4truck48

From the pictures it looks like they could have reached any part of the roof from the driveway.

This is news? The whole County fire protection system is broken. And it's not going to change until all of the elected chiefs and fire commissioners decide to give up their little sandboxs and do what's best for the citizens of the districts they protect.

I'd love to hear the radio communications at this job. I especially like at about the 13 minute mark the guy taking the vent saw to the bucket.

Wow! Just think how much money could be saved if EVERYONE did their job for FREE.

This is not a paid vs volunteer thing, it's a there should be ONE standard for ALL firefighters. There's should also be one standard for fire departments. All departments should be able to put the minimum number of properly trained firefighters on the scene in the generally accepted national standard. While Mt. Vernon seems to take the brunt of public flogging, with the exception of Yonkers and possibly New Rocelle no other fire department it Westchester can even fight a room and contents fire without Mutual Aid. Is Mt. Vernon undermanned yes, but so is basically every fire dept in Westchester.

What do you mean " here we go" what didn't say that was wrong? That there should be one standard for firefighters.

Before you knock the unions ( who keep pushing for increased training and manpower) about blocking Home Rule why not lobby for one standard for all firefighters in the state, paid or volunteer. That would include new firefighters, in service training for all firefighters, response times, manning on apparatus, promoting officers on qualifications not on election results. Not to mention mandatory retirement age so we don't have a rig responding with 3 or4 70 year old men on it with a 19 year old lieutenant because that was all that was around.

WPFD is having a tough week. Hope for speedy recovery.

Shouldn't it be a Cop stuck in a tree.

But if we all merged then I couldn't still have my own sand box.

The only time that matters is from dispatch time to " ONE LINE STRETCHED AND IN OPERATION' everything else cam be twisted and turned however it fits your needs

Congrats to both

Doesn't the County already have Technical Rescue Squads set up now? Yonkers FD and Greenburgh Squad 6 have been training together for years. So have New Rochelle and MT. Vernon and White Plains FD. I think that this web site even has pictures of some of the training which was done in August.

When I came on the job many years ago I was told that if you had any weakness hide it well, I think that is good advise for everybody. If you have a thin skin then maybe the fire service isn't for you, especially the fire house kitchen.

20 right in the middle, like most of America.

I've asked this question before and never got a good answer. At what point do you stop being considered a VOLUNTEER ? Housing, pensions, what's next free food ?

R.I.P. Brother

Why not let the guy driving decide?

Lets be honest here, really honest. There is only one department in Westchester with proper manpower on their apparatus, Yonkers, it's just that MT Vernon gets more fires then everbody else { White Plains, NewRochelle and Greenburgh } and is exposed more. If these other departments had the same workload as Mt. Vernon they would have the same problem. The whole system has to change. There is enough blame to go around for everbody but nobody wants to correct the problem because we all have our own little Kingdoms. The Chiefs, the Fire Commisoners and even the unions should be demanding change but that might mean giving up some power. It's time for a regional department in southern weschester with properly staffed apparatus not one man tower ladders or three man engines. Don't blame Mt Vernon for this mess it's everybody's problem.

Tax breaks, affordable housing, retirement incentives, free pool passes, some even want medical coverage. At what point do you stop being considered a VOLUNTEER?

Waiting 10 to 15 minutes for an ambulance, what year is this 1966? NO IT'S 2006 it's about time everybody woke up. If you cant get help there in a reasonable amount of time then CHANGE your system. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.

What, no one interested? Everybody had an opinion last March. Lets reopen the discussion.

Well look at this. I hope that all the Monday morning quarterbacks and TV experts who buried this department last year read this article. Maybe we should revisit some of the posts and opinions. Let this be a lesson to all you thermal imaging people, IF YOU WEREN'T THERE AND DON'T KNOW ALL THE FACTS you might be better served by keeping your opinions to yourself.

I have a better idea, how about nobody volunteer and then the departments have to HIRE people. Then everbody gets the job. There is no way that the departments could handle the sudden drop off of firefighters, so they would be forced to throw out all standards, testing and physical requirements. If you have more people who want the job then you have positions, then make an announcement that on Tuesday we're going to hire fireghters, and then hire the first 50 or 100 people who come to the door.

If your dispatched to a report of a structure fire there are one of only two reports that the first arriving unit should give. Ladder X is on location (10-84), investigating, or Ladder X is on location ( 10- 84) we have a working fire ( 10- 75). All of the other stuff is just people who like to hear themselves talk. If you have a 10 story apartment house you could have three floors of fire in he rear that you can't see from the front what happens if you say nothing showing? Another report thats often given is workers on the scene, so what, how many times have those workers, plumbers, painters actually been the one who caused the fire by soldering or burning paint off. Don't assume it's nothing until you know it's nothing.