GFD70

I guess Greenville is more popular then I thought.
As far as the Larchmont fire goes, we weren't called until almost 2 hours into to operation so we were must have been pretty far down the list. On the flip side, Larchmont is also on our mutual aid list so it is MUTUAL, we just haven't had to call them yet. At least 3 of the guys who responded on that call are from the Sound Shore so they knew the area very well. Also, most departments provide a guide-usually a callback FF-to ride with the mutual aid rig.
When we send a rig on mutual aid-be it to the scene or to relocate-we almost always send 1 Capt. and 3 FF''s. We will also initiate a call back of 1 & 3, starting with the guys who live closest. Rarely will we send more then that unless both rigs are requested. We have on occasion sent additional manpower once we were back to full manning in quarters.
As far as interoperability goes: we carry the neccessary adaptors for the neighboring departments that we work with as well as having a bag with our adaptors in our apparatus bay for incoming units should they not have them. We also have a laptop and mutual aid guide book on each rig as well that lists what channels to use and hopefully soon will have hydrants and other building information stored on them for all of the departments we work with.

I have to disagree with your logic. As has been mentioned on this site before, NFPA 1710 requires a minimum of 16 FF's to respond to a working fire. The number of departments dispatched does not necessarily reflect on the intensity of the fire nor does it imply that the "panic button" was hit. Is the system perfect? Far from it. But when an IC is looking at a house with smoke pushing from the roof and 2nd floor, its not the time to start questioning what departments should be called in. The initial response to this particular fire was 1 capt & 6 ff's from GFD (our normal staffing) plus the crew from HFD E170 ( I believe it was 1 capt & 2 ff's today)as per our automatic aid agreement. With the transmission of a 10-75 additional resources are dispatched to the scene as well as to cover quarters. A recall of off duty ff's was also conducted. Keep in mind that mutual aid agreements were in place way before this fire started. Both sides agreed to it and signed off on it. Our alarm assignments are in the system for 60 Control so when an officer requests an additional alarm, the dispatcher can quickly dispatch all requested departments. If a department could not supply a rig for whatever reason, they can always deny the request.

I have to disagree with your logic. As has been mentioned on this site before, NFPA 1710 requires a minimum of 16 FF's to respond to a working fire. The number of departments dispatched does not necessarily reflect on the intensity of the fire nor does it imply that the "panic button" was hit. Is the system perfect? Far from it. But when an IC is looking at a house with smoke pushing from the roof and 2nd floor, its not the time to start questioning what departments should be called in. The initial response to this particular fire was 1 capt & 6 ff's from GFD (our normal staffing) plus the crew from HFD E170 ( I believe it was 1 capt & 2 ff's today)as per our automatic aid agreement. With the transmission of a 10-75 additional resources are dispatched to the scene as well as to cover quarters. A recall of off duty ff's was also conducted. Keep in mind that mutual aid agreements were in place way before this fire started. Both sides agreed to it and signed off on it. Our alarm assignments are in the system for 60 Control so when an officer requests an additional alarm, the dispatcher can quickly dispatch all requested departments. If a department could not supply a rig for whatever reason, they can always deny the request.

I have to disagree with your logic. As has been mentioned on this site before, NFPA 1710 requires a minimum of 16 FF's to respond to a working fire. The number of departments dispatched does not necessarily reflect on the intensity of the fire nor does it imply that the "panic button" was hit. Is the system perfect? Far from it. But when an IC is looking at a house with smoke pushing from the roof and 2nd floor, its not the time to start questioning what departments should be called in. The initial response to this particular fire was 1 capt & 6 ff's from GFD (our normal staffing) plus the crew from HFD E170 ( I believe it was 1 capt & 2 ff's today)as per our automatic aid agreement. With the transmission of a 10-75 additional resources are dispatched to the scene as well as to cover quarters. A recall of off duty ff's was also conducted. Keep in mind that mutual aid agreements were in place way before this fire started. Both sides agreed to it and signed off on it. Our alarm assignments are in the system for 60 Control so when an officer requests an additional alarm, the dispatcher can quickly dispatch all requested departments. If a department could not supply a rig for whatever reason, they can always deny the request.

I noticed in reading the IA on the Croton Falls Fire that it was dispatched at 1605 and at 1617 the Somers Ladder was "waiting for more manpower"...(12 minutes after the initial response) What does this mean exactly? Is this ladder part of the initial assignment? Were there other ladder companies responding? How long after 1617 did this ladder company actually respond and with how many personnel? This was on a weekend afternoon. I'm surprised that there would be any problem with manpower. Is there an issue with having an adequate number of responders in this area too?