Mansion Fire in North Stamford

[gamewell45 258]

It seems that only one thing and one thing only should be done after this incident. His lack of proper judgement and not allowing the automatic aid to respond into the fire as he cancelled them prior to arriving and making a proper size up caused injuries to 3 firefighters.

GET RID OF THIS ASST. FIRE CHIEF and he should have criminal charges brought upon him for his lack of safe actions and getting these 3 firefighters hurt at this fire scene.

Immediately remove his rank and suspend him for this lack of proper competence.

Don't you think it might be a good idea to hold off on judgment until you have all the facts? Perhaps placing him on administrative leave from his fire duties until the issue is resolved; but you literally have him convicted and sentenced based on what the newspapers have printed and we all know how accurate they are when it comes to the fire service.

[FD828 77]

I have worked in 4 career departments and have volunteered in 4 departments so I feel I have a little insight into the fire service. The fire service in Stamford needs to be streamlined. One department with one budget with one person in charge reporting to the mayor and the board of fire commissioners. I have posted this idea in other forums but maybe it can be looked at again. I know it is not the perfect example but why can't Stamford be set up the way Danbury F.D. is? One department that covers the entire city with both career and volunteer companies? Danbury has 6 career engines (3 on each), 1 (4 on rig) career ladder truck, and shift commander on duty. The city has 12 volunteer companies spread throughout the city. When there is a call at a given address, 2-3 career engines, the career truck, and the shift commander are dispatched with the corresponding volunteer company whose district the call is in and sometimes additional volunteer companies are dispatched. When the volunteers respond, they respond as a company and fall into the response matrix as a company and report to the IC. Several of the Danbury volunteer companies have specialized what their service is and in my opinion have made themselves more integral to being involved and called upon. The career training officer is in charge of all required training. I know it is not a perfect system and I am sure people will argue from both sides whether or not Danbury's setup can work in Stamford but if Danbury can do it with what they have, Stamford can do it with what they have. And Danbury did add the 6th engine not too long ago after many years of pushing for it.

I am sure that this could work in Stamford, problem is nobody wants to or is willing to give up the CONTROL! That is the one of the main sticking points. Every department has a chief/officers and nobody wants to give that up. The volunteer chief/officers do not want to take orders from a paid chief/officer in their district and visa versa. If the departments were willing to bend on that issue the Danbury model would most likely work. Quick question on that though. The volunteer companies in Danbury, do they have officers? And if so where do they fall in line when it comes to the paid staff?

Edited May 18, 2010 by FD828

[ny10570 745]

LTNRFD: The blog that posted the link to the audio states that only the dead air has been edited from the tape.

http://blog.stamfordadvocate.com/stamford411/2010/05/12/mill-spring-lane-2-0/

"LISTEN: To the dispatch audio of the Deep Valley Trail fire here. The audio has been edited to cut out dead air, making it shorter than the actual dispatch exchange."

[LTNRFD 266]

LTNRFD: The blog that posted the link to the audio states that only the dead air has been edited from the tape.

http://blog.stamford...pring-lane-2-0/

"LISTEN: To the dispatch audio of the Deep Valley Trail fire here. The audio has been edited to cut out dead air, making it shorter than the actual dispatch exchange."

Thanks for the clarification. I heard the audio from post#7 (Geppetto) and I did not see a disclaimer.

If the audio is complete, how was TRFD dispatched? Are they dispatched on another frequency????

[dragonrescue 28]

Thanks for the clarification. I heard the audio from post#7 (Geppetto) and I did not see a disclaimer.

If the audio is complete, how was TRFD dispatched? Are they dispatched on another frequency????

Engine 8 & 9 are located in TRFD territory. Usually the dispatcher announces TRFD units with E8 & E9, but did not do it this time. TRFD was doing a drill with E8 & E9 and turned out with them.

[FireMedic049 597]

Don't you think it might be a good idea to hold off on judgment until you have all the facts? Perhaps placing him on administrative leave from his fire duties until the issue is resolved; but you literally have him convicted and sentenced based on what the newspapers have printed and we all know how accurate they are when it comes to the fire service.

Are you forgetting that there is audio out there showing that he did in fact do "what the newspapers have printed"?

I agree that administrative leave until the investigation has been completed would be the most appropriate first step.

[gamewell45 258]

Are you forgetting that there is audio out there showing that he did in fact do "what the newspapers have printed"?

I agree that administrative leave until the investigation has been completed would be the most appropriate first step.

I did take that into consideration, but there might be more to it then what we are aware of. The audio portion is just part of it. I'd much rather wait until we know all of the facts before casting judgment.