RES24CUE

How can you be an "ex-felon"? Once you are convicted of a felony aren't you a felon for life? This entire premise is bizarre...were their convictions overturned or is the article just idiocy. Once a degenerate, always a degenerate in my opinion.

DEC not DEP: http://www.dec.ny.gov/regulations/2364.html

Not trying to beat a dead horse here but I wanted to give my take on why we don't take a fire truck to every alarm (no disrespect spin-the-wheel as I think your posts are very knowledgeable and well thought out). This is my opinion on the matter.... When I was a fire officer I used to cringe when the department's large pieces would leave the firehouse. The tones would drop and a chauffeur (he could be 21 years old...could be 77 years old) who would drive a truck once a week (at best...some guys would only drive once a month, or even once every three months) a mile down the road to a bullshit call would hop out of his Honda Civic after being jolted from a sound sleep during a rain storm and get behind the wheel of a 30,000lb engine with 5 other souls on board. Now, add a mutual aid situation to the mix. This guy is driving the rig under the same situation as previously stipulated (rain, being jolted from a sound sleep in the middle of the night, and only driving once a week at most...maybe even once a month if he is an occasional chauffeur) and add the stress of responding to a working fire, on unfamiliar roadways outside of district, and in close proximity to dozens of other large pieces of equipment who also have amateur chauffeurs. The potential for disaster or damage is huge here. When I was Captain, our rescue was parked at a parade and the bucket of a neighboring town's ladder that was backing-in next to the rig went right through the front windows of the cab. It took the rig out of service of 3 months to get fixed. Over that time my life was extremely overcomplicated because our rescue was absent, our engine was overloaded with rescue/extrication equipment wherever it would fit, operations and training were extremely overcomplicated, and the quality of service that could be provided to the taxpayers was negatively impacted. I learned a valuable lesson here...if you can handle an EMS call with a utility, then there is no reason to take an engine. The solution to the problem is training...but as well all know manpower is sparse and if you make it too hard to get qualified then the guys would get discouraged and just give up trying. So you just have to say, "this guy has put in as much effort as I think he is willing to put into this and he knows enough to not get anyone killed on the way to your everyday alarm. He can draft and put an attack line into operation so we will have to just give him our blessing." The department with which I was previously affiliated didn't even require drivers to take EVOC or Pump Ops to Chauffeur an engine because the members simply would choose not to drive and the trucks wouldn't get out. Do I agree with this? HELL NO... The problem is inherent to the volunteer fire service and cannot be adequately corrected as the involved factors are correlated...you can't have all three: knowledgeable, quality chauffeurs; happy, motivated and accomplished-feeling manpower (drivers); and apparatus that make it out the door for every alarm.

First off, its a car fire...you're not saving it. Make it look good, and hit it with a couple of cans until the engine gets there. Second, how is this any different then if they were in a utility, a ladder, a rescue, or those billboards called Chief's Cars. There is always going to be a situation where you may come upon an incident in a marked vehicle where the unit in which you are riding is not equipped to handle. Its just part of the job. What if your engine comes across a pin job and has to wait for the rescue? Or your engine comes upon a man hanging from a scaffold and has to wait for a ladder? Having guys always returning from fires in an engine isn't exactly an end-all-be-all to every situation that you may come across.

In my opinion, if a department had an application where this would be very practical, then you would just have to do it right. If you removed all the seats in the bus and lined the sides with Jump Seats and mounted tools in the rear so they would not dislodge in a wreck, then why the hell not. When you convert a soda delivery truck into a Haz-Mat rig, you modify it to best suit its new application; When you turn a bread truck into a dive truck, you turn the inside into a dive unit...I would assume that the same logic would apply when converting a passenger bus into a unit dedicated to carrying personnel to a structure fire. If this were a good idea for a department, I doubt anyone is advocating that it be done haphazardly. That's just my thought...

From the Lewisboro Ledger: http://www.lewisboroledger.com/17632/joe-manstrelli-of-goldens-bridge-loses-battle-with-lung-disease/

I don't have any stake in this argument at all whatsoever and have no opinion one way or the other. However, it does sound similar to something that already exists in our area. When you call Mount Kisco F.A.S.T. they have an ambulance/bus type vehicle that is outfitted with their F.A.S.T. equipment and air packs. To take the "bus" comparison a step further, I believe the rig leaves from IFCO with however many F.A.S.T. qualified members that they have, then stops by Hooks to pick up their F.A.S.T. qualified members, then stops by Mutuals to pick up their F.A.S.T. qualified members, then proceeds to the scene. Sounds like a bus to me...

I have tried to post the picture 2 different ways but I cannot get it to post to the forum. I apologize.

It is with great sadness that I share with the members of this online community that Joseph Manstrelli (pictured above, right in black) of the Golden's Bridge Fire Department has passed away. Joe was a 57 year member of the Golden's Bridge Fire Department (and a legend) and has been Captain of Fire Police for the department since 1983. He was also very active on the Kitchen Committee and arranged the annual Children's Holiday Party. Additionally, he was a very active member of the Putnam County Fire Police Association. I would like to note that I am no longer a member of the Golden's Bridge Fire Department and am in no way speaking on their behalf (I mean no disrespect). To my knowledge funeral arrangements have yet to be determined. I just know that Joe has made countless friends in his impressive career in the fire service who will be very saddened by his passing and thought it necessary to share with the local community. Joe served as my Fire Police Captain when I was Captain of the Department for GBFD and words cannot express his passion and commitment to the emergency services. I will surely post the details of the arrangements as soon as I am informed assuming a current member does not post them sooner. God Bless You Joe! You Will Be Missed!

It seems like everyone is ignoring the side-by-side example of a consolidated volunteer department that sits right next door to the town in which this fire occurred. The town of Somers and the Town of Lewisboro have very similar constructs but have gone in opposite directions in terms of a consolidated department vs individual departments. Somers is about the same size as the Town of Lewisboro. They have 4 fire houses spread across town but operate as one department, with one chain of command, one set of SOPs, one fire district and consolidated resources. Conversely, in the Town of Lewisboro, they have the Golden's Bridge Fire Department, the South Salem Fire Department, and the Vista Fire Department (and the Lewisboro Ambulance Corps). Each of these departments are completely independent of one another and have their own chain of command, separate Fire District, separate equipment and their own set of SOGs. In my opinion the consolidated volunteer department makes more sense for the following reasons: The town of Lewisboro has 3 Mid-Heavy Rescue Units (Counting Rescue 24 may it rest in peace)...All of NYC has 5!The town of Lewisboro has 7+ Chief Vehicles.Each department in Lewisboro has at least 2 "Class A" engines so that they can stay in service when one goes out for maintenance. 90% of the time each engine rolls without a full crew anyway (thats if they can even get two engines out the door)Shortage of Officers. When I joined the fire service 10 years ago Vista Fire Department had 3 chiefs and a multiple captains, Lieutenants and Foremen, etc...now they are down to 3 officers (a chief, a captain, and a lieutenant). I believe that GBFD currently operates with two of their Lt. positions vacant. Moreover, many departments' by-laws are constantly being set aside to allow people who don't meet the professional qualifications to hold office. In many instances, members are being promoted to officer positions after being a member for only a year and having never been first-due to a car fire let alone a structure fire.What it all comes down to here is that you are ultimately going to get the same resources to a fire in both towns. In Somers you will probably get 20-30 members town-wide who will all respond to a daytime incident. In Lewisboro, you will get 10 members from the "host" department and 5-6 from each of the other 2 departments in town via mutual aid. The differences however are major! There will be a delay in resources because you have to wait for the host department to get on scene to dispatch mutual aid...they will have to operate with 4-6 people for at least the first 10-15 minutes until mutual aid can respond to their firehouses and then to the scene. There will be way too many Chiefs on scene because there will be 3 from each of the other departments in town...and not enough indians because anyone who is even remotely good will be a chief already (side note...I think Croton Falls had command on this last Goldens Bridge fire and at their firehouse fire last year).The manpower from the three independent departments will be less familiar with the equipment and personnel from the other departments than that of the one consolidated department.3 sets of SOGs vs one consolidated set. I thought the side-by-side comparison may help clear up the confusion that a consolidated department would have to be paid. The Town of Somers could probably have ended up as the Granite Springs, Amawalk, Lincoldale, and Town of Somers fire departments had they wanted to go that route...for all I know they may have been at some point way back when.

Alright Mod! Delete my screen name! Wipe me out! I've asked before to have my name deleted to no avail! This is the first I've posted here in months and I find it to be as boring as ever before. No loss to me... this bullshit means nothing to me...your move!

I agree! It's time to end it! emtbravo has run its course...take down the site down while we still have a few positive memories left in our minds and before it gets completely pathetic (as it is pretty close)...this site is antiquated and beyond saving. Emtbravo should count its losses and move on in my opinion.

I just want to clarify (I'm not arguing with you as I agree 100% with what you said, just realized that I didn't explain where I was coming from with the paid-chauffeur comment)...I was not promoting the addition of a paid chauffeur. I think that this is a natural in-between step (wrong or right) in the transition process. I was a member of a fire company in SE Connecticut when I was in college that had paid chauffeurs on during the day (M-F 7a-5p). What has happened since? It evolved into a paid Chauffeur and an officer. Then became a paid chauffeur, an officer, and a firefighter. AND they added a late shift (2 Shifts, 7-3 & 3-11) Now they are on the verge of being a paid department. I think the chauffeur is the first step in the evolutionary process. The departments hire a "custodian" or a "building manager" to help out during the day but just so happens to be a FF/EMT and have a CDL (I know you don't need one in NY, just making the point that he's a truck driver). This business is slow to change and must improvement will come slowly. These places aren't going to change from volunteer to paid overnight like the flip of a light switch...especially not with the inertia that will be created by the past volunteers who "have been serving selflessly for over 100 years." Unfortunately, their selfless devotion just doesn't cut it anymore.

Liked your post even though you don't like that...sorry

This guy stands by what he said. My post had no profanity, racism, crudeness, or anything that should be censored. Once again, I know that my posts my be extremely unpopular (esp. for an emergency services website). That said, it is important to express opinions in open, and uncensored forums (both positive and negative) so that law enforcement is aware how everyone views them and not just their supporters (I'm sure there are other people out there with varying, milder degrees of my extreme opinion). When we start to censor these ideas we threaten the free thinking ideas on which our country was founded and enter the realm of Cuba or Soviet Union. If I were dropping f-bombs, n-bombs, selling illegal stun guns, and promoting incest it would be one thing...but I think we are all adults here and can handle a negative post with strong wording about how I feel police are undereducated for the role. So keep reporting those posts Stalin...and make sure you vote for Hillary in 2016 while you are at it!