grumpyff

one photo I have of it

E260 and Tanker 57 Rear view of TL5. boom was raised to get equipment out Not much to see, but chance to practice photos at night. Hope everyone Enjoyed

Thornwood E89 Pleasantville E260 Pleasantville E259

Pleasantville E91 Pleasantville TL5 staged out on Deerfield Road Pleasantville R47

Water on the way Supply line is feeding E91, with car 2372 and Thornwood TL1 in front of the house Thornwood TL1

Last week I was lucky enough to sail aboard Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas. Oasis of the Seas is one of Royal Caribbean's newest, and largest ships, with a displacement similar to a Nimitz class aircraft carrier. Our first stop was Labadee, Haiti, and while having breakfast we heard over the ship's intercom "Firefighting crews to Deck 7 Forward, no special equipment for training." I finished breakfast and then my family and I went to the forward observation deck to look at Labadee. We got to watch the helicopter take off, followed by a nice surprise, some of the ship's firefighters drilling in stretching lines, and flowing foam. The look on my wife's face was priceless, she swears I could find a firehouse or fire truck anywhere I go. Here is Oasis of the Seas on the pier at Labadee . The helicopter while deaprting Ft. Lauderdale. Helicopter flying off the ship in Labadee. Note that the railings , and forward navigation light tower are folded down.

Maybe they could teach us a thing or two about "forcible entry". On more serious note, I agree they should not be used for structural firefighting. Wildland I really do not have a problem with , or things like hydrant maintenance, work in the stations, with little or no contact with the public. We already have people out there who think public servants are already stealing the money that is in our pensions

Photo from 1965 that I found on line. FDNY Super Pumper system

Definitely go to school now, it is much easier. I got my BS in Fire Science from CUNY John Jay (College of criminal justice) And if I could have stayed my last semester full time (Married, working full time with one child and a second on the way) I would have had a double minor in Public Administration and government. Once you get into working full time, relationships, kids etc school work quickly takes a backseat to other things, and becomes almost impossble. It can be done, my brother got his RN while working full time, and my wife is currently in her clinicals working towards her RN while working a full time and a part time jobs. Sometimes I don't how she does it , and both have said they wished they had done it right out of high school. Study something that you like, as others have mentioned a degree in Fire Science has limited uses. As for me, I am employed as a police officer, and the degree got some laughs, and even some questions as I interviewed for police officer positions in the area. Some jobs require college credit to get hired, and more to be promoted, but most do not care if it is in "underwater basket weaving" or related to fire fighting. Most use it to see if you will be able to handle the classwork in the academy, or if you are really lucky officer school later on. If you can learn a trade that can be a great help, it gives you a better understanding of how things are built, and will react in a fire should you get hired as a firefighter. Take every civil service test that you can, even if like Yonkers, they tell you first preference is to its residents, it is just another test to get a feel for how these tests are written. Take other exams such as police officer, they often have similar questions that test your reading comprehension, problem solving, memory etc. Always have a back up, you never know what the future will hold. You may get your dream job and get hurt on or off the job. I have 7 years left til I can retire, and my orthopedic surgeon keeps hinting that my back may not be able to handle it, as I have had two surgeries to correct a herniated disc, that occurred during a non job related activity. You never know what the future holds, but a good education can get you though a lot. Good luck in your studies if you choose to pursue it, and good luck in your career.

The merge/takeover occurred in 1996. I found this photo and in reading a a few sites, the NYC*EMS was removed and replaced by FD*NY

Shortly after FDNY took over, the first batch of ambulances were white with a blue and and red stripe. I forget if these were ordered new or repainted units. IIRC this paint scheme didnt last very long and was replaced by the current scheme by 9/11

Try saving some older blades, or chains missing a few teeth for training, and leave the new blades for the real deal. I know the Cutters Edge chains are very expensive, so I keep the best of the worst for training. I doesn't take that long to change out, and can be incorporated into the drill. Go over saw maintenance, changing blades/chains, and how the saws are to be on the rigs ready to go.

NY10570 was there when I left Pleasantville in 2005 and we were all aware of the quad districts, etc. We had just started to share things like the cascade system, and were exploring things like automatic aid for calls. I think NY10570 was hinting more towards why there are still separate departments such as Pleasantville, Thornwood, Hawthorne, and Valhalla as opposed to a Mt Pleasant FD. How much duplication of apparatus, stations, and a reduction in operaring costs could be achieved?

IIRC Georgia and other states already use inmate firefighters for wild land fires, however that is totally different than responding to peoples homes. Not sure the firefighters feel about taking on additional duties/training (to supervise the inmates). As mentioned unions are not real strong in the South, just remember that the next time someone bad mouths the unions up here, I have a feeling that the guys down there will have no choice bu to go along with it, or be told "there's the door "

It varies depending on what each department specified. I have have seen as little as 1500, and as much as 4000 gallons. This is where consolidation would be great, buy everything the same. Same size tank, same dump times, etc. Unless it was ordered from the same spec, then everything is different. In my own department, our 22-4-2, our primary tanker holds 3000 gallons, but we have learned it dumps quicker from the side than the rear. Our second tanker only holds 2300 gallons, only dumps from the rear, and is slow to fill. If you ever have the opportunity to attend a tanker shuttle drill go and watch at the dump site. You will often see someone with a stopwatch, a pad and a pen. They try to keep track of how long it takes each tanker to dump, then return to the fill sight and back to the dump site. If every tanker is different, each tankers times will vary.

The only way would be to buy more tankers for each department, something I don't think would be feasible or cost effective. Most people here b**** about the duplication of services. Tanker Ops suck, but the alternative is to start paying to install municipal water system which really gets in big $. Outside of natural water sources (ponds, lakes, reservoirs, pools) another option would be to install tanks in various areas of the county, which runs into the problems of land ownership, who pays to install and maintain. How would the tank be filled, either via well or fire department coming with a tanker from another water source, but it still requires tankers. Its amazing how fast 3000gallons of water can be drafted out of a port pond, while waiting for the next tanker to arrive (hopefully before the porta pond runs out)

I agree 28 minutes for a FAST team is ridiculous. Most of the apparatus listed are chiefs ( I think I counted 10 chiefs listed). I wonder how many of those 100 firefighters mentioned in the article are true interior firefighters, and how many are the guys that only show their faces when there is free food, or a big job. How many were 'exterior' firefighters, either too old, too young, not trained, or physically not capable of interior firefighting. Every department has them. Like I said I am not against consolidation, but most departments only have one or two tankers in their own department, and I don't think that would change with consolidation. IT would eventually lead to standardization of the tankers, and maybe a chance to improve the ISO ratings in the area, as BNechis has mentioned several times in several different threads. Consolidation would eliminate most of these chiefs (and their cars as well). I see one department sent 3 chiefs, for what? Who was watching the store back home?

Going by the list posted above it looks like most of the mutual aid was for Tankers. I never understood tanker shuttles until I joined a department that relies on them. Its better to have too many tankers, than not enough, its no fun when you run out of water. I see five tankers listed, 3 of of which can carry a maximum of 2 or 3 firefighters (including the driver), the other two have larger crew cab areas and can hold upto 6 (including the driver). Those three smaller tankers most likely contributed nothing to manpower on the scene, as some departments want a second person in the tanker to act as a spotter and work the radio. The way tanker shuttles were taught to me (and maybe I am wrong) was one dumping at the scene, one on the way to the scene, one filling at the fill site, and one returning to the fill site to be refilled. Add in additional tankers as the distance increases, or you start to use more than one porta pond to flow large amounts of water such as a ladder or master stream devices 1 Utility (U88) is a bus, not sure if it carried manpower or was used for rehab. 3 engines called to the scene of which one was listed as the FAST. Remember, with a tanker shuttle you need an engine at the water source, and often another at the scene to supply the engine making the attack, or a ladder. Even if these departments consolidated ( which I am not totally against) chances are the same amount of apparatus would have responded.

yes I think Motor Transport became Fleet Services Division, I can ask around to make sure. The job likes to change things, but often does so without thinking. One example, when I first graduated I was assigned to the Transit Division, which had a two star chief in charge, and our collar brass said "Transit Division". The chief got a promotion, a third star and we became the Transit Bureau, and all the cops had to buy the new "TB" collar brass. Said chief later got transferred, and was replaced by a two star chief. Yup, we switched back to "Transit Division" and had to go back to/or replace the collar brass to 'Transit Division". Finally someone had a brain fart, and we went back again to "Transit Bureau" and the TB collar brass.

The white cars came in 1996, some earlier ones may have been repainted after getting body work done. Here is an article in the NY Daily News . Also an article explaining how the black, green and white cars RMPs came about, which ended in 1973 with the switch to blue and white. Hemmings Motor News. NYPD Green MTD = Mounted QMS = Quarter Master also no 135 Pct, might be the 105 in Queens. When I got hired in 1998, there were still a bunch of the Caprices rolling around. Great Car, lots of room inside, great acceleration, handled pretty good to. One thing from that era always amuses me is how the cars were marked. Some have "NYPD", "NYPD POLICE" NYCPD" and IIRC NYCPD Police"

I offer my condolences NFD2004, I am sorry for your loss

I bet a lot of other departments are silently watching Somers to see how this plays out.

Great photos, thanks for sharing. I like the Hahns from Wallington and Paramus.

Ex-FDNY SP9716, currently in Brookfield Auto Wreckers, Elmsford, NY

Article in todays NY Post. http://m.nypost.com/f/mobile/news/local/kelly_nypd_can_take_down_planes_0LjFbzyfLD4iWLAvvpe0jK Sources claim it is a .50 caliber Barrett, secured in a safe. While the the Department owns it and takes it out for "special occassions" my guess no chief has the courage to order its use, or if it is used, back the cop who is unlucky enough to use it. Lt Pigottt, need I say more. This whole piece was just a way for Kelly to stroke his ego. The man is a legend in his own mind.