M' Ave

Nope, standard door knob requiring a 90* turn. The carabiner is just an extra safety measure to guard against leaving the knob in the open position. Actually, while the drafting hose might look lighter, it's actually very heavy duty. The negative pressure it has to with withstand is tremendous, far more taxing than hydrant pressure. Hydrant pressure in the city ranges from 55psi in most places to 100psi in Staten Island (+/-). The 4" hydrant connection at the bottom could never withstand the vacuum effect of drafting operations.

Yes, there is a valve. I'll answer your questions in the order you've got listed. 1. The top three are flexible hard suction, for drafting. That's why they're stored higher up, in the less accessible position. The bottom, smaller length isn't really suction. We CALL it soft suction, but it isn't rigid. It's is our go to hydrant connection, at least here in the Bronx and the areas of Manhattan I'm familiar with. It's 10' long and is flexible and foldable. It's easy and quick for the engine chauffeur to hook up alone. Once the hydrant is open, that 4" diameter length will expand to maintain its shape regardless of how it's bent. 2. During high pressure ops, the chauffeur will use either the officer side discharge or the rear, whichever is more conducive to stretching to the Siamese. Never on the panel side, there is no HP discharge there. 3. This was answered, but again, it's just a meter showing the position of the valve. I find them to be useless. What does it matter what position the valve is in? You have the pressure gauge and the flow meter and the numbers they show are what determine whether you have to gate down or open up......or up the master on the pro-pressure governor.

10 replies......6 about lights......ugh. Guess what lights do? NOTHING! Blue. Green, pink.....2 of them14 of them, makes no difference. Now, to respond to the very good question that matters: Laautze gave a good answer. I'll just expand a bit. All standard FDNY engines have a 2 stage pump with a transfer valve. We operate in volume as standard practice. This means that the impellers operate in parallel and produce 50psi at idle. When the valve is switched to pressure, the impellers operate in series, one after the other. At idle, the pump generates 100psi(about). All engines are capable of pumping at high pressure (excess of 250psi) however with each additional stage the upper limit is raised and the engine doesn't have to work as hard. Additionally, engines assigned as high pressure units are outfitted with the discharges painted in white. They are a heavier build. They are meant to be mated to high pressure hose, red in color with white fittings. This hose also allows for a tether to be attached. The tethered line must be tied off to the engine and the standpipe Siamese. A 50' safety zone must be established. This is why there are no HP discharges on the pump panel side. Only a chief officer can order high pressure operations.

This unit is not in service and the plate is probably a dealer plate used for delivery from La.

We've seen the, popping up around the Bronx on everything from warehouses to we construction and private houses. When on Building Inspection duty, company's are adding the panels existence to CIDS and also noting the existence and location of the shutoff, battery backups and generators. They do preclude vertical venting and we do not use them as a substantial object for roof rope evolutions. The most important thing to remember is that the panel is always producing electricity. You can disconnect it from the grid. There is a knife switch, usually by the meter. However, the panels and wires connecting them are always live.

Interesting, and good idea placing deck guns on a ladder like that. Never thought of it, but it makes sense. Since the truck should have the front of the building, it simplifies lower master streams like a multiversal, should that need arise.

This behavior of line officers and chief officers is all too common in this business. Many seem simply unwilling to fight this uphill battle. The strength of EEO offices (often mojority populated by minorities) has allowed for the sheltering of those who are substandard or willfully neglectful of thier duties. They regard authority as hostile and blame anyone but themselves for poor performance. They take refuge from duly earned criticism under the all too protective "race card". This shameful crutch is damaging to our profession and to the successful and prosperous members who make up the majority of minority members. Lets just wipe race from every discusion. Deal with people as individuals and not make excuses for anyone's behavior. There is a sore lack of personal responsibility in our culture and it manages to infect our profession as well.

Commercial chassis in a city where run volume is higher, I wouldn't advocate for commercial and I see your point. I'm speaking more about smaller departments who's call volume is below 1,000. When the vehicle is being used a lot more frequently during the course of a normal day with higher response volume, inspection and training duties and all this often on rougher city streets with more time on the brakes, I think warrants a more expensive custom chassis.

I spent a few years in a volly dept. that purchased two new Pierce engines on Kenworth chassis. They were fantastic, I mean really fantastic. They were 40% cheaper than any of Pierce's cab-over custom builds and all the cab and chassis parts are more accessible and cheaper to obtain locally. Need a new door? There's a Kenworth dealer 10 minutes away. Length is certainly increased, but this isn't an issue for many Westchester Departments. I can only speak to areas I'm familiar with, but Westchester, and L.I. collectively spend and offensive amount on apparatus. A lot of money could be saved purchasing commercial chassis.......but, I know, that's not "cool" looking.

Forget false alarms. I'd like to issue a violation everytime someone dials 911 for something that CLEARLY ISN'T AN EMERGENCY. Seriously....that stomach ache you had for 3 days didn't become an emergency at 2am this morning......

I hope it has better Li-ion batteries!!

Some firehouses are in neighborhoods with incredible foot traffic. Some are close to tourism centers. The attention can be very flattering and having a good relationship with the visiting public is good for the image of the fire service.......and t-shirt sales! Kidding aside, I assure you we all value the attention to some degree for it's importance on many levels. However, if you're visiting a firehouse, don't over stay your welcome. I've had out of towners stop by and it's great for a bit. A little tour, a chat and then that's it. Example: 54 engine and 4 truck are in the theater district. They run like crazy, like 5,000+ runs for the engine and 4,000 for the truck. Squeeze in a drill period in the afternoon and evening, a couple of meals and you're not left with a lot of time in the day..... P.S.- I'm a buff. I resent that term being associated with this skank.

Bad, this just looks bad. The Capt. was wrong in his delivery of a need to back away.....if that need even existed. Seemed plenty far, but thats just me. People with cameras are the WORST, but they're within their rights, as long as they're our of your way. All we can do is look our best being professional.

Ya know what the drone could tell you about that fire? The same thing a guy in the TL bucket could......except there was no one there.....probably because they don't have adequate staffing. FDNY does about 30,000 fires a year. If Detroit were the same size they'd do 60,000 fires. Now, I know many of these are vacant surround and drowns, they still see tons of fire. Twice the work, half the staff......brilliant planning.

The screen lets us see where we're going and gives us a chance to read the CIDS. It also updates to show units arriving on scene. Recently had a spare without one......really missed it.

Well, I too am a cynic and while I'll agree that people do strive to do the right thing, corporations do not. They answer to the all mighty dollar. I was saying that some municipalities, larger ones, do have Fire Codes, but the state (as I read it)does not have a specific fire code. As for sprinklers and such, I was just suggesting that these codes are woven into the building code. Bulk storage is always a problem and potential does exist, but from the sound of things the manner in which the material in question was stored was not adequately safe. Perhaps an inspection would have caught the condition prior to the fire and subsequent explosion.

Helicopper, people inherently don't do the right thing. That's what leaves us requiring legislation. As for the sprinklers and the fire escapes, larger municipalities do have fire codes. They are municipal codes. Other regulations might be buried in building codes, who knows? While I agree that knee jerk reaction must be avoided, there is some common sense here that is clearly not too common. Ammonium nitrate storage should be regularly inspected and better protected from sources of.ignition. Perhaps it shouldn't be stored in such bulk that an explosion registers on the Richter scale.

No, they don't. Additionally, as per the Recent article they prohibit small municipalities from creating their own. What you linked above is a very short list under health and public safety that governs the fire Marshall. I'd hardly call those fire codes.

Yes, I support common sense protections for workers, emergency workers especially.....must be a democrat. FYI, I'm a registered republican, the party looked a little different back then when I signed up though. Too bad.

This is a topic that deserves little to no debate. The idea is asinine and Texas is one of the most backwards states in our fair union. Anyone aware that Texas has NO state fire codes? None! Are we also aware that in the wake of the deaths of volunteer firefighters at the fertilizer plant explosion there is no serious bill being examined to enact new legislation that might have prevented last months disaster? In fact, even after said disaster, Rick Perry has been out championing the fact that Texas is biz friendly because they lack oversight and regulation! I love a slim, streamlined Gov't, just not one that sees no fault in the loss of a firefighters life. "Don't mess with Texas!" . Fine! Give it to Mexico, along with that hack Gov..

Small victory........small. Too bad that 293 bags of SHYTE will still get a chance at this job.

It was, but it was repaired and did another couple of years. Either way, all they did was a cruddy paint job. They didn't even change the rear doors. This would be a bad buy. These rigs are ridden hard and pretty beat up.

Strange, 20k miles? No way, I'm sure rescue 2 had 4 times that when retired.....

I'm going Saturday, not sure what time I'll make other though, maybe around 2.

At a wind impacted fire, ventilation is not occurring that way we would want it to. If the windows have failed and high winds are causing the building's interior to be the easiest flow path for fire, traditional extinguishment methods have proven ineffective and in some cases deadly. If windows have failed, but fire and smoke are not venting, this curtain may be placed across the window by a truck company from the floor above and the floor below. The device is intended for one time use, but should hold up long enough to allow the engine company to make a push.