SageVigiles

From what I understand, I can't really blame the Stamford volunteers for mistrusting the city and its consolidation efforts. The city has tried some pretty underhanded tactics to get rid of them, and even now they are trying to undermine the spirit of the charter, saying they would rather not go through a charter revision. That being said, the volunteers down there DO have a problem, and they need to recognize and correct it, or they will be eliminated. They aren't delivering reliable services to the customer and that gives the career department an excuse to come in and take over. If everyone would have stopped pounding their chests from the beginning and sat down to rationally discuss the problems like gentlemen, I think they could have avoided a pretty litigious, distasteful and inefficient process. Hopefully Chief Whitbread will be able to bring all the players to the table and get them to talk this out rationally. WIthout a seat at the consolidation table, the volunteers are definitely going to get themselves cut out of the process and see themselves eliminated. The charter can only save you for so long. There is no reason you can't come up with a solution that benefits the people of Stamford as well as the volunteer departments and the City government.

Anyone who doesn't know who Charlie Wilson is should go out and buy a copy of the book "Charlie Wilson's War." The movie doesn't do it total justice. Charlie Wilson, albeit a flawed personality, was a die hard American who wanted nothing more than to defeat the Soviet Union. I firmly believe that if we would have stayed his course, things would have turned out more positively in Afghanistan, and the Taliban/Al-Queda would not have had such a strong foothold. Interesting note, he is one of the only civilians to be awarded the "Distinguished Colleague" honor from the CIA's Clandestine Services, due to his support of the CIA's mission in Afghanistan. Rest in Peace "Good Time Charlie"

Rest in Peace Captain Phil! Definitely one of the best Captains and best personalities on that show.

Look at both sides of the coin though. There's always somebody making money off denying these types of claims, and if they can prove, or even suggest that some people are defrauding the system, then there's more reason for them to raise the standards (and thereby lower the number of payouts) for the rest of the people. I won't put too much stock in this.

I don't believe NIMS has any typing information for "special operations" but in my eyes it should include any vehicle whose purpose is to deliver manpower and equipment that is outside the day-to-day, bread-and-butter scope of Fire, EMS or Police services would be, in my eyes, a "Special Operations" vehicle, examples: HAZMAT MCI Technical Rescue (Collapse, trench, confined, rope, machinery, etc) Water/Dive Rescue SWAT/ESU/SRT Things along those lines.

I'm sure Izzy has his hands full, so I'll post some additional info. Got some of this from CTFire-EMS.com State Police Headquarters in Meriden was asking on the Hot Line what blew up, they felt/heard it and didn't know what was going on. Felt as far away as Killingworth and Cheshire from what I'm hearing. At this time ALL on duty companies from all 3 Middletown departments are on scene and working, numerous callbacks going on. MCI has been declared. ALL available Hunters Ambulance Units requested. BOTH Lifestar birds requested as well as AMR units (likely out of Hartford.) Initial reports of about 100 victims with various levels of injuries, 4 critical and 2 DOS as of noon. Berlin MCI unit requested as well. Gas lines have been shut down and excess is being burned off. Command forbidding entry until gas is burned off. AMR Hartford sending TWENTY ONE (21) ambulances and making callbacks. Report that USAR CT TF-1 being called. Confirmed Operating Departments: Middletown FD Middletown South District FD Westfield FD Durham FD Portland FD Haddam FD Colchester FD Meriden FD (Coverage) Berlin FD (MCI Unit) Hunters Ambulance American Medical Response Middletown PD CT State Police Lifestar (Both helicopters) Task force 51 (Wethersfield, Cromwell, Newington FDs) covering calls in Middletown Task force 57 (South Windsor, Glastonbury, Manchester Fire/Rescue, Manchester 8th Dist., Marlborough, and Colchester) UPDATE: Command reports FIRE under control ATT FD Search crews being pulled out, USAR team going to work. Now getting a report of CT National Guard being deployed to the scene.

WAS, thats what I was wondering too. Some of the audio from the incident is on youtube, links posted below. http://www.youtube.com/user/firefighterdispatch#p/a/u/0/CT_PLfT_SI4 Another update: Governor Rell requested a no-fly zone for a 3 mile radius and 3,000 ft. elevation for 24 hours and the request was granted by the FAA. In addition, the CT Emergency Operations Center in Hartford has been activated and the state DMAT Team with its mobile field hospital was also on scene. ATF is assisting the CT State Fire Marshal's Office in its investigation today. At this time there are at least 5 confirmed dead. Among those killed is former Old Saybrook Police Commissioner Raymond Dobratz, who worked as a pipefitter in the plant.

Izzy, I was on the other side of the river by the media (incident side) and Outer Command Post (there was an inner post and an outer one) The outer post was on the ending of the Connecticut Valley Hospital Campus. I got some shots of other units that showed up, I'll place them on here in a bit, listing the additions below: CT Valley Hospital Fire Department (State of Connecticut) US Coast Guard FEMA CT Incident Management Team 3 Governor of the State of CT Jodi Rell Dept. of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) PD Clinton Fire Department Chaplain Lions Club (Canteen trailer) CT Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security CT State Police Units: Patrol Aviation (Trooper 1 and a Fixed Wing aircraft) K9 (SAR dogs) PIO Lt. Paul Vance Major Crime Squad (Central District) State Fire Marshal Governor's Protection Detail The "Outer CP" was what seemed (based on the flight patterns of the helicopters and planes) to be about a mile from the incident. The plant itself is very isolated down a road which was well controlled by Middletown and DMHAS Police. The media, as well as members of the Union that represents the company (I believe its an O&G site) were there near the Outer CP. Middletown FD's PIO was there as well. Interesting tidbit, this is the third "full activation" of the CT USAR Task Force

I took the State of CT RIT class within a few months of being Fire 1 and I think it was a great addition to my skills set. As with anything, you have to practice the skills to keep them up. A 20 year veteran who took RIT once could be just as rusty as a 18 year old kid who just took it is inexperienced. My town does not have an organized "RITeam" that we dispatch out to others, but we recommend that all interior firefighters take the class. Even if the person taking the class isn't going to be a part of a Rapid Intervention Team, the class gives them an appreciation for the work of a RIT team and gives them the skills to help rescue their partner should an emergency arise. Not only that, it indoctrinates new firefighters into the habit of THINKING about RIT, so that when they become officers RIT is something that is a priority in their mind. Not bad for a 20 year old kid, eh?

Chief! Glad to see you finally posting on here! KHas, we're not talking about HAZMAT Techs though, we're talking about Operational people. An excerpt from the OSHA 1910.120, the Hazardous Waste Operations Standard: [Note: The paragraph referenced Includes Awareness, Operational, Technician, Specialist, On-Scene Incident Commander and Trainer] So OSHA does not really define a time-constraint for refresher training, only that it is "of sufficient content and duration to maintain their competencies, or shall demonstrate competency in those areas at least yearly" I'm not a lawyer, but I've taken enough law/OSHA classes to be able to translate. Sounds like it means its up to the individual department to decide the time required, or the employee can demonstrate (read: be tested) in the areas of competency every year. The key is that it must be DOCUMENTED by the department. Not sure if NFPA 472 says anything about refresher training. I'll look it up and post what I find. UPDATE: Searched NFPA 471 "Recommended Practice for Responding to Hazardous Materials Incidents" and NFPA 472 "Standard for Professional Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials Incidents" neither one even USED the words "refresh" or "refresher." So no guidance there.

Nice job. I like the plate.

One of the best radio exchanges ever can be found on Youtube between Simsbury PD and Hartford PD on the hotline:

From what I've always known, it was Ridgefield. My father's friend helps RFD take care of it, along with several other pieces he owns.

What was the first fire department in CT to have a Diesel Mack fire apparatus?

Wait, all the sudden its the US' job to run the world? This from the Euro-countries that blast us for acting as the "world's police" every time we take charge of a situation? Pick one, either we're in charge or we're not. Why hasn't Italy stepped up to run the show? Or the UN? Or China?

Brees vs. Manning for the Super Bowl. I don't think Farve will beat the Saints.

Maybe I'm being insensitive, but if I was on a plane and saw this I would be a little offput myself. There are such things as Jewish terrorists, so I can understand why the flight attendants and pilot made that call. Nowadays these crewmembers cannot be too careful, and I don't begrudge them one bit for their actions. A simple heads up by the teenager maybe could have saved everyone a ton of trouble. Either way, its a lesson learned, nobody got hurt. At least we know the flight attendants are being observant.

The latest word is that Ladder 43/Truck 4 will be delivered on Sunday. Still needs lettering and to be loaded up with tools, I know Kisco took the radios out, not sure if ours got installed at the same time.

Rest in Peace Trooper, you have served your Troop, your State and your Nation with honor. My thoughts and prayers are with your family, friends and fellow Troopers in their time of mourning. I hope they find peace in this tragic time of need. Deputy Chief of Operations Alex Cardella #907 Danbury, CT Police Explorers Post #33

CPAT is held in Meriden. Apply to get on the test list soon, they fill up quicker than you'd think.

Couldn't you just circulate the pump to prevent it from freezing?

Fairfield has a regional fire school, not sure if its fully outfitted as an academy though.

Best of luck to the injured Sergeant. I hope you're back to normal soon.

HOLY CRAP, I can't believe it. We are going to Indy!

Why is this even news? It says the Chief told her they weren't going to fly the ladder up there. Seems like this is a situation that could have been resolved by a friendly conversation with the Captain or a neighborly exchange of food, not a call to the Register.