M' Ave

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Everything posted by M' Ave

  1. I bet that has to do with the incredible weight of the concrete that would be pumped through. In comparison, people and even water, don't weigh as much. That said, what a stupid rig. Clearly, no one on the committee has ever heard of the K.I.S. theory. KEEP IT SIMPLE! Also, having a one-off item doesn't usually turn out well. The first of anything has bugs, glitches and design flaws that need to be worked out by actual field time. We can always look for a way to improve upon the systems that we have now. We shouldn't get mired in the "100 years of tradition unimpeded by progress" mantra, but lets make smart decisions. Thousands of Tower Ladders and Ladder Towers have been sold all over the country and the world. Theses designs have worked for departments for 50+ years. Industrial Dept's, rural and suburban dept's and large cities from coast to coast. Why would one suburban department in New Jersey feel that they are so different that they need this radical device? Just seems like poor planning.
  2. There will be a second Merit Matters meeting held this Monday, Nov. 15th This meeting will take place at St. Lukes Church on 138th St (West of Cypress Ave) in The Bronx. This is across the street from the quarters of Engine 83 and Ladder 29. The meeting will discuss current happenings with municipal hiring practices as they pertain to New York City and other municipalities. Merit Matters Shirts will be for sale and Food and Refreshments will be served. There will be a suggested donation to help cover costs. Please attend and help the group continue to fight for a Civil Service process that is truly merit based! This effects all of us and we need to protect the merit system NOW!
  3. Sure, free rides to the test, wake up call the morning of, and dumbed down test.....yada yada yada.......... Question: The percentage of test takers who are offered employment by the FDNY has, historically, been about the same as the acceptance rate to Harvard. How come Harvard isn't making it easier to get in? Answer: BECAUSE WHEN YOU HAVE A HUGE APPLICANT POOL, YOU GET TO DEMAND THE BEST! What is so difficult to understand about that. If there aren't enough minority candidates that make the cut, TOO BAD! Better spend a little time working on the school and family institutions that are responsible for producing a viable candidate for employment. That won't happen though.......we'll just take a job that tens-of-thousands apply for, and give it to people who couldn't put forth an ounce of effort and STUDY!
  4. I big mark for Buick is the sales numbers overseas. Owning a Buick in China is like owning a BMW in the states. They're a huge seller. Pontiac, until the G8, hadn't made a decent vehicle in 2 decades.
  5. They do not generally promote all that many people to Fireman. In the past they have even pulled the promotion back because they needed the EMT's on the street. EMS is ALWAYS in need of quality EMT's, so I would assume it's a good place for someone who's into the job. Response to the above poster; They have not expanded ambulance tours (believe me I wish they would, I've waited up to 20 minutes with a low priority patient when EMS is backed up). They have in fact cut ALS tours in the past couple of years to save money. EMS could make money in theory, BUT it doesn't always work out that way. The largest patrons of EMS are in the poorest of area's. Generally bad patients, not personally, but from a medical condition standpoint. Not much for preventative care and they are often in poor health. There are many contributing factors, but a lack of insurance is a big part of that. Who's paying the city? A lot of the time the answer is, no one. An actual break-down of the numbers would be interesting. How much of the operating costs are actually recouped. I'd be shocked if it turned any profit at all. That's not supposed to be the point anyway. It's public safety, that's what we pay taxes for.
  6. Why are we comparing a city to a single Borough of NYC? "If Brooklyn were a city......", well, it ain't!
  7. To quickly answer the question about wooden ground ladders...... San Francisco still has electric street cars as well as electric buses that draw from over head centenary wires. These overhead wires are ALL OVER THE PLACE. I've been told that the excessive number of exposed overhead wires is one of the chief reasons behind the continues use of wooden ladders. As for the video; you can't blame people for yelling what they yelled. They're watching a building go up in flames and from the outside, it doesn't look like much is going on. Even though S.F. is filled with liberal "0"s, I have to give them credit for eventually figuring out that they had been spraying water from the inside all along and that you can't spray inwards and outwards at the same time. They do say that towards the end. People just don't know how you have to fight a fire. To the layperson, it might make perfect sense to just open a deck gun and blast the fire from the street, through the open window. From the couch, I hate to quarterback and I know that S.F. has an excellent reputation indeed. It seems like it did take quite a while to get into that apt. and put water on the fire, but we all know what might have stood in the way. Maybe the door had a Fox Lock and a police bar to go along with a bunch of dead-bolts. That'll kick your butt trying to force. Maybe they had a burst length inside. S.F., like many places doesn't have the luxury of adequate manpower. Maybe there were only two or three guys stretching the first line to the interior. All in all, the fire was out within 10 or 15 minutes with a little exposure the the floor above. From the looks of things, that first apt. was well involved when they arrived and it was a total loss at that point anyway. So, however you want to critique it, the fire went out, hopefully no one was hurt (looked like they had a couple truckies helping folks outta the building) and there was minimal damage done beyond that that was already done prior to arrival.
  8. To expand a little further; they serve as EMT's, primarily. That is the function they act in on most occasions. From a fire/emergency prospective, they act as key liaisons, especially the Fire Brigade Chiefs. We attend in service training sessions with the Fire Brigade chief's on a a regular basis. They are able to go over equipment specifications and hazards as well as discuss how we would proceed in the event of an emergency. The fire brigade in Grand Central doesn't have the apparatus to mitigate much more than a small rubbish fire, however there knowledge of the terminal and it's inner-workings is essential for responding FDNY and EMS units.
  9. Please review this site and join if you so wish! http://meritmattersusa.blogspot.com/ This is a very serious issue. The standards that define our job are in serious peril. We're going to see the degradation of our profession in the hands of left leaning politicians who would rather hand this job out to anyone to achieve a racial balance instead of putting in the time to educate and better everyone. STAND-UP!
  10. Jo, best of luck! Get what you deserve!
  11. I don't think it's a problem in it's entirety. Water leaks and stuck elevators don't tend to be serious emergencies. That part I don't have a problem with. What I do have a problem with is the 2nd and 3rd due units responding 10-20 to structural boxes. So, if the 1st due engine get's in and it's a working fire, THEN the others can kick it up a notch and turn the siren on? That's stupid. What if the first due engine is out and the first due truck arrives REALLY ahead of the other units? They have to wait all that extra time for an engine from further away, and a slow moving 2nd due that is REALLY further away. We tailor the speed of our responses on a regular basis. I know officers who won't use the siren for runs that we're familiar with and know are typically nonsense. We slow down and creep through all intersections. Believe me, it's only in the case of multiple calls and reports of people trapped or heavy fire that makes us step it up a lot. I'm surprised they didn't give this pilot program a whirl in a certain Borough...........the one Borough that's responsible for about 50% of the accidents in the city. More specifically, that very small handful of companies that are responsible for the lion's share of that 50%.
  12. Ah, but they'll be getting $22.50 each time a red light is run. All that for doing and maintaining nothing. Not all bad.
  13. I've seen homes built from former firehouses and they usually come out great. Good bones and unique space to work with. At least in this case, this building is being replaced and a company didn't close.
  14. Quite the data base. Only problem is, there aren't any "fire stations" in NYC. There are some firehouse's though Good collection.
  15. It is indeed a part time company, as was mentioned above. There is no rig assigned specifically for that purpose. The R6 lettering was removed from the rig used during the RNC.
  16. Correct! All 5 are being replaced. I believe that this one is headed for R2. R1 has the newest rig and should be last to be replaced. I think you can more or less expect this rig to resemble HM1....less a few lab toys. Maybe they'll get going on the 20 rear-mounts that are supposedly coming in at the first of the new year......It'd be nice because the 2001 rear-mounts are BEAT!
  17. Blah blah blah...........warning lights people......warning lights! WHO CARES! I ride around in a big red engine or truck. It has flashing lights and we use it on streets highways ect.....The only thing that is really going to make a difference for your safety is YOU! Use your head and pay attention. I've been standing on the highway and seen people work REALLY hard to squeeze their car between the flares we put up to close a portion of the road. I've had motorcycles weave right through the firemen on the scene. Lights, stripes, ribbons, flares don't matter that much. The only thing that will keep you safe is using your head and some proper rig placement. The only thing that's going to keep you safe and stop drivers from coming near you while you work is to make them UNABLE to.
  18. The station exists and has apparatus, but is not manned. I believe that it is in serviceable condition and is manned lightly during concerts and other high-volume-attendance events. I also believe that companies who respond to the island can use the apparatus that is already there, although I'm not really familiar as I'm no where near that area. There are no plans for the manning of Gov's Island at this time. We're lucky just to have kept regular neighborhood firehouses open.
  19. Very beautiful story and a wonderful job done by neighboring departments. Thank you for sharing these photos and the story.
  20. It's a nice looking rig. Seating for 10? If they have that kind of staff, good for them! Really though, how many guys ride? If it's 4 on the back-step, why waste space with 2 extra seats rather than space to store tools, or just have more room for comforts sake in the back. I'm sure Jersey City spends plenty of time in their rigs and space is at a premium on any piece of fire apparatus. I would think that those guys could find ample use for added storage.
  21. If I can pull this from memory......a standard city rig has 11 rotators, 6 flashers and 4 strobing side lights. All of the striping is reflective and yet people STILL run into us and drive past us like an obstacle course. You can't fix stupid and careless. Personally, I think that chevrons look stupid. I'll be the first to admit that that opinion has NO practical application, just the way I feel about the rigs appearance. As for the NFPA.....they seem to do a better job of making things more expensive than anything else. p.s. Rescue Me is embarrassing.
  22. It too many minorities get it wrong, it's discriminatory. That's how the law is currently written. It REALLY needs to change.
  23. Nah, whether it's helpful in this case or not, it'll just be another cop-out decision that avoids the bigger issue. This is exactly what happened in the case of the New Haven 20. They ruled in favor of the brothers from New Haven who brought suit, and that's great, but they ducked out on the big picture. The didn't address the silliness of Title 7, disparate impact. Scalia did note in his addition to the decision of the court that they would one day have to address this difficult and sensitive topic. Perhaps this will be that day... The Disparate Impact Clause is nothing more than constitutionally backed racism. The judge ruled that Exam 6019 did not adequately determine who would be a better firefighter candidate. Well, doesn't that effect everyone of every race who took the exam? Nope. If you did poorly and were white, you are just dumb. If you are a member of a so called, "protected class" then it isn't your fault. It's someone else's fault. Lets hope that right minds prevail and enforce merit. MERIT MATTERS. www.meritmattersusa.blogspot.com
  24. What's a "night hitch"? We wear shorts at work as well, sometimes year round. To be honest, I'm not sure what the official policy is, but if we're responding to an EMS run and I'm wearing shorts, I put my pants on, as a minimum. I've stepped, knelt, ect. in blood many times. Still again, the Chauffeur isn't getting out on EMS, so he doesn't really need to do anything he wouldn't do on any other run. It's a personal decision for him/her. I'll say that this remains true for structural responses as well. In our case, most of the time, the engine shouldn't be IFO the building. Hopefully the rig is a building or so down the block or clear across the street. Obviously the hydrant location plays a role in the rigs positioning, but the front should be left of the ladders. If this is the case, why does the ECC need to wear anything? Sure, there are ways that he could be injured, such as a burst lengh, ect. However, you're not protecting yourself from these hazards unless you're fully bunkered up. I'd say that the benefits of keeping cool and moving around in the street hooking up, helping, ect., out weigh the dangers typically encountered. Obviously we're talking about an engine chauffeur. The truck is a whole 'nother story and the I would think that LCC should be on that turn-table in gear, ready to go perform whatever task is necessary, once the stick is in place. I believe that the LCC is only required to stay at the turn table on tower ladders. The above is, of course, not without caveat. Perhaps that engine chauffeur is closer to the building in this case and in the path of falling debris, should things start coming out windows. Maybe the upstanding residents of the building across the way have decided that today is a good day to work on their aim with a glass bottle from the 20th floor. Any and every opinion in these matters is not without an asterisk. We encounter too many variables to be able to follow specific protocol without an injection of common sense. Use your head.