M' Ave

Unfortunatly, this issue is not confined to "rural" NY. Declining volunteerism is an issue from the city line, north. That said, there are a lot of dedicated volunteers who could (and would like) to do more. The current system is truely a hindrance and a serious overhaul is needed. Smaller town and village fire departments shouuld be combined into larger area districts. The pool of active volunteers would better service a larger area and more call volume. In areas where necessary, by population and call volume, could be supplemented by a career staff. Towns and villages really need to give up a little control and allow for a vastly superior, efficient reorganization. Emergency services can operate more effectivly on economies of scale, to some degree. I live in Westchester, in a high-tax community. I work in the poorest congressional district in the United States. The residents of said congressional district recieve vastly superior Fire and EMS service. Why does anyone think this is acceptatble? Everyone, regardless of municipality should demand equal emergency service protections. This is not a volunteer/career issue. This is not one municipality vs. another....this is a life safety issue for citizens and responders. We can better utilize our emergency personel, improve and better utilize volunteer service and compliment with career firemen when needed. Lets smarten up.

This is kind of a rhetorical question, no? Reality is, New Rochelle FD should be able to handle more than an All-hands without outside assistance or coverage, but that's on the politicians who refuse to properly fund adequate staffing and coverage. This is a "bigger picture" discussion. It's my opinion that, if a department must call MX aide upon every transmission of a "working fire", they are under-funded and thus, under staffed. The same applies to volunteer departments. Everything bread-and-butter (yes, this includes a 1 or 2 line fire) should be handled by the responsible department without help.

Keep France in your thoughts. Remember, the ideals that fueled this assault and murder, would seek to cause the same harm and more to all of us. **Never Forget** Beginning at 1800hrs today,FDNY will staff all 1st. And 3rd. Division Engines with 5 firemen. Additionally, Rescue 6, an additional Squad, Reserve SOC Support Truck and Rescue Battallion 2 will be in service Until Further Orders. Though not specific, clearly the threat of violent activity is being taken very seriously.

That thing is too big for Centereach too....but shhhhhhh, don't tell anyone. They're surrounded by rescues too, but we all know that L.I. story....

Consolidation is a separate issue. In the broader picture, it's key. However, it doesn't address the fact that NRFD units are understaffed and forced to operate short-handed. Consolidated or not, the 5 engines and 3 ladders protecting that area need the proper staffing and supervision.

This situation is a disgrace. The handling and management of resources in The Village of Lachmont is hollow. They are a career dept., which is understaffed. They have few volunteers and they've spent decades reducing the relevance and responsibility of that outfit. So, what you're left with, as with many of the local "combo" fire departments, is an illusion of safety. It's a great big gamble that the politicians typically win. Luck eventually runs out. What has happened, twice, recently in Larchmont is an indicative of 2 problems: 1) Many FD's in Westchester lack any semblance of adequate staffing. This is a problem that some have tried to address through a regional consolidation plan....but no one has the stones to see it through, not to mention the fact that many are entrenched in guarding their own little fiefdom... 2) In this example, in this municipality, it appears that a serious lack of judgement was made. The residents of Larchmont pay some of the highest taxes in the NATION and they should expect the fire protection they pay for. What? Everyone was just so excited to go Yonkers they shut the lights and call the TMFD? This is gross-negligence in management. If someone died in a house fire in Larchmont, I would expect the LFD chief to go to jail. The LFD's first responsibility is to the residents of Larchmont. Mx aide is important to give and receive, but if you can't continue to perform your primary duties, you can't perform them for another municipality.

If only we'd learn from the past and stop doing it over and over again in the future.... I can be a little hawkish....but we're digging a lot of holes for ourselves.... On the flip-side, I'd like to see us actually fight someone, and not in the media and the television cameras. War is ugly, now it has to deal with the flow of easy information and public perception.

No, many people volunteered and others were from agencies that dont' have presumptive bills associating cancers and other 9/11 illness with a LOD issue.

In the city, we seldom use a ladder pipe, but when we do they always go at the tip. However, and I've never seen Greenville's ladder, but i think it's a prepiped waterway. Some are fixed one fly from the top, it can't exten to the tip. This keeps the tip less cluttered for laddering a buildilng for rescue or entry. The water may be flowing from where it is designed.

Normally, I wouldn't get too partisan...but THANKS and F%&K YOU REPUBLICANS! They stole our democratic process and didnt allow a vote. People will continue to get sick and die while the Senate does nothing.

Wow...clearly they had No. Water. Bad spot for a surround and drown while trying to save exposures....bad hydrants are frustrating! So, they laid a MILE of LDH, up and down hills....I wonder how the pressure was by the time it got there. You'd need relief just to get guys there to pack all that hose...

Some pre-piped waterways don't extend the full height...not sure why, but I've seen this.

It's a shame man....they don't build them like they used to and all it takes is a little preventative maintenance. My FH is over 100 years old...needs a lot of TLC, and it bothers me that they keep simply patching it together.... Just needs a little bit of love, but no one cares.....and we all know that whatever they build now will be some cold/sterile P.O.S.

One way to look at it...the other could be that a building had to fall apart for the city to replace it...literally.

Tough part about a minimum is that it will become the standard. The Bean-counters will call them, "staffing requierments", cleverly leaving out the word minimum. They're so small minded they probably WOULD gut an organization dedicated to woman's health and family planning. (Ignore the Fox Propoganda Channel brother....and CNN and MSNBC for that matter.....)

No one, NO ONE is suggesting that we forget thsoe that died in the Civil War. The flag has nothing to do with recent events, however it is a symbol of division and treason and it should NOT fly over a State House. It belongs in history books and museums. Wanna fly it? Go ahead. But it doesn't belong on State land.

...I thought this was a rational discussion. The Confederate Flag is a symbol of division. It represents a time that tore this country in half and killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. Ahhh, but whatever, Pride not Predudice right? (Rolls Eyes) The. End.

So, it's cowardly and lilly-livered to take down a flag that was flown specifically to show rejection to Civil Rights laws and integration? That flag was not flown from the South Carolina Capital until the 1960's and it was done so just to show contempt for Federal Laws banning segregation. Simply put, that flag was flown in support of segregation. Period. You wanna fly one? Go ahead, it's your right as a private citizen. Institutions of state, however, should not. As for Old Navy's "illegal" shirt....there's nothing illegal about it. The US Code as it relates to the treatment of our flag is not law. It's a code of conduct and instruction in how to properly care for or flag. Personally, I follow these codes. I do not fly my flag at night and it NEVER touches the ground. When tattered, I drop it at the VFW in for proper disposal. However, should someone chose to shamefully ignore these rules, they have that right and they're not breaking the law. Lastly, it is not illegal to fly the flag of a vanquished enemy....your friend is mistaken. However, Stars and Bars, it is a flag of insurgency.

That's right, and by Great Britain, they were. Then we won the war and became a sovereign nation. The end. I see lots of problems with burning the American Flag. If someone shot the next person they saw doing it, I'd stand up and cheer! However, we have a lot of freedoms in this country, freedom of expression and such. The same freedom allows anyone to fly a Confederate flag loud and proud. The amount of freedom we have in this country means we have to be tolerant of things we don't like. We can't stand on something like the 2nd Amendment to defend our rights to bear arms, but seek to take away the protections of another amendment. That's pretty contradictory. I don't often support the Federal Gov't curtailing any individuals rights, even if that means a disgustingly tasteless display, such as desecrating Old Glory.

I'm no fan of this liberal gov't or the agenda that it's pushing. I also don't think the confederate flag has anything to do with that tragic mass-murder a couple of weeks ago. However, lets not get crazy....no one is saying you can't fly or display a confederate flag. Each person is free to do so under the constitution. What is at issue is whether a gov't institution should be flying that flag. My personal opinion is no. I'll soap box a little further....the confederate flag is a flag of treason. Today, we'd probably have branded them terrorists. Lastly, The flag that is currently flying over the Carolina State House was only raised in the 1960's as a symbol of defiance in the face voting rights and school integration. So, it's not some historic battle flag that'd been flying there for a century, it's simply a symbol of division.

That's some decent satire. Bill diBlasio sucks. Period.

I've been seeing a lot of Ford Explorers lately....seems they're pretty popular with the cops. Anyone have first hand experience?

The above is all correct! T-shirts sold by the companies do help us off-set some in house expenses and we definitely appreciate it. Also, if you're not in a position to visit a house, the FDNY Fire Zone in Rockafeller Center sells a lot of authorized stuff. That money does go to support the FDNY Foundation which is a non-profit that supports scholarships and other worthy causes.

“To single people out on the basis of race, whether it's for positive or for negative reasons, is discriminatory,” Rodriguez said. Yup, this. The End. We need to get outta the race based analysis game. This is just getting rediculous....and insulting....

I'd like to comment on his interview, but I have to head to work go shine my car.