mstrang1

You got the Stamford Times article up at least! Keep up the good work, Geppetto, just be faster than Dragon next time!

Alpine- They had career guys up there before, and SFRD "absorbed" them, except for LRFCo guys, who are "paid" by LRFCo. Apparently they may be absorbed into the 51 guys for SVFD. I know what a combination department is, I just do not see the point of having an entire second chain of command for other paid guys. The system is in place already, with SFRD units stationed in TOR and Springdale, and responding into Belltown on every call and Long Ridge supposedly when needed. Prior to the merger talk starting in 2007 or so, there were career guys who answered to their respective Chiefs. This is basically the same system as before, but with a Chief ruling over Assistant Chiefs(the old Chiefs of each department). The city so far has spent large sums of taxpayer money to basically go back to the way it was. This was not even close to the best solution. I have memories of Rural Metro in Rye Brook here. That was a win-win situation for everyone when it started, right? We all saw how that turned out. In response to Chris, I understand that civil service tests will probably be used, but how much will it cost to do this? To test, create a list, hire, train and outfit 51 guys would be quite substantial. This is on top of an Advocate article earlier this week reporting that the 50 jobs eliminated (Hmm...) earlier this year by the Pavia administration have yet to save the city a single cent. Additionally, the City has in place a Fire Marshall's office, Maintenance Division, Training Division, Contractual Health Care and Pension, payroll, etc, that will all have to be duplicated in the Stamford Volunteer FD. Did the city count in all these addition administrative costs into the mix? The city should be streamlining services in the city, not creating more levels and departments. Done for now.

I still do not understand why a volunteer fire department needs 51 paid firefighters? Where will they find these 51 employees? Will there be a list established with a test and CPAT? Will the current Long Ridge employees be folded in? If so, will they retain their seniority? Will they be IAFF Union members? Too many unanswered questions.

3 Engines and 1 truck may be good for a chimney fire, but they had 2 engines and a tanker. Only 1 engine and the tanker made it in the driveway. That engine had a roof ladder and a 24' extension ladder. That 24' ladder MIGHT have reached the roof, but not the one where the chimney was. An aerial never made it in the driveway. At one point, LRFCo personnel were using the homeowners ladder, which was not tall enough to reach the chimney, but tall enough to reach the second floor once the entire roof burned off. You talk about 1 unified volunteer fire service in Stamford? HA! LRFCo guys only like Springdale, nobody else likes Springdale, nobody likes Glenbrook because they went with the city plan, TOR is suing the city, so the city does not like them, LRFCo sued the city years ago, so nobody likes them, Belltown is actually making it out on calls as an all volunteer department, which creates jealousy, etc. After this fire, I do not think TOR will like LRFCo very much. There are too many egos in the way for 1 volunteer department to exist. They all want to keep their own identity and fiefdom.

bfxfd- One time when you have a day or three read the "update on stamford merger" thread. It is currently 31 pages long. That is, I am pretty sure, the longest thread ever on emtbravo. It is also only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to fire protection in the city of stamford.

The Chief of LRFCo cancelled all units to a reported chimney fire before any units were on scene. Once he was on scene, almost 7 minutes later, he again, after being prompted, called for SFRD and TOR units to be called out. Some of those units had a good 10 minute, maybe longer, response time. In addition, LRFCo has no ladder company, and does not have, at least on the one engine that got in the driveway, a ladder taller than 24'. How was the Chief sure he had a ladder tall enough to reach the roof when he was not even on scene? By the time a truck company was called and on scene, it was blocked by 5 inch hose from reaching the scene. BFXFD, this DOES have something to do with career vs volunteer. But not in the way that you think. This is about a volunteer department that will do anything to prevent losing any type of control over their kingdom at any cost. There is a history between LRFCo and city and union officials. Maybe someone who was on the job at that time will expand. The volunteer Chief expressly cancelled city units because he wanted to handle the call himself. By having the paid city units respond, he would be "ceding" to them. This is not about me wanting to get rid of volunteers in Stamford. In fact, SFRD Engines 8 and 9 were drilling with TOR Volunteers when this call came in. This is about a volunteer Chief resisting the idea that they cannot handle it all on their own. They needed HELP and lots of it, early, at this fire. It does not matter whether he called TOR, Pound Ridge or SFRD, he just needed more people faster. The Unions stance, and one that I very much agree with, is that the city units have a guaranteed response of personnel. The city ultimately had at least 3 engines, 1 truck, 1 rescue and 1 DC and Aide on scene. This response was delayed significantly by the Chiefs own hubris in the matter. Rant over.

RIP Brother.

RIP Brother, I can't believe you are gone.

I know cell phones are not really for the nouveau riche anymore. I was just saying that just because he assumes everyone has them, does not make it true. Besides, what happens when the entire northeast region loses power like it did 7 or 8 years ago? What are you going to do, use the flash of your camera to "bat-signal" you emergency in?

Maybe in posh Manhattan everyone has a cell phone, but go to some poor neighborhoods in any of the five boroughs and see how many poor folk have cell phones.

To take antiquelt comments one step further, The prosecution has to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt". All the defense had to put in the minds of the jurors is that frozen hydrants caused this and that is not the the landlords problem. I am not trying to defend that POS though.

Not sure if I am allowed to do this, but, BUMP. Get those applications in!

I may stand corrected on the ISO bit, but not the real world bit. Seconds should count as far as statistics go. How do they expect to figure a true average of, I believe NFPA wants 4 minutes to on scene, 90% of the time, if they do not count seconds? 3 minutes and 5 minutes average 4 minutes, but 3:59 and 5:59 average closer to 5 minutes than 4.

In addition to what JFLynn said in regards to time. Not only are the minutes important, but the seconds also. 16:17:01 and 16:18:59 are, for all intents and purposes, two minutes apart. Written without seconds, 16:17 and 16:18, shows it to be only 1 minute apart. Big difference in the real world and when ISO comes through.

Great job, Chris!!

CPAT is Pass/Fail.

Hey! Two hands on the wheel! And just because you aren't talking on the phone, you are using it while driving, those cops are sticklers for that! j/k

RIP. Seems like only yesterday.

Oneeyed- Where is the line between tool and weapon? I have a Maglite in my car, is that considered a weapon? It is heavy enough to do damage if used correctly. If I stab someone in the eye with a pencil, I am using it as a weapon. If I have hot coffee and I throw it in your face, does that not become a weapon? How do you distinguish the difference? Are the schools going to become like kindergarten all the way through, with crayons for writing utensils and having to ask the teacher to cut a piece of paper for you?

I wonder if they consider a tire iron to be a weapon? In a really bad horror movie I saw someone kill somebody with a pen through the ear. Is that a weapon? Maybe everyone needs to take notes in crayon now.

Often imitated, never duplicated, RIP

RIP Brother Joyce. My condolences go out to both his family at YFD at more importantly, his wife and kids at home.

I was going to change it after 10, realized the remote control was far away, and tried to hang on. I made it to the 27 minute mark and had to eject. Out of the helicopter. Before he had a boys mother assist on a tracheotomy. 1 minute from the hospital. After loading a patient with the rotors going. Not a hair out of place. Just FYI, last Friday I watched a helicopter at about 40 feet blow away two 55 gallon drum type garbage cans. Sure. Right.

Tons of odd cop news today!

Next time I'm driving through the "city" of Jericho, remind me not to speed! The penalty is kinda harsh!