M' Ave

I rarely run into any of these agencies, so my knowledge isn't as in depth as someone who works on Cross-Bay Blvd. or Throggs Neck. Some of these agencies serve private, Co-Op developments, such as Edgewater and Point Breeze. They have equipment that allows them to navigate tight streets. Often, they simply assist the FDNY in getting water to the fire, but what they provide is simply a service to a private community that is very specific in it's needs. As for the two units in Staten Island; Richmond Engine is 1 mile from E165 L85 and E162 L82. Oceanic Hose is half a mile from E 154 and a mile from E166 L86. I'm sure they're not beating any of those companies in unless they happen to have a crew hanging around the firehouse. I don't know how active they REALLY are, but we share a frequency with Staten Island and I occasionally hear the SI Dispatch calling them and they rarely answer. The neighborhoods they serve are very residential and remote. They have a real small town in a big city feel. The volunteer fire service has always been a cornerstone of small town life and the community. I'm sure this keeps it relevant, despite being covered by FDNY units. I have never heard of any real issues between them.

To clarify in return; I completely agree with your post as well. I was in no way looking to belittle FF1 or FF2 ect. I took them and a great deal more of the State Curriculum. Well designed and much comprehensive than Essentials was. I used FF1 as an example because all I've read with regard to Aviation's training is, "I've seen them in FF1 before". That's a spot on beginning to fire training, but I wouldn't call a department full of FF1 certificate holders adequate. Really though, from the sound of things, that group would probably have a difficult time showing even that amount of training. I've seen these guys at incidents closing streets and directing traffic near me and I'm no where near the Clason Point area. Any time a guy from this job goes to confront them, they hop in their SUV and drive off. I haven't worked in Soundview or Castle Hill recently, but I'm sure I will and I'll have to inquire about them with the units that are 1st due in that area.

Hold on....lets get a few things straight here. "Joe Samaritan" doesn't get to go start his own fire company because he wants to do good. It doesn't work that way. The City of New York is protected by the FDNY from fire and emergencies. The FDNY is also charged with enforcing fire and building codes. Additionally, FDNY and it's personnel have the ability to enforce and issue summons for a slew of other infractions. Every FDNY apparatus has multiple summons books. Sounds like we're a long way away from "...it's not the FDNY's job to enforce anything". Aviation VFC is a band of freelancing buffs. They're not needed and they're not helping anyone. One of the FDNY's greatest assets is staffing, assignment of standardized riding positions and response matrix, all of which give us the ability to work efficiently and safely at any fire. We as firemen know what our specific task is and chief officers know who's supposed to be where. It's a highly coordinated effort and the last thing that anyone needs is a rig no one expected taking a hydrant, blocking out trucks and stretching a line that could end up opposite ours. I don't care what their intentions are, their behavior is wrong and they're going to get someone hurt. As for training, all I've heard is talk of FF1 or Essentials, ect. Those courses do little more than scratch the surface, they're not a bench mark. An FDNY Proby receives about 1,000 hours of intense training before graduating and being assigned to a field unit. After that, he will respond, on average, to anywhere from 600 - 1,500 alarms a year while on duty. Please, tell me how Aviation is going to achieve training on that level. The Fire Commissioner of NYC has called for them to cease operations. He's the final say on all things fire in New York City, who are they to thumb their nose at that? If they are found to be operating in some claimed official capacity it should be handled in a legal manner.

There is a RAC for each Boro and it's a light duty detail. I know that RAC 1 turns out of E91 and RAC 3 from R3. They do no assessment. It's towels and drinks only. Every 10-75 gets an assignment from EMS. You need medical, there's going to be at least 2 buses and a EMS boss around.

More or less. It carries water, gatorade and wet towels in the summer. Obviously it has the tent you see above. It's pretty simple, does the job.

I stand corrected. However, while I know they fall under the auspices of NYPD, they are mostly new hires, no? That is to say, these aren't the police call takers now handling a new role, is it? Or are these the very same NYPD call takers as prior to UCT?

Technically, the call-takers are not NYPD. They're independent of any agency, but in reality they fall under NYPD's umbrella. They answer the call and begin to take your information. Once it becomes apparent who the neccesary agency is, a dispatcher from that agency is conferenced in. To the best of my knowledge, the call-takers are not EMD. From the looks of the information they input, they don't even have a GED. Sorry, but it's pretty bad. This system hasn't helped a thing except the bottom line, which we all know is the only important line to this mayor. Response times are in fact UP! The clock still starts when FDNY is given the call, but now all of the address and emergency information has been retrieved before the clock started. The clock should start when the phone is answered, but it's not. UCT time is not factored into overall response time. This is a lesson in how to achieve what you want without actually doing it. The anwser? Just change the rules to suit your needs.

Using volunteer status as an excuse is the biggest mistake this chief made. Are you a firefighter or not? If you want to be taken as seriously as career firefighters, then you can't use volunteer status as a crutch for missteps. Crazy things do happen and it's not so hard to see why you might see a hydrant and assume it's a working one. However, I don't think it's a lot to ask for people to know hydrant locations in their immediate response area. I know in NYC we test every hydrant in our first due areas twice a year. We literally walk the streets from hydrant to hydrant, open and close them and grease the threads. Hydrants, like all of our other tools are (first and foremost), for our safety. Water problems are sighted in every fire with less-then-desirable results. Volunteer or Career, this is your job. Having in-and-out knowledge of THE key lifesaving tool isn't too much to ask. I'm not saying that you should be able to place every hydrant on a map while sitting in the firehouse, but you should be able to approach an address and have some idea of where the closest hydrants are.

In my limited experience; I've worn older Globe and Janesville gear. More recently it's been all Morning Pride for me. I've seen some demo Globe X stuff and some Quaker and Lion. Both Quaker and Lion were a little "light weight" in terms of durability for my taste. When I was a volunteer, we had Morning Pride which used a "Nomex III" outer shell. It was a bit stiffer and heavier, but offered a great deal of durability. Since coming on the job in New York City we've had Morning Pride which has a PBI outer shell, if I'm not mistaken. It's fairly flexible and light-weight, which is good. Considering how much it weighs after I fill the pockets with tools, webbing and rope, I'd like a coat that starts out as light as possible. The downside? Well, I'd say that it's a tad prone to tearing and excessive wear. We send out gear out every six months for cleaning and repair. It always comes back with patches and such. Now, granted, I know the cleaning company might be a little liberal with their repairs (they have to make a buck!) it does wear out pretty quickly. Forget fire duty, it's the wearing of the gear while jumping on and off the rig, carrying tools or hose and taking it on and off 10 times a day when you're working. That's what wears that stuff out and it sure does wear out.

My favorite topic.....also the answer to a great deal of problems with the fire service in Westchester County.

The Capt. gave a good explanation of what is available. To reiterate simply, if everyone has a radio and the SOP is that they key it up when they arrive, at least you'll know who's there and operating. It's a modern "two tag" system. Basically, with a radio we have the tool of a digital signature to capture and record. Again, this should be center stage right now. Put every other expense on hold and make the radio accountability purchase that works best for your department. This is our safety and it's more important than everyone else's.

I remember the tag system from a previous volunteer membership. It has its roots in simplicity, and that's a good thing, but my experience with it was a failed experience. It's a lot to ask for a guy to take a tag and put it some place on the pump panel when he's one of the first people on scene and rushing to do a search or grab the first line. It just doesn't happen. Budgets are tight these days, but there is no reason that we can't justify the cost of assigning a radio to every interior qualified member in the volunteer setting. No one should be operating inside a fire building without one. I know they're expensive, but so is that tower ladder, second aerial, Q sirens and 14 million LED lights.....let's prioritize and get members the gear they deserve for safety's sake.

Training is about complete for us on a new accountability system. It's called E.F.A.S. for Electronic Firefighter Accountability System. To echo what others around our job are saying, it's one of the most well thought out programs in a while. All command vehicles (Batt. and Div. cars) are set-up with the system. It uses our MDTS and opens with a single button push. The system is tied in with each companies riding list for the tour. In other words, each radio has and electronic I.D. number. That number correlates to a company and a position within that company (Nozzle, Roof, Irons, Boss, ect). When each tour starts, the members working are entered into the computer and so are the positions they're assigned. That computer system is tied in with the E.F.A.S.. When on scene, a member will make a transmission and that person information with pop up on the MDT screen as such: F.F. Smith L099 - Roof (It is also time stamped. Also, once any member of a company transmits, that company is stored as being on that incident and all of the companies show up in a different on screen box. The list grows as members make transmissions, however, they remain on the list for the incidents duration. When someone transmits a Mayday, hopefully they push the emergency alert button on their radio. If they do, their transmissions are displayed on the screen in bright red, they also remain on top in another window. If they fail to push the emergency alert button, the member of the FAST truck who is monitering the screen may manually assign them to Mayday status. A member from the FAST truck is responsible for monitoring this screen for the duration of the job. This includes any instances where the FAST truck may be put to work. The truck will operate without this member, they are married to this screen. Lastly, the E.F.A.S. system has a roll-call feature. Since the system knows what units are on scene and have transmitted, it also knows how many firemen are there. When the chief hits the roll-call button on the screen, he will ask for all on scene to click their mic button 3 times (to avoid stepping on one another) and the system will record those who transmit as accounted for. Those who are not accounted for will show up in red and then they can be individually called upon to answer. Hopefully they were simply stepped on or did not click initially. The system isn't nearly as complicated as I may have made it sound. It's fairly fire dept. friendly.

I know 156 is at The Rock and 42, 29, 38, 8, 11, ect. ect. are sitting at Ferrara's facility in N.J.

Interesting about the handling. Is it a steering system issue or rear suspension issue? Hopefully that easily corrected. As I've heard, 32 has since been repaired and is functioning properly. Aerial has been used a job or two. That new emissions stuff is a major issue. It takes a lot of room from the officer's seating area and the short trips that we often make don't allow for proper functioning of the new filter systems. Why is it that we can't be an exception to the new emissions rule?

Where will these hire be going? I know there were some layoffs recently, hopefully everyone has been rehired.

You sure? I don't even think a Lamborghini Guillardo can do the 1/4 mile in 10 seconds.

The name on the front doesn't so much matter. The materials chosen for the build, as well as the internal components (engine, trans., pumps, ect. ect), are all spec'd by the FDNY. Whomever builds the rig would use these same components. As for the rest of your question; I don't think anyone here (unless there is a Shops foreman floating around here) is qualified to answer the question of what's been going wrong with the new rigs. No one really knows. All that we know is that only a handful of the new rear-mounts have been placed in service while the rest seem to have been held up. Those are the only facts available. The RUMOR is that there are a few electrical and fine tuning issues that they'd like to work out before they deliver the rest. Seems reasonable to me. Rescue 4 has had a new rig for months and it has been relatively problem free. The rest of the rescues have yet to have the new rig fully in service. Rescue 3's new rig was used by the company at the funeral for Lt. DiBernardo. Clearly it was thought to be functional enough to be driven to that service and back and I'm sure no one would want a silly apparatus issue at an incredibly sad and important day. The bottom line is: These are new rigs. They're a fresh design from the ground up, being built by a manufactururer with only a little NYC experience. There will be some issues that need to be worked out, but I'm sure everything will turn out fine once the bugs are fixed up. Or maybe they won't.....take a look at the service record of Seagrave TL's delivered during the middle of the last decade....LEMONS!

The outgoing V.P. earned 5.8 million dollars in his final year of employment. I don't know about anyone else, but my bill keeps going up. Things seem a little backwards. As for this particular subject....Bike Sunday's are terrific and I'm glad to see it remain a Spring/Fall tradition.

The job of a high ranking uniformed officer is very different from that of Commissioner. Perhaps the Chief didn't want the job. I know nothing of the situation, I'm just throwing it out there. The commissioner is a politician, not a fire officer. Those two positions have very different responsibilities and may very well draw the interest of different people.

What is the standard response for a vehicle fire? How about if the fire is on a highway?

Any word on arrangements?

Couple of good things to look at in these photos. Car fires become pretty routine and this one presented itself with some unusual concerns. The most obvious, of course, is the exposure issue. It's inevitable that you push the fire a bit as you put the hose line on it. Another is that you'd like to attack a care fire at an angle and that wasn't really possible here. Lastly, looks like the truck did a nice job clearing some shingles and what not from the side of the house. Good overhaul. Nice job by NRFD.

Our rig got hit with a glass bottle from a rooftop not too long ago. Plenty of people out there with a bone to pick with us.

This fire company made a few mistakes, but they also encountered a couple of situations that are somewhat unusual. More than anything else, this is a terrific training tool. Everyone can learn a few key points by watching this.