Our Waterways: Protection on the water in Westchester

[hudson144 150]

Already with the spring behind us and the 1st day of summer here I always like bringing up the waterways in the region. If you can post what your dept has as far as boats,zodiacs etc. Mention what training is required to be on the "marine Unit". If you are familiar with any other services that are out there to include the coast Guard Aux, Sea Tow, Boat US it could be a valuble source of info for all of us. B Safe!

[JohnnyOV 2]

Yorktown Heights Has:

- 15 Scuba divers with the capabilities of putting all of them in the water at the same time

- All Divers are certified Advanced Open Water with Dry Suit through PADI and DR1 as well Med Diver through Dive Rescue International

- Since any water moving faster than 4 knots is an impossible dive operation we saw the need to become trained in Swift Water and Flood Water Rescue

- 2 Members Trained as Swift Water Trainers through Dive Rescue International

- 5 Members trained up to Swift Water Technician

- Will have an additional 10 members trained to Swift Water Technician by July

- The whole Team trained to Swift Water Specialists by August

- We operate with MA-8 pulling the Dive Trailer; allowing us to be independent of the firefighting apparatus not take any of the front line out of service in lieu of extended operations

- We Send Rescue 16 with us for the Cascade in extended dive ops

- Have a Zodiac inflatable with Engine

- We use the I.A.D.R.S. fitness requirements, annual waterman ship test and Scuba review, this test ensures we are NFPA compliant.

- All members must pass to stay on the team, as well as our own “harassment” test to ensure competency and comfort in less than perfect conditions as well as a team bonding exercise.

If you have any questions or want to BS about anything water related you can contact Dive Capt. Swart or Dive Lt. Slotoroff at 962-2148 or seek us out at Yorktown’s parade and carnival starting Wednesday.

[joshlost818 6]

Rye has a fireboat that stays in the water during the season.

There is also a aluminum 13ft. on its own triler that can be launched wherever.

The paid firefighters recently got trained for swift water rescue.

[hudson144 150]

I see this morning there was another incident off of Ossining, an elderly gentleman who has been on the river for years ended up calling for help when his fishing boat started to take on water, OFD again was involved with the rescue. In the article in LO HUD it was mentioned that the OFD boat is out of service. I know they have been involved over the yrs on the river and did have plans for a new vessel sometime this yr. Anyone have any info on the OFD marine unit?

[mfc2257 464]

- We Send Rescue 16 with us for the Cascade in extended dive ops

-

How does the cascade help with dive ops... I was under the impression that SCUBA air and SCBA air were captured and pressurized differently..... More like the process for filling SCUBA was more intricate than simply filling SCBA.

[joshlost818 6]

How does the cascade help with dive ops... I was under the impression that SCUBA air and SCBA air were captured and pressurized differently..... More like the process for filling SCUBA was more intricate than simply filling SCBA.

Your right. From what I know you can not fill up a scuba tank with an scba filler.

[ONEEYEDMIC 68]

We fill our tanks up at the FD from their cascade system. Is that any different from something you bring to a scene?

[x242Steve 1]

After a quick Google search, it would seem that filling SCUBA tanks off of FD Cascade systems is very common. However, the common warning that I found is in regards to air purity- i.e. the tank air we breath when engaged in firefighting operations does not need to be as pure as air being breathed while underwater. This is due to the fact that firefighting takes place at normal atmospheric pressure, while the pressures that can be present underwater during SCUBA operations might cause impurities in the tank air to become potentially dangerous. So basically, if you want to fill both SCBA and SCUBA tanks from the same system, make sure the air filters are up to the higher standard.

[mfc2257 464]

Interesting.... So would one go as far to say that SCUBA diving at shallower depths with SCBA air is acceptable.... When would a dedicated SCUBA filling station be required... 20-50-100ft ????

[ONEEYEDMIC 68]

Interesting.... So would one go as far to say that SCUBA diving at shallower depths with SCBA air is acceptable.... When would a dedicated SCUBA filling station be required... 20-50-100ft ????

Well I will be at 100-120ft tomorrow. Hopefully I will be able to log on tomorrow night and let you know about the air quality.

[JohnnyOV 2]

How does the cascade help with dive ops... I was under the impression that SCUBA air and SCBA air were captured and pressurized differently..... More like the process for filling SCUBA was more intricate than simply filling SCBA.

We have an adapter connection for the SCUBA that hooks into the permanent SCBA connection, and the system is exactly the same.

[JohnnyOV 2]

We fill our tanks up at the FD from their cascade system. Is that any different from something you bring to a scene?

The system on our rescue, is pressurized from the system at the firehouse and stored in large tanks in the truck. As for filling the bottles, it works exactly the same.

[mfc2257 464]

Understand how cascade and station fill work... Filled thousands on R-36 and at Station 2 on Rt134...

I was always led to believe that SCUBA and SCBA had different requirements for air quality... Sounds like from some of the experienced folks that its not much of a concern. Thanks for the input.

[Guest moose__72]

I does basically come down to purity. Our MAKO cascade setup in station is rated for grade E air, standard cascades pump out grade D. Has alot to do with carbon monoxide and other impurities in the air. But it really kicks in a deeper depths.

We run a MAKO cascade fill station inside the back of the truck bay, but ran the supply lines through a sealed 5 inch PVC sleeve through the wall to a room that is open to the outside air but sealed from the firehouse. That way no CO or exhaust nasties are pulled in the the compressor. The station setup has six 6000 psi bottles connected, and can flow right from the compressor to the fill station. We can fill three bottles at a time in station, but can also feed out closed cascade on our Engine 13. 13's cascade is a four 6000 bottle system tied in to a Sierra Booster. No compressor so the system is sealed from outside contaminates and we can fill on fire scenes without major concern. On our in house and engine mounted fill panels we have adjustable pressure valves so we can preset to Scott's 4500, SCUBA 3000, or for the mutual aid Scott 2200. With the Sierra booster, our four 6000 pound bottles are estimated to fill roughly 110 Scott 4.5 bottles before being beat.

Moral of the story, grade E for SCUBA, grade D for SCBA, but as long as the 'SCBA' cascade system is pumping out grade E air, filling SCUBA is accepted.

[hudson144 150]

Conflict in Ossining for a new boat-protection on the river is a must and is needed! Many communities are not prepared for the river and some day we will see a large scale incident on the river.I often mention in the ARFF class that I teach that someday a large fram aircraft will end up in the river and the questionwill be why didn't the fire depts have the resources to handle the situation.

[WCDES-FTA 6]

Not to get off subject but,I have a question for our members of river town deptments. Is there a large scale,multi-agecny drill planned for sometime mid-July? I have heard rumor of one.

[Remember585 815]

Not to get off subject but,I have a question for our members of river town deptments. Is there a large scale,multi-agecny drill planned for sometime mid-July? I have heard rumor of one.

Battalion 10 has coordinated with the Verplanck FD for all of our Departments in the Battalion to meet up and see what everyone has in terms of Marine equipment. I think we have asked for the WCPD and some units in Rockland to come.

Attention Battalion 10 members - this drill will be on Tuesday night, July 8th at 1900 at the Viking Marina in Verplanck!

Trying to be there myself, but working.

[Remember585 815]

Our available resources:

Marine 12

25' Boston Whaler w/ twin 150 HP outboard motors, a 250 GPM pump, deck gun, EMS supplies and spinal immobilization equipment. It is in the Hudson River at Croton Yacht Club from April - October (or so). It has firefighting and rescue capabilities. She's also had several thousand dollars worth of electrical and mechanical overhauls in the past two years. Radio capabilities include Marine VHF, Trunked/UHF and Low Band.

Marine 32

16' Starcraft aluminum boat with a 20 HP outboard motor. This boat is on a tralier stored at Station #3 and can be towed by either R18 or Car 2081. This boat is primarily used for incidents in the Croton River / Reservoir system. Although there is no onboard radios, UHF and VHF Low Band portables are used.

Zodiac

12' Inflatable soft bottomed Zodiac, also stored at Station #3. This also gets used in the Croton River / Reservoirs. No motor on this thing, it depends on people power.

A response on the Hudson River for Rescue should be Marine 12, OFD Marine 14 (eventually), Verplanck FD Marine 1.

A Rescue response on the Hudson River should be Marine 12, OFD Marine 14 (see above), Montrose Marine 51. (South) and/or Marine 21 from the FDVA.

When / If WCPD DPS is in the water, they are also dispatched.

A response in the Croton River is R18, M32, Zodiac, EMS.

Additional is called when needed.

And to give credit where it's due too...

Croton PD has a boat (forget the specifics) that patrols the Croton River during Summer months. They also have a Dive Team which can be called anytime.

Edited July 3, 2008 by Remember585

[calhobs 110]

Not to get off subject but,I have a question for our members of river town deptments. Is there a large scale,multi-agecny drill planned for sometime mid-July? I have heard rumor of one.

July 19th Sleepy Hollow Fire Dept. is hosting it.

Edited July 3, 2008 by calhobs

[helicopper 1,050]

July 19th Sleepy Hollow Fire Dept. is hosting it.

Any more information about it???

[ace84 100]

Orange County Sheriffs Office Marine 80

26 foot Parker (members of the Marine Unit are EMTs)

Edited July 4, 2008 by ace84

[rfdu39 89]

For Long Island Sound there is Sea Tow based out of Mamaroneck Harbor.

[calhobs 110]

Any more information about it???

Without giving away to much info (such as surprises) it is an MCI in the Hudson off Kingsland Point Park, We have about 7-10 agencies that are involved in response. I think this will be a great drill that will bring many different resources together and test all our capabilities. We also have some very interesting injects we may use. The press and Nita Lowey’s office are also expected to be on hand.

[radioman 5]

Any more information about it???

Your agency was requested, through SOD.