have to come from a station X miles away. Again, not a very legitimate argument, because I would hope the "county department" would keep in mind response times in their strategic planning, but this IS going to come up when we inevitably shut down some of the more redundant operations present in such a large area. Now, I'm not saying we SHOULDN'T consolidate, but we need to prepare for these types of questions and problems if we are going to take it seriously. This is going to come up in a board meeting, and being prepared with an educated, thoughtful and non-insulting answer is key to selling this change to the public. After all, most people never expect to need the fire department, so their feeling is going to be "why should we pay for all this work, when I'm never going to need it?"

I've taken college classes on how to run a fire department, I'm filing a lawsuit because I wasn't considered for the position! Haha. Seriously though, if he's that bad I wish the guys at FDMV luck.

Izzy, you're a couple months behind. West Haven DID amend its charter, allowing for the city to provide a fire department. Now the districts themselves need to come together to consolidate, and the city needs to accept it. But the problem is, there is 70+ million in pension debt between the three districts. What Mayor is going to want to absorb that debt? Not a smart one. Thats one (of many) problems with the entire consolidation argument. It is years out, but its in the works, committees are together on the issue. Don't get me wrong, West Haven SHOULD consolidate, but its going to take some work. The staffing issues would certainly be a concern. In Allingtown, the Tower runs with 2 people, in West Haven Center the Ladder runs with either 3 or 4, and in the Shore they run with 3. Engine Company Staffing is similarly strange, so how do we bring up the manpower to standard? Hire people. The thought of that alone will scare most taxpayers away. Sooner or later all this stuff needs to get put on the table and figured out.

I'm with you there, if I were the cop there, the headline would read "Man Shot After Gun Aimed at Police." But of course, the papers would never print it that way. It would likely read "Neighborhood Hero Gunned Down by Loose Cannon Cop" But I think that stems from exactly what you said. Police Officers are becoming more and more conscious of the fact that damned near every officer who uses his weapon in the line of duty is being sued/arrested. Unfortunately the courts are upholding this garbage, and more and more Officers are being persecuted for defending themselves in the line of duty. As a result, I think more Officers are willing to stick to the low end of the force matrix, which unfortunately puts many more of them in danger. It would be interesting for some criminologists to study that concept, since LODDs by gunfire are up. Are our Officers being killed because they are less apt to use deadly force, or are the streets really just that much more dangerous?