Future Fireman

I was in the 4th Grade. Mike

Congrats Bill! Well Deserved!!!! Mike

A VERY, VERY SHALLOW END! Mike

To be honest, I think that once politicians get in office, their brains hit the fan (the same fan as the one the $hit hits) get spit out, and put back into their head. The cycle repeats for every re-election. The Democrat's fan seems to be spinning faster and has shredding blades, versus the Republican fan that has shredding blades only. Mike

Get Well Doc! Mike

Grrrrrr......These type of guys make me sick. :angry: Mike

Happy Birthday Chris....you old fart! Mike

That's a real NICE patch on the side of the cab. Mike

Our dept. has ALL interior Firefighters. You see, unlike down in NY, we REQUIRE that ALL Firefighters, Career OR Paid ON CALL, go through the Fire Academy. We actually send our members to 2 different ones. The paid on call go through the Fire District Academy, and the Career guys to the Massachusetts Fire Academy. From what I hear, District's Academy is 8 AM- 5 PM MON-FRI for I believe it's 16 weeks. I know it seems like alot, but remember we have different standards up here. Now for the volunteers, they go to the District Academy as well. No one in our district with the exception of Worcester (I will have to confirm) has their own academy. I know I'm sticking my nose here where I'm not always welcome. However, take a look outside your state, and see what else is out there. Mike

They made a new smoke generator for training. Mike

So 10-8 means the company(ies) are available in service? The reason I ask this is a certain chief up here used 10-8 after a Fire Alarm Activation call. I know for a fact that this particular department does NOT use 10 codes. (actually, I don't think there's one up around here that does) The only 10 code ever used around here is the univeral "Acknowledged" code, 10-4. I thought he wanted to imitate FDNY's 10 codes, but I wasn't sure. Mike

Congrats ALS, well deserved! Mike

I'm putting my 2 cents in. I don't care who you are, how experienced you are, or what rank you hold. If you're going to have training PPE is a MUST. Our service is dangerous in training as it is in real life. Always wear your PPE. I don't care if you think you're invicible against a shower of sparks without your PPE. I know I'm personally not going to start a saw (although I have not....yet) unless everyone around in the vicinity is properly protected with bunker gear. I believe ALSFirefighter once had in his signature "Train like you fight; Fight like you train." That should speak for itself. Mike

Before I say anything, just realize that I'm attempting to help this user out. So don't make this become a bash fest First off....chassis wise, how big of a cab do you need? Do you have mainly stick figures or big and brawny FFs? If you don't have stick figures, don't go with SMALL cab. 4 Brawny guys in turnout gear (well....3) plus whatever you want in a small cab is not going to leave much space, especially when it comes to leg room. 2nd, don't overload it. If you have a small chassis (i.e. F-450) you're not going to fit very much without being close to or at the max GVWR. 3rd, are you looking for small size engine like the one Seth posted photos of or are you looking for something a little bit bigger? The apparatus world is full of options and potential mistakes. Mike

Is that a good thing or bad thing? Mike

They couldn't go to a manual control box and press the 'Up' or 'Stop button? Mike

Looks like a great truck. Good luck with it. Mike

LAFD actually has many, many Task Forces, which are light forces and a fully staffed engine comprise. LACoFD has about 4 or 5 light forces. No Task Forces in the county as far as I know. Mike

You have to remember they staff differently over there. For example, a LA county Light Force (which are only a small part of the dept.) is comprised of a 2 Man Engine and a 4 Man Truck. The companies are dispatched together. The reasoning behind this is that they always have water with them. Also, some of the apparatus are cross staffed. Does it work? For them, yes. If we were to attempt how they run, it obviously wouldn't work because of different SOPs/SOGs. Mike

Well, was in NY this past week, and I made a stop at FASNY's Impressive Fire Musuem. Here's some shots from the musuem. Due to apparatus placement, the shots often have a corner or so cut off, due to difficulties fitting the whole thing in. First off: An old Ward LaFrance 'utility' from Somers. Second, a 1972 Ford C/Maxim Pumper Third, a 1946 American LaFrance JOX I'll put up more as time progresses. Mike

I'll give 1 MILLION Bravo points to whoever correctly guesses to what this is: Mike

Yeah the conversion rate is 1 million points to $.0000001 Mike

PCFD, man you're good! It's a Jet-X foam nozzle. Mike

It's sideways and has a handle on it and is red. Sorry for the quality. I was a novice cameraman at the time. Mike

I finally have more! Heavy duty Brush truck/tank anyone? Here's an old engine that served Canisteo (?). One unique thing about this piece of apparatus is that the pump panel is on the officer's side: Mike