Turnout Gear At the Firehouse or in POV?

[RWC130 594]

Volunteer Firefighters who often respond from home or work.

Do you have your (PPE) Turnout Gear at the Firehouse or in POV?

What do you feel is better and why?

[ONLOCATION 24]

Volunteer Firefighters who often respond from home or work.

Do you have your (PPE) Turnout Gear at the Firehouse or in POV?

What do you feel is better and why?

More and more departments are going to keeping Turn-out Gear at stations. In Ossining I know you can keep your gear on Rigs or keep it in your POV but Ossining also does'nt require a crew to have the rig respond you can respond to stations or go directly to scene so it make's sense.Tarrytown's the same way but they require a crew unless after there Whistle blows 3 rounds then you can respond only driver. Other Dept.'s I know there SOP states you must keep gear in station unless it is Okayed by chief to keep in your POV because you respond to multiple stations or you live in between stations and not both stations apparatus respond on all alarms.

Personally depending on department make up and staffing requirments is the way I think it should be determined. But keeping your gear in POV gives you the chance to be more versatile to your department. Reason being if you are going by the Incident for example an MVA you can basically give a heads up to responding units or dipatch on the situation at hand with being able to be Identified by your gear who you are. You then don't have to worry about making sure your gear is being put on a responding apparatus.

[21Truck 8]

My dept lets us carry our gear in our POV's. We operate out of 3 stations currently and some guys will keep gear at their station or carry it with htem because if their truck doesnt get out they respond to the scene or just respond to the scene depending on location. We are currently working on plans for a central firehouse in which case I believe gear will be kept at the station. My company now is also looking for gear racks to fit in the tight quarters of our truck room. It's nice to keep gear at the station because you must respond to the station first before goign to the scene. As far as response and manpower on a truck, right now we don't have anything stating there must be a certain amount of manpower riding that truck. Mutual aid we carry a full crew but normally during the day it's a driver and maybe one other fireman on the truck and at night we usually get between2-5 ona truck. We know that during the day if it is something major like a working structure fire or serious MVA we have people coming so if we respond driver alone it's not to bad for us...thankfully. So far it seems to have worked well over the years

[mfc2257 464]

MFC runs a case-by-case scenerio. Some members are permitted to carry gear with them if they live within response distance of either of our stations. Typically Captain and LT's were able to keep their gear in thier cars. However members that only responded to one station on a "regular" basis were generally required to keep their gear at that station.

Keeping gear in cars so that members could respond via POV was never really a factor in the decision making process. We operated under the policy that unless it was absolutely necessary under the circumstances for a specific call, that members responded to a fire-station and not to the scene with POV's. Not to say that responding with POV's is bad for all departments, but the road conditions in many parts of New Castle and the surrounding area aren't POV parking friendly at emergency scenes, especially when rigs like Tankers 10, 14, 15, 16, etc are trying to negotiate a shuttle operation around lots of parked cars.

[x648eng119 2]

Many of our members (myslef included) carry our gear in our car. We don't have requirements to leave it at the firehouse or not, so it's all personal preferance. Our department policy is to wait for a minimal crew of 2 interior firefighters and an MPO before responding, but I think my company are the only ones that wait 100% of the time unless otherwise orderd. I like to keep mine with me, because if I go to the firehouse, it only takes an extra 3 seconds to run to the back of the car and grab it.

[tbendick 27]

Going over this thread something came to mind.

For the FF's that do keep gear in POV's do you take and sort of precautions to keep from possibly contaminating your POV. I know NYC sends out everyone's bunker gear twice a year to make sure it's clean. I know the unions where looking into some form of bag to carry gear from firehouse to firehouse when they get detailed. They were concerned with members placing gear in POVs and having a cross contamination issue. Most people might say that they decon gear when needed, but I would still say that just from day to day ops it does get pretty dirty.

[Guest]

run to the back of the car and grab it.

Who are you playing with? Run!!!

[Guest DADAY]

I got your run to your car.

Seriously, I have left the gear at the firehouse, also taken it with me. I like having it on a rack, (it dries, stays warm, stuff like that), but also like to have it with me. So its a toss up.

[x648eng119 2]

I like having it on a rack, (it dries, stays warm, stuff like that), but also like to have it with me. So its a toss up.

Yeah - I found myself leaving it in the firehouse more and more during the winter months. Putting on turnout gear that's been sitting inside a 20 degree car for 8 hours is one way to get an unwelcome wakeup call!

Oh yeah - and for the comments about running... :pissed:

lol

[Remember585 815]

Our FAST members are actually required to keep their PPE with them in their vehicles, mainly because most of them have extra equipment that needs to be accounted for.

As Art said, most of us keep our gear in our cars, but many of our members have a second set of gear hanging in quarters, just in case we're without our primary stuff.

There was a post like this in the past, if I can find it I will merge the two...

[Guest alsfirefighter]

You seem like the type that would run. [-X

My gear is in my house. Especially in the winter.

[Guest ksneubec]

Up in CT where I am, we are allowed to respond to the scene in our POVs so 99% of the department keeps their gear in their cars.

When I was in NY it was strongly "encouraged" to keep our gear at the firehouse b/c we were not allowed to respond to the scene unless there were mitigating circumstances. In my case I purchased individual equipment (rescue ropes, tools, etc) that the fire dept would not pay for, and unfortunately, I actually had to worry about it getting stolen out of my pockets if my gear was hanging on the rack. Subsequently, I kept my gear in my car, but did so inconspicuously, as to not cause any problems.

[PVFD113 6]

Then there are super whackers that have 3 sets--1 for each vehicle-saves having to switch it around from car to car--got alot of use out of the "work" setprobably been used for more buff jobs than anything else!!! The decision is a tough one though for those who don't have the luxery. I don't know how confident I would be letting my gear hang in the bay with all the people that filter through there. Might be missing a few items--been there too!!!

[STAT213 332]

Just a couple of things to add. We no longer allow turnout gear outside of the apparatus bay floor. You cannot come into the living quarters with it on. So, why would you want to bring it into your house.

As for keeping it in your car, its needed sometimes for sure, depending on your district. I would urge everyone to keep it in a bag of some sort. Most of us know this, but I saw someone the other day up here in NH with their gear hanging in the back of their SUV...

Our gear gets destroyed by UV light, and its effectiveness will be greatly reduced if you keep it out in the open like I saw the other day...at the NH Fire Academy.

[Mofire24 27]

Everyone in my dept keeps there gear in there cars we respond directly to the scene. I agree with stat 213 you have to watch where you put your gear because the uv ray's especially with the black turnout gear it discolors it and ruins the gear.

[Guest NYTruckie]

I got your run to your car.  

Seriously, I have left the gear at the firehouse, also taken it with me. I like having it on a rack, (it dries, stays warm, stuff like that), but also like to have it with me. So its a toss up.

Thanks for your, well I don't exactly know what it is. Does it depend on the wind and when it changes?

[Guest WCDES636]

Stat213: Must be very different to wear turn out instead of those taylor cut flight suits!

[brian19fd 22]

In our department, many of the members dont have gearracks, so they have to leave their ppe in their cars... the only thing is that our department frowns upon going to the scene in your own vehicle... but overall, id rather leave it at the house b/c its less of a hassel trying to gather your gear and putting it on when your trying to get on or even make a truck...

[x242Steve 1]

In Rye we keep our gear at home or in the car since we respond direct to the scene, not to the firehouse.

There are a few spare sets of gear on the rigs for people who are already out and about when an alarm comes in and don't have their stuff with them.

Of course the spare stuff does me no good, since I'm 6'8" and have a size 16 boot. Needless to say I am within a 100-foot radius of my gear at most times...

[Guest]

In Sleepy Hollow Alot of the companies demand the guys to have there gear on the truck only if the are residents in town. If they live in tarrytown or pocantico hills which we sdo have members there they can keep there stuff onin there private owned vehicles.

[EFFDCO4 0]

In East Fishkill and in most 'all volunteer' departments or districts the thing that makes most sense is to have your gear stored in the gear rack at the station. after all, you should have a crew to respond to a call and if folks chose to keep their gear in their car the rig wouldn't be able to roll. and if it did, what confidence would the driver have that enough manpower would be awaiting him at the scene? In combination departments such as Peekskill, it makes more sense to keep the gear with you since the rigs are rolling immediately and you cannot keep your gear ON the rig.

[emt301 4]

Actually, I believe leaving the gear in your POV makes the most sense. If the scene is between where you are responding from and the firehouse, and if apparatus has already responded, you may as well have your gear with you so you can go right to the scene and be of some use. On the other hand, if you go to the firehourse for the apparatus, you still have your gear with you in your POV, and can don it before heading out on the rig.

[oilflame 0]

we have it on the rig