Hastings fire chiefs car catches fire

[norestriction 10]

August 18

Fire Chief’s Car Ablaze

7 p.m.—Police received a call from James Sarfaty, the Hastings-on-Hudson fire chief, reporting that his 2006 Ford Expedition had caught fire outside his home. Police and fire department arrived on scene and extinguished the fire. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

above is a little piece I copied from the river town patch anyone have any additional info?

[NOZ45ZLE 42]

[norestriction 10]

Why was Yonkers there?

[NOZ45ZLE 42]

it was just about On the hastings Yonkers Line

[mreis95 77]

Was hazmat called? I saw a guy with HMRT coveralls.

[IzzyEng4 427]

Okay I have a really dumb question. How come they keep shooting water into the car when there is fire under the car an obvious gasoline leak and only train a line on where the fire is as it "creeps" out from under the truck??? 3 minutes into the video then you saw foam being used?

Hate to be a critic but using this from a training point, if you had the ability of using foam right off the bat, shouldn't it be used?

Also please do not take this as bashing Hastings or Yonkers FDs, just trying to make a point on if you have the "tools" why not use them?

[grumpyff 1,159]

Only reason I could see, is the driveway is on a hill. Both the gasoline and the foam would both run down the street.

[ny10570 745]

Does Hastings have a pre piped foam system? If not, starting with water before you can get the foam flowing is often a good idea.

Many years ago I had a car fire that had burned down to and through the top of the fuel tank. As we added water the fuel would spill out and just like this fire, flow downhill under the car. About 20 minutes into this futile effort someone got the idea to bury an old piercing nozzle into the side of the car next to the fueling tube. Flowed the foam through that line and had the fire out 5 minutes later.

[Guest mnfbhmc1]

This could have been a lot worse with much more damage done to his house if it wasn't for him getting into his truck and moving it down the drive way since it was up against the garage. This part of southern Hastings is close to the Yonkers boarder but not that close why they where there is beyond me. It happens on occasion.

[norestriction 10]

was this called in to 911 via a landline or cell does anyone know? I ask because that might answer why yonkers was dispatched and I will give Yonkers credit if the address was Hastings for sticking around and helping. Class decision by Yonkers

[bad box 371]

I know this is '20-20 hindsight', but I think I would have assigned most of the excess personnel on the scene to grab shovels to build a dike using the readily available earth at the scene in order to contain the flow of fuel & apply a foam blanket to the pool of flaming liquid. This would be done rather than using charged attack hose lines to create the dike.

[ex-commish 490]

This could have been a lot worse with much more damage done to his house if it wasn't for him getting into his truck and moving it down the drive way since it was up against the garage. This part of southern Hastings is close to the Yonkers boarder but not that close why they where there is beyond me. It happens on occasion.

Yes it could of been alot worse so I dont think it should matter why YFD was there what matters is damage to the home was minimal, no one got hurt and the fire was put out. Seems to me by watching the video both departments worked well together.

[Remember585 815]

FORD... 'nuff said.

Sorry Hastings. Buy a Tahoe!

[norestriction 10]

Yes it could of been alot worse so I dont think it should matter why YFD was there what matters is damage to the home was minimal, no one got hurt and the fire was put out. Seems to me by watching the video both departments worked well together.

I agree with you and seeing YFD and HFD reminds me of the old days BUT I was curious if the call went to Yonkers directly via 911 ? Like I said the first time if the house was a Hastings address I think that was a real class act by YFD to stay I couldn't stress it enough. YFD came through for a fellow FF volly or not and I tip my hat to them.

[goon16 155]

5 l/s/o really? And why does yfd have there masks on, and hfd doesn't?

[LTNRFD 266]

5 l/s/o really? And why does yfd have there masks on, and hfd doesn't?

I don't know what point you are trying to make with your statement

After watching the video a second time I counted 4 YFD FF's that had their airpaks on their backs. I also counted 3-4 HFD FF's doing the same. At 10 seconds into the video there is a YFD FF who was ON AIR standing next to the burning car and next to that FF was a YFD AC who did not have an airpak. I don't know what they were doing at that point other than observing. Than at 2:45 of the video another YFD FF ON AIR moves over to the HFD hose line and appears to say something to that hose crew (none of which had airpaks). The hose crew from YFD had their airpaks on their backs, but I didn't see where any one of the YFD hose crew was ON AIR.

Now the most disturbing part of the video. At 3:45 of the video YFD FF *****, who is wearing his airpak but NOT ON AIR is seen with a shovel reaching under the car with active fire. His face is right up to the wheel well. With the amount of burning gasoline and the flare ups that were occurring this was the time to use that 20lbs. weight on your back to protect your life.

Both departments were wearing airpaks. I only saw at 2 times on the video any FF ON AIR and the was a YFD FF. It may have been the same FF. The one extremely hazardous act the YFD FF did not have his mask "ON".

So again I say I don't see your point.

[x635 4,066]

Yonkers was there for the same reason Hastings was. The car was on fire. Both agencies have fire engines and firefighters. Sometimes, on the border, dual departments are dispatched, especially when you have such a fragmented dispatch systen. But you don't have time to sort rhat out because time is not your friend.

We could pick this apart forever. Now that everyone has camera phones and cameras that take videos, we're always under the gun for criticism and everyone thinks that they are an expert. This is why everyone complains about this forum.

If someone on scene that is an officer wants to come on here and comment or give insight and maybe answer questions, fine. I'd love to see that. But they are under no obligation to answer to their tatics here, other then if they wannt to use this to enhance firefighter safety. So, relax on the critcism. I'm pretty sure this is not the first car fire these guys have put out, and I'm sure they can use the video to learn.

Again, this is what give the forum a bad name. I think a video like this is a great learning tool, but these types of threads actually make people not want to share their experiences. Everyone wants to criticize other departments, but when it comes to their own department.....

I think this is an excellent video to learn from. But I'm sure Hastings and Yonkers wouldn't appreciate speculation.

[norestriction 10]

maybe one of the first times I agree with you Seth , my only question I wanted answered was how did the call come in and was it a Hastings or Yonkers address. As I mentioned 3 times already class act by YFD sticking around if it was a hastings address. I'm not here to play Monday morning quarterback nor am I even trying to and I ask everyone else not to either , BUT with that being said I also think some sort of CRITIQUE in a respectful manor i always in order thats how we better ourselves but thats a different topic for another day.

[buff74 6]

To answer your question, the house is literally feet away from the Yonkers border. One side of the street is Hastings but across the street is Yonkers. Very happy to see everyone working together, regardless.

[billfitz 109]

geez - it was only a car fire - we would be up to 100 posts if the house was involved - lol - I recently hit a deer in Hastings on route 9 calling 911 from my cell - it first went to Bergen Co. NJ, then transfered to NYSP and then to Hastings PD go figure

[abaduck 123]

This is a question not a criticism or monday morning quarterbacking!

One of the first things I thought when I started playing the video and doing my sizeup was 'OK, that's quite a steep driveway. The gasoline is running is running down the hill. What happens if the brakes burn through and the whole damn car starts rolling down the hill?'

What's the best tactic for that? Chock it if possible? Park a 'sacrificial' piece of apparatus in front of it so, if the worst happens, it doesn't end up in the house across the street?

Mike

[mricorp 12]

I can totally see his pager going off, running outside and thinking..........."Oh this freaking sucks".

I think I would have gone back inside and pretended I wasn't home.

[Ladder44 73]

This is a question not a criticism or monday morning quarterbacking!

One of the first things I thought when I started playing the video and doing my sizeup was 'OK, that's quite a steep driveway. The gasoline is running is running down the hill. What happens if the brakes burn through and the whole damn car starts rolling down the hill?'

What's the best tactic for that? Chock it if possible? Park a 'sacrificial' piece of apparatus in front of it so, if the worst happens, it doesn't end up in the house across the street?

Mike

Not that it really answered your question but across the street is all woods.

[Remember585 815]

If you look on the ground in front of the car, the water dams up and spills over what I think was a wheel chock that washed down the hill.

[efdcapt115 1,511]

I know this is '20-20 hindsight', but I think I would have assigned most of the excess personnel on the scene to grab shovels to build a dike using the readily available earth at the scene in order to contain the flow of fuel & apply a foam blanket to the pool of flaming liquid. This would be done rather than using charged attack hose lines to create the dike.

Why is the one comment from the man with more fire experience than most of us combined, basically ignored? You want this to be a learning tool right? Recognize who is doing the TEACHING.

[abaduck 123]

Why is the one comment from the man with more fire experience than most of us combined, basically ignored? You want this to be a learning tool right? Recognize who is doing the TEACHING.

We could pick this apart forever. Now that everyone has camera phones and cameras that take videos, we're always under the gun for criticism and everyone thinks that they are an expert. This is why everyone complains about this forum.

If someone on scene that is an officer wants to come on here and comment or give insight and maybe answer questions, fine. I'd love to see that. But they are under no obligation to answer to their tatics here, other then if they wannt to use this to enhance firefighter safety. So, relax on the critcism.

Just doing what the boss says, Cap... I'm NOT saying Bad Box hasn't got a great point, one I'll try to remember, but I AM saying Seth posted just a few weeks ago in fairly trenchant terms about not criticizing (explicitly or implicitly) or picking apart scene photos or videos...

Mike

[x635 4,066]

George is back!

[bad box 371]

Just doing what the boss says, Cap... I'm NOT saying Bad Box hasn't got a great point, one I'll try to remember, but I AM saying Seth posted just a few weeks ago in fairly trenchant terms about not criticizing (explicitly or implicitly) or picking apart scene photos or videos...

Mike

Hi Mike,

I didn't consider my comment to be a criticism. When I was on the job we frequently would sit around the kitchen table after a working fire or an unusual emergency and do an informal critique. It was never used as a method of pointing fingers or attaching blame, rather it was used as a learning tool to help us to find the best methods for dealing with the myriad of situations that we as firefighters frequently encounter in our profession. Our goal was to always be prepared to do the best, most efficient job of protecting civilian lives and property while maintaining safe practices at the same time. IMHO the photos and videos of fires and emergencies that appear on this website can prove to be a valuable learning tool. Posters should show respect when making suggestions as well as make sure that you are suggesting procedures, equipment, etc. that is 'tried and true' as opposed to something you have dreamed up and never put to the test at the drill site. Other than that, I think we all need to admit that none of us know it all, always do everything right and can't benefit from a good suggestion now and then. If we want to continue to improve as fire rescue personnel, we'll have to be open to the real world experiences of Brothers who have been there and done that enough times that they have something to offer to the newer generation of folks on the job.

Stay safe ...

[ny10570 745]

With the volume of water they were flowing could they have effectively built a dyke with hand tools?

[efdcapt115 1,511]

With the volume of water they were flowing could they have effectively built a dyke with hand tools?

Absolutely, if the IC from Hastings had asked YFD to protect the exposure, and then H-O-H shut down two or three lines.....

Like Bad Box said, this is NOT a criticism. My job had one of these years ago, only problem was the vehicle was pointed downhill TOWARDs the exposure. We filled the driveway 3 feet deep with foam to extinguish.

Think about the "wash-down" run-off that goes into the storm drain. Where does it go? Does it accumulate to explosive levels someplace else? Or being Hastings, does it just flow into the Hudson....

Something to think about for the next time. Every job is a learner. Takes nothing away from the effort the Brothers made there.