How Far is too far?

[DMM8240 2]

While driving through my University's campus today in Bristol, Rhode Island I spotted this Chief's car from Long Island, New York.

I am posting this with the frequently asked question, how far is too far for personal travel with a Chief's car.

I understand that one of the perks/incentives to being a volunteer Chief is personal use of the Chief's vehicle, but to what extent?

Should the tax payers have to pay for the Chief's son/daughter's transportation to and from college?

I know that I am assuming he is not paying for the gas used to get back and forth to Rhode Island, but even if the Chief is eating the fuel cost, I doubt he is eating the cost for wear and tear on the vehicle.

Just was curious to see what everyone's thoughts are on this...

Edited December 11, 2009 by DMM8240

[efdcapt115 1,511]

Rhode Island is pretty far from Long Island unless they took a ferry?

[OoO 24]

This issue has been beaten discussed before and imho beaten to death.

Volunteer Chief's Cars- perk being abused?

[DMM8240 2]

Rhode Island is pretty far from Long Island unless they took a ferry?

From Westchester this school is a 3 hour drive on average. By boat it takes me about 6.5 hours and thats cruising.

[gamewell45 258]

While driving through my University's campus today in Bristol, Rhode Island I spotted this Chief's car from Long Island, New York.

I am posting this with the frequently asked question, how far is too far for personal travel with a Chief's car.

I understand that one of the perks/incentives to being a volunteer Chief is personal use of the Chief's vehicle, but to what extent?

Should the tax payers have to pay for the Chief's son/daughter's transportation to and from college?

I know that I am assuming he is not paying for the gas used to get back and forth to Rhode Island, but even if the Chief is eating the fuel cost, I doubt he is eating the cost for wear and tear on the vehicle.

Just was curious to see what everyone's thoughts are on this...

Do you have first hand knowledge that its not there on department/district business?

Your making a lot of assumptions without any evidence other then a picture of a chief's car you allegedly snapped in Rhode Island. For all we know, you might have taken the picture somewhere in Long Island and posted it here just to generate some controversy.

Either way if you have any issues with it; you should direct your questions/concerns to the Board of Fire Commissioners of the fire district in question.

[Mark Z 18]

One thing about being chief, everybody else knows how to do your job better than you do! I don't care one bit why he was there and I am reminded of a situation where the chief paid for his own chiefs vehicle and people still complained about where he took it! His own vehicle, paid for with his own money and he also paid for his own gas! People complained because it was painted just like a fire truck and they felt that he should only drive it on fire calls or shouldn't have been allowed to paint it that way! We have better things to do on this forum than complain about what other people may or may not be allowed to do!

[DMM8240 2]

Do you have first hand knowledge that its not there on department/district business?

Your making a lot of assumptions without any evidence other then a picture of a chief's car you allegedly snapped in Rhode Island. For all we know, you might have taken the picture somewhere in Long Island and posted it here just to generate some controversy.

Either way if you have any issues with it; you should direct your questions/concerns to the Board of Fire Commissioners of the fire district in question.

Sure, maybe he just happens to be at a University in Rhode Island on department business. Not likely, but anything is possible.

The bridge in the picture doesn't look like one in Long Island, but believe this picture was taken where ever you wish.

I'm 100% for the personal use of a Chief's car, just to a certain extent.

And isn't the point of this forum to express opinions?

[gamewell45 258]

Sure, maybe he just happens to be at a University in Rhode Island on department business. Not likely, but anything is possible.

And isn't the point of this forum to express opinions?

If in fact the picture was taken in Rhode Island, I'd tend to give the chief the benefit of the doubt.

While one of the purposes of this forum is to express opinions, i'm sure the owners of this forum would rather you give informed opinions rather then those that are uninformed.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

I tend not to give him the benefit of the doubt. Gamewell..seriously...department business? You and I both know that is highly unlikely.

But here is the kicker...I really don't give a rat's gluteus maximus as not my tax money, not my department or the chief of it. But it if were...I'd be pretty curious as to why.

[gamewell45 258]

But here is the kicker...I really don't give a rat's gluteus maximus as not my tax money, not my department or the chief of it. But it if were...I'd be pretty curious as to why.

Precisely; if I had an issue or questions as to why the chiefs car was allegedly in Rhode Island, i'd take it up with the fire district; not on EMT Bravo. Bringing it up here is going to solve nothing. As one poster indicated earlier, we've beat this topic to death. There is nothing to be gained by revisiting it IMHO.

[DMM8240 2]

Precisely; if I had an issue or questions as to why the chiefs car was allegedly in Rhode Island, i'd take it up with the fire district; not on EMT Bravo. Bringing it up here is going to solve nothing. As one poster indicated earlier, we've beat this topic to death. There is nothing to be gained by revisiting it IMHO.

I have no intention of bringing it up to the Fire District because I honestly have better things to do with my time.

I snapped a quick photo with my phone and shared it with the users of Bravo, because its a forum for sharing opinions.

If you aren't interested in continuing this topic, don't reply.

I'm not trying to solve anything, just sharing a sighting.

Do I have an interest in every topic on this forum? No. Do I tell the poster of that topic to keep it to themselves because I don't want to read it? No. I simply move onto the next topic.

Edited December 11, 2009 by DMM8240

[gamewell45 258]

I have no intention of bringing it up to the Rockville Center Long Island Fire District because I honestly have better things to do with my time.

I snapped a quick photo with my phone and shared it with the users of Bravo, because its a forum for sharing opinions.

If you aren't interested in continuing this topic, don't reply.

I'm not trying to solve anything, just sharing a sighting.

Do I have an interest in every topic on this forum? No. Do I tell the poster of that topic to keep it to themselves because I don't want to read it? No. I simply move onto the next topic.

Relax! your getting all bent out of shape; I have a suggestion; why don't we agree to disagree ok?

[DMM8240 2]

Relax! your getting all bent out of shape; I have a suggestion; why don't we agree to disagree ok?

I'm not bent out of shape.

I'm more than happy to agree to disagree, thats the whole point of a forum .

I was just defending my right to post, and the accusation that I had some hidden agenda and that the picture was a fake.

[Raz 14]

Do you have first hand knowledge that its not there on department/district business?

Your making a lot of assumptions without any evidence other then a picture of a chief's car you allegedly snapped in Rhode Island. For all we know, you might have taken the picture somewhere in Long Island and posted it here just to generate some controversy.

Either way if you have any issues with it; you should direct your questions/concerns to the Board of Fire Commissioners of the fire district in question.

This is ridiculous. Someone posts a picture of a L.I. chief's car "allegedly snapped in Rhode Island", but it's actually all a fiendish ploy? Seriously? Is JFK your favorite movie? It seems like 1 in 5 of your posts on here involve some conspiracy to defame volunteer firefighters.

By the way, I'm pretty sure that picture was taken at Roger Williams University, with the (insanely narrow) Mt. Hope Bridge in the background. Of course, I could be in on the plot!

[JBE 328]

Why do I see this thread getting locked in the next few hours??

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

Why do I see this thread getting locked in the next few hours??

Because not only are we beating a the skeleton of a dead horse, we are discussing a picture that none of us know anything about other than that it is a picture. Maybe instead of talking about where the car is and what it is doing, we should be talking about how to drive it because I am sure that more chiefs car each year are wreaked in this county than fire apparatus. Its more of a waste to drive the Chiefs SUV into a stonewall or flip it on the highway than it is to drive it to RI to visit the kids.

This thread should be locked and deleted, it is pointless.

Edited December 11, 2009 by bvfdjc316

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

What opinion are you presenting, an ignorant, ill-informed and judging opinion based on nothing but a picture.

It should be deleted because we discussed it before and all it did was end it fighting and ignorance. this is a hot button issue that is not going to be solved here. By discussing this here, especially with little to know facts, like in this situation, you are only making a bad situation worse. You are saying is this too far, yada yada yada, but you have no idea what it going on yet you still must criticize. This is grounds for liable and slander if you are wrong, you are defaming the character of this chief and his department without a clue as to what is going on. What we are supposedly discussing is this incident in which you and only you have any idea what is going on, if you do at all. This picture, similar to the one with no waist straps at the working fire can and only will cause problems and tensions that are not needed nor appreciated on this site or in the fire service in general. Your slandering of this department and chief, in my opinion is deplorable and reprehensible, I hope you understand what you are doing.

Edited December 11, 2009 by bvfdjc316

[DMM8240 2]

What opinion are you presenting, an ignorant, ill-informed and judging opinion based on nothing but a picture.

It should be deleted because we discussed it before and all it did was end it fighting and ignorance. this is a hot button issue that is not going to be solved here. By discussing this here, especially with little to know facts, like in this situation, you are only making a bad situation worse. You are saying is this too far, yada yada yada, but you have no idea what it going on yet you still must criticize. This is grounds for liable and slander if you are wrong, you are defaming the character of this chief and his department without a clue as to what is going on. What we are supposedly discussing is this incident in which you and only you have any idea what is going on, if you do at all. This picture, similar to the one with no waist straps at the working fire can and only will cause problems and tensions that are not needed nor appreciated on this site or in the fire service in general. Your slandering of this department and chief, in my opinion is deplorable and reprehensible, I hope you understand what you are doing.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion but I think you need to take a breath, this wasn't an attack specific to this department, just an example of a highly debated, and yes "hot button" issue.

And for the record, I've made it clear from the beginning that none of my information or knowledge is fact, just educated hypotheses based on what I saw.

How silly of me to forget, I'm not allowed to express my opinion here. My apologies.

[gamewell45 258]

Why do I see this thread getting locked in the next few hours??

They should lock it down. It serves no purpose to continue discussing it.

[xfirefighter484x 234]

How silly of me to forget, I'm not allowed to express my opinion here. My apologies.

DMM8240, funny, you're "not allowed" to express your opinion, yet here it stands still present.

They should lock it down. It serves no purpose to continue discussing it.

gamewell, you might possibly be right, but there is a fine balance between censorship, and keeping threads available to discuss. While this general topic has been discussed, yes, there is a specific example shown here, and brought to light. Can anyone dispute this? Certainly... is it a general topic beat to death?? Yes, it has, but God forbid a mod step in.

I think so long as there is nothing personally to bash anyone, there is no reason it should be deleted, but keep in mind, that arguing any point here is, just as other have said:

[FFLieu 70]

Holy Dead Thread Batman! I think I found something more beaten than the ubiquitous blue light threads!

The kid (and comparitively speaking, he is a kid, so let's all take a step back and a deep breath before we bash his skull in) posted a picture and asked a question. How many people do that here on a daily basis? Yes, that's right, we ALL do. How many people post so-called "pointless questions" about what department is getting what new apparatus and what color lights they're going to have on it to go along with all the newest bells and whistles and why, perhaps, that department needs all those bells and whistles, which invariably launches into a thread that more than outlasts its useful life cycle about two posts in? I'd say a good 40% of people on here post useless crap like that. (And yes, it is crap, because I couldn't give two flying ones what color lights X-department has on their old/new trucks.) All I care about are the real firematic and emergency medical issues. I also do care about fire chiefs abusing the system, especially when it comes to assigned vehicles. Those cars belong to the taxpayers, and if that vehicle were in Rhode Island for anything other than the specific duty of bringing the chief to/from work or to/from a department-sanctioned event, then he/she has some explaining to do. Who here has heard of the now-former Fire Chief from Fair Haven, NJ? Google it and see what kind of news pops up, then untwist your panties and cut the OP a break for asking a valid question.

[citystation1848 15]

What opinion are you presenting, an ignorant, ill-informed and judging opinion based on nothing but a picture.

It should be deleted because we discussed it before and all it did was end it fighting and ignorance. this is a hot button issue that is not going to be solved here. By discussing this here, especially with little to know facts, like in this situation, you are only making a bad situation worse. You are saying is this too far, yada yada yada, but you have no idea what it going on yet you still must criticize. This is grounds for liable and slander if you are wrong, you are defaming the character of this chief and his department without a clue as to what is going on. What we are supposedly discussing is this incident in which you and only you have any idea what is going on, if you do at all. This picture, similar to the one with no waist straps at the working fire can and only will cause problems and tensions that are not needed nor appreciated on this site or in the fire service in general. Your slandering of this department and chief, in my opinion is deplorable and reprehensible, I hope you understand what you are doing.

I agree completely, there have been so many other discussions on this very same topic. If things are that slow around here, where people have to post slandering material aimed at firing up other ff's or any members who may be part of the tax base, then there's a real problem. I'm sure the fine management of this board doesn't want legal problems, because the way this stands now this is grounds for a case of defamation of character.

Just my two cents..

[EJS1810 7]

My Guess is that the Chief was picking up his/her son or daughter from college for the holidays.

[DOC22 1]

My Guess is that the Chief was picking up his/her son or daughter from college for the holidays.

I agree, Ed. This one comment makes more sense than a lot of others in this thread.

[wraftery 1,275]

What we need here is an unmarked Chief's car.

Then there would be no picture and nothing to discuss

[calhobs 110]

Perhaps the Chief had permission to take the car out of the boundries of the Island, too pick up a family memeber.

[gamewell45 258]

you want it locked because the questions will only expose the truth of these chiefs and their cars!

Oh please!

[gamewell45 258]

i have been complaining of this for months yet my post get erased. good old tax dollers at use. my question was asked before why do these guys get free gas to go to there personal jobs on the tax payer back? and why do these volly departments keep getting new chief cars every 2 years when they do 600 calls a year?????????????????????????????

Why don't you raise the question with your board of fire commissioners if your concerned?

[ladder55 26]

Smoke... do you think that volunteer fire chiefs are the only people abusing this? How about Dpw foremen, police chiefs, and sorry to tell you some career chiefs

[trauma74 111]

I am not trying to start any trouble or anything, BUT I know of a PD in Orange County that lets anyone with a take home car have unlimited personal mileage...............and these guys are paid, a pretty high salary. They are not volunteers like the L.I.N.Y. FD Chiefs. These people include the Chief, Deputy Chief, Admin LT, Operations LT, Det Sgt and CSI.

I know of trips to Yankee Games, famous restaurants in NYC, 2nd jobs etc.