FD36

This guy is an embarrassment to the fire service. He put his own agenda ahead of public safety. Maybe he should have followed the actions of the chief in front of him and not like some careless idiot. It was an abuse of the towns vehicle and the privilege of driving an emergency vehicle. I think the major difference here being that he is a volunteer, is that had he been a career chief he would probably have been fired. In this case he carries on with his life, while this woman had to suffer because of his recklessness. Hopefully this has taught him a valuable lesson. None of us are exempt from negligence when it comes to driving to an emergency. Slow and steady wins the race.

EXACTLY! This wannabe is only sorry that he was exposed for the pathetic poser that he is, and now that all of his cronies know the truth! Of all the things to pretend to be this is a new low. It's like slapping all of those who ACTUALLY were there and still deal with the horror of that day. Unbelievable......

RIP FF Townes , you have made the ultimate sacrifice, thank you for your service.

Thank you for your sacrifice, you are truly a HERO. RIP brother

RIP BROTHER,YOU MADE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE. MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOURS.

Correct that the fire service is constantly evolving, but sometimes it seems that every department in gods creation has at least three brand new suv's. Maybe its me but as a taxpayer I would rather see that money better spent, maybe on a more fuel efficient vehicle, or some new tools for firefighters. You take a look at some of the departments in lower westchester, the bigger cities, and they don't have the newest and greatest of vehicles or apparatus for that fact. IMO money could be spread a little farther by saving a buck here and there, starting with vehicles and fuel.

What ever happened to the time where there weren't chiefs vehicles for all of the chiefs? They used their personal vehicles and maybe recieved some sort of compensation for their gas and lights and sirens. There weren't 3 brand new suv's with lights and radios everywhere. Why did that work for so many years? And now municipalities are raising taxes, cutting budgets including fire/ems and police, just read the news papers. I have seen plenty of personal vehicles with red lights, any many with no markings, at fire scenes. Alot of dept's don't give their members anything for responding to calls with personal vehicles, it is "part of the job" of being in an emergency services department, a personal choice and maybe a small sacrifice. Going back to old practices in regards to the vehicle issue might not be a bad idea.

Captain, are there any requirements mandating Dept's to issue these rope systems by a certain time, or who can actually train firefighters on them?

Imagine that, someone who won't be in charge for more than a few years having a say in who will be hired for a career that will be at least 20 years, when that person has never held that job. Sounds like a flaw in the system to me.

Sobering but unfortunately true. Seems to be the norm around here.......

Buisness as usual means exactly that! It should have read nothing as usual, I can't recall there EVER being many if not any people there.I believe there are only a few active firefighters from there anyway.

Rodent infestation.Odor of diesel in the career quaters.

Exactyl!

It is highly unlikely,damn near impossible.On occasion at a working structure fire there is a good turnout.

Could you imagine the liability that would open up a municipality to?

Unfortunately for Peekskill,staffing is inadequate on both the career and volunteer sides.Especially during the day time hours, there might only be 4 career and maybe a couple of volunteers.Out of the 5 career firefighters on shift only 4 respond on a full assignment,there is rarely 6 men on shift.The other issue there is the exclusivity right to the rigs.The days of there being a plethera of volunteer members are long gone.Recruiting new members seems to be a difficult task,probably because of the country's economic situation.Also the leadership there isn't helpful in trying to increase the number of career firefighters.Having one man rigs should be a thing of the past.It wouldn't make a big difference if all the career personnel were on the same rig, you would still not have enough manpower.If there was a need for another engine to respond and it wasen't manned by a career firefighter,it might not get there.You can't rely on what might show up,you have to guarantee what is going to show up.Try telling "joe tax payer" that you think people are gonna come.

It's always a shame when municipalities turn a blind eye on public safety.Granted it is a buisness to them,and a dollar and cents matter, but when tragedy strikes and lawyers look back on requests to increase public safety and nothing was done,then they are caught with their pants down.Only then will they realize that the money they could have spent on public safety doesn't add up to the amount they have to pay out in a lawsuit, because one of their employees wether volunteer or career is hurt or killed.Or how to explain to a family that their loved one's life wasen't worth spending more money on. The way I see it is,it's not worth a life to be lost due to lack of funding for public safety, or lack of support from department heads hiding the truth about inadequate staffing levels.

A firefighter is someone who should be able to perform all aspects of firefighting. You dont call a police officer without a gun a police officer do you? It's a shame that places with manpower issues hide what is a grim reality. A lack of firefighters. Wether some people think that Dept. heads don't hide the truth or not, it happens all over. If your Dept. has manpowere problems and you choose not to do anything about it then shame on you. That is hiding the truth. In my experience it seems that "pride" or as I see it, ignorance, is what gets in the way. In a combo Dept. where there is a lack of manpower and the "Dept. head" tells the municipal government that there aren't any problems, or that there is x number of "firefighters", and it sounds all good to the powers that be, its a tragedy waiting to happen. I know for a fact that it goes on, and it is pathetic, cowardly and gravely irresponsible. A Dept. head, either a chief or commisioner or whoever is responsible should do anything in their power to adequately staff their Dept. with manpower wether it be career or volunteer. And if you can't recruit enough volunteers that can meet the requirements to become an interior firefighter, than you plead with the local gov't to hire more firefighters. Thats what a good leader does. The more trained personnel you have available to you the better prepared you are. It is a tradegy to think that a Dept. head would let pride or a personel agenda get in the way of protecting the very community they are sworn to serve.

In a place like Horry County, which is a really big area with alot of responsibilies regarding the Fire Dept., has got to be tough to take time out of the daily tasks to recruit new members. Its a time consuming process as well as a money issue. I don't think that just because it might take quite a while for the process to take place, should be enough to make someone not want to volunteer. If you want to give a service to your community then great, just hang on. Life will go on during the time it takes to work throught the paperwork. Then it will be time to go through the training process, which should be an exciting thing to be a part of. It shouldn't be a discouraging thing, you either want to be a firefighter or you don't. And when its your time to join and get training, get as much as possible. It could save someones life someday or even better, your own life! The reason for such stringent requirements is to give every firefighter the knowlege and training to protect themselves while protecting others. All that we have is training, so when the alarm rings we have not only the know how but the physical ability to do the job. So yes the process might take time and yes it is alot to go through, but it is for a good reason, safety. All to often Departments don't put enough into the screening process, the traing process and the requirements to maintain the status of firefighter. Its too easy to give out gear and a pager or radio to people and then they don't come around to calls or more importantly training. The more trained people at a call the better. Imagine needing help and yelling to the nearest person and them saying I can't help you because I don't know how, I didn't bother to show up for training. I would expect to be able to call upon someone wearing turnout gear to be able to do the jobs of an interior firefighter, and not have to wonder if that person was qualified or not, because there might not be time to think about it. If you want to be a firefighter then go through the process and get trained.

Does said dept. even require their students to pass a ff1 test? Or do they just have to attend the class?

RIP BROTHER, GOD BE WITH YOU AND YOUR FAMILY

RIP

REST IN PEACE, YOUR HEROISM WILL GO UNFORGOTTEN

REST IN PEACE BROTHERS, MY PRAYERS TO YOUR FAMILIES AND THE FDNY