M' Ave

Is NRFD going to adjust staffing, or will this be a second piece for TL11?

Great post. I have the good fortune of working in one of the Bronx's 100+ year old firehouses. While the paint is chipping, the floors are cracked, we have about 25 window air conditioners and we too have to add water to the old steam boiler, I'll take it any day over something new. While I'm sure every new firehouse will be broken in and become a home, nothing could replace the character of a classic, not in my lifetime.

This is a tough one. I'd have to know more about the F.D. to form a real opinion, however, I"ll say this: I don't know that you can include the city in a wrongful death suit unless that city was grossly understaffed by some national standard (ie NFPA) or some piece of equipment the city issued was knowingly defective or not properly maintained. I think there is an even darker side to this issue. If the city is named as a defendant and the way they managed the F.D. is called into question, they will search long and hard to find operational miscues as a defense. The city will not pay, look at the Deutche Bank building in Manhattan. They city was extremely negligent in their handling of this demolition project and yet they managed to side step responsibility and the top brass of the 1st division were all stripped of their commands for alleged mishandling of a situation that was far beyond their scope of control.

They sure don't build'em like they used to.......

Guy from 80 engine was detailed to my house a couple of nights ago. No work has begun and they're is some pressure being applied by the buildings guys to be able to do the work. They did a great job in the quarters of 55 engine. Hopefully they get the job, because the work that I've seen done by outside contractors in the firehouse has been terrible! Those company's will be out of their house for about 2 more years.

GREAT shots. That's some really good classic stuff R1!

Thanks for the link, I just finished reading it. Very interesting and certainly well thought out and very thorough. It does an excellent job of outlining savings, ect. The only stumbling block I see is that some municipalities have dealt with a very small # of firefighters for decades and wouldn't so clearly see a cost benefit if you're suggesting adding more firefighters to their community. I understand that there is a cost benefit, but you have to have a clear understanding in order to get that. Hopefully those in charge see this as the important issue it is and give it enough attention to educate themselves. NFPA sets a good minimum standard, but politicians know they don't HAVE to follow it. It's a great report and I hope that it's powerful enough to lead people in the right direction. Congratulations on the finished product!!

Will it be available to read anywhere online?

This is great news!!! Finally the Supreme Court has stopped the handouts! Hopefully other similar cases (especially the local ones!) fall in line. It's an equal playing field, thankfully this will help that remain. We're assured equal rights towards achieving success.....no one is promised success.

Word around the job says, Ferrara won a bid to build 34 rear-mount trucks.

I hope like HELL the court rules with the firemen. All you'll get with a ruling in favor of the city is decades of entitlement and a new thing to "blame".

I can think of a few more who could use one.

Perfect!

17 truck had a spare for at least six months. The '06 they got was OOS with the rest of em' for a long time. Then the radiator went after that. Junk...... As for the conditions....so what if they stand up to harsh roads and weather. They run more than most and are put through the paces all the time......SO WHAT!? The PM program is excellent as are the mechanics with the emergency crew who come to fix the rigs in quarters. The shops are excellent. There shouldn't be so many problems, especially right out of the box. Tough spec or not, if you can't meet it, don't bid the contract. NYC pays more than half a million for an engine and that's TON considering they buy over 70 rigs at once! A brand new, custom built apparatus should function perfectly by the time any company in the field is using it. If it has to be repaired under warranty for any reason, it should happen inside of a week. There is NO reason whatsoever that any apparatus should sit idle for half a year waiting for warranty repair. It's just not acceptable. If Ferrara or anyone else can build a rig with an aerialscope boom that meets all city spec, GREAT! I'm sure everyone's willing to work with any builder as long as it meets the specs and performs better than what's out in the field. The engines, transmissions, pumps, plumbing and other various parts will be exactly the same because that's what's spec'd. Maybe someone does a better job slapping it all together.

nice theory, but not so practical. No one makes a rig for the city to demo. Everything we use is very specific, no one "just makes one".

The city has a spec. That's all there is too it. With such a large fleet and many years perfecting (or trying to) our rig configuration, they've decided what works best and that's that. Who cares who's name is on the front. That makes no difference, they're all the same. It depends who's going to meet a tight spec as far as tooling for production goes. It's not about specific parts, but about size, shape and layout. FYI, no one has anything good to say about the Ferrara engines due to smaller interior dimensions.....for whatever reason. Also, my Co.'s rig is about 7 years old. It sucks. Rides terribly, has rust EVERYWHERE and is slower than dog sh&t......peddle to the floor everytime.

Funds in the 2010 NYC budget have been secured to restore nighttime staffing E4, E161, E271 and L53 and to avoid the closing of the 12 other companies threatened by the original budget proposal. It appears that Gov's Island will remain without fire protection, however there are no further operational cuts. Co. staffing levels remain unchanged. http://www.silive.com/eastshore/index.ssf/...en_islands.html

iPhone, very cool toy, no doubt about it! If you need solid workability and functionality, get a BlackBerry. It's just a really solid device, with a great rugged track record and it's available on the only decent network, Verizon.

We're past the financial "bottom" (hopefully) so I don't think you'll see closures later if you don't see them now. You can't close firehouse when things are getting better, that looks even worse. This is just good news, we don't need to loose any companies or positions on the rig.

Much as I'm sorry that the patrol is no more, that building in Greenwich Village is really beautiful, a classic store front firehouse. As long as the building was properly preserved, I'd like to see it used for something like a restaurant. The longer it sits unused, the more it'll deteriorate.

This past week, two alarms with a 2 and 1 response in the same vicinity. One was a cross street and ave and the other was the address on the ave. One was a job, one was nothing. This is needless confusion. I hope they see the light and can be convinced to return to the old and reliable system.

I saw some white SUV at a job one afternoon. They had blue lights galore and this guy was out directing traffic. Not a single person in my house knew who they were or what they were doing there. There was something about fire patrol on the vehicle, but no one seems to know anything about them. What's the story?

They do not respond to alarms and are not dispatched by any city agency.

It would be nice if a few more guys in white shirts had this kind of back-bone.

We are getting more and more tickets that say nothing more than an address and an intersection....no description of the incident. Not good. Do I need my gear on or do I not? Do I need my ems gloves or is it fire. Is it a car accident? What's the deal!?!?!?!?! The other day we went 3 + 2 for a structural collapse......it was a large tree branch and it wasn't on a house or car. This is a waste of time, resources and a bit safety risk. JBE, I hope you guys get the calls back!