Live-in members

[CM36 4]

How come in westchester their is no live in members departments ?

First let me start out by saying what a live in member is. You live at the firehouse. You eat , sleep, shower all at the fire house. This ever big down in maryland it is a great idea it helps to cut down response time and also it helps younger members learn more responsablity. I go down and ride with a department in maryland let me tell you it is great.

Thier are so many benifits to having live in members. One response time will be cut down. Also it will help to to encourage recruitment in your department. I know that in the department that i ride with in maryland and after talking to many other departments that have live-in members that the live-in or bunker crews do not have to pay rent which is huge the only thing is that you have to a full-time job or be a full time college student. Think about all the money that you could save if you did not have to pay rent.

This would be a great thing to happen to westcheter if we got live-in members or bunker crews plus you could also make one kick a** department to.

This is just some food for thought.....I would love to hear everyones OWN THOUGHTS about thid

[mikeinet 37]

I think a major part of it is the environment - there are a number of college campuses in the Westchester area... but they arn't the same size as say U of Maryland...

Many of the firehouses in westchester also arn't equipped with an environment to have 'live-ins' - no showers... living space... let alone all the OSHA regulations you have to follow when someone lives in.

I think it'd be a good idea to explore... but not sure how realistic it is.

[calhobs 110]

Our department is actually looking into this from the last time i heard. When they build up the GM property and we get our new fire house they were talking about putting in quaters for living in. Not sure where thios stands now if SHAC7301 has more info maybe he can post it.

[GoshenFD 0]

I have heard about the live in programs in Maryland and they seem fantastic.

CM36, when you say you ride with a department down there, and I have heard others use that term too, what exactly does that mean? Are you still a member in Westchester and you just transfered your training credentials down there and they let you respond to calls with them? I am curious how exactly it works.

[ny10570 745]

there are some depts that have arranged low cost housing for members contigent on certain FD related responsiblities. Maybe someone could help fill in the details on this.

[mfc2257 464]

I have heard about the live in programs in Maryland and they seem fantastic.

CM36, when you say you ride with a department down there, and I have heard others use that term too, what exactly does that mean? Are you still a member in Westchester and you just transfered your training credentials down there and they let you respond to calls with them? I am curious how exactly it works.

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The stupid rule that exists in NYS about not being a member of more than 1 department doesn't exist in most other states. (Maryland & Pennsylvania for sure). I was a member of Millwood in NY as well as 3 other departments in MD & PA at the same time. Many folks outside of NY are members of multiple departments (ie: the one in the town you work in, and the one in the town you live in)

As far as live-in's go, it's not just PG Station 12 (College Park, U-Maryland). Many departments in Prince George, Baltimore, Montgomory, Anne Arundel, Fairfax, Louden, and other DC metro counties have stations with live-in's.

The basic concept of it all, is that the stations were either built or modified to have bunk rooms or small individual living quarters. The folks that "live in" trade their time and services for free room, utilities, etc. The closest comparison is like living in something like a college dorm for those that have individual living quarters, or career style bunk room for those stations who don't have individual living quarters.

The most notable "live-in" station in the US is probably Prince Georges County Station 33. It's been a topic on this site before, but for those who haven't read previouslly, they are an all volunteer department on the DC border in a fairly rough area. They are often ranked as the 2nd busiest engine in the country (regardless of volunteer, career, combo status) next to DC E-10. I believe that they have 19 live in's right now if i remember correctly. On any given day or night they can staff 3 engines and a truck with full crews out the door before dispatcher is finished with the announcement (if they're not already on the street returning from another call)

Edited December 7, 2005 by mfc2257

[HCFRFF 0]

www.kentland33.com is there website and you can go to links to see all the Deparments in P.G. County. I have gone to station 28 west Lanham Hills to ride along. www.wlhvfd.com a buddy of mine is the LT there. Anybody can sign up for a ride along at most of the departments in PG. Now if they are gonna let you go to work on a job is a diffrent story.

[CM36 4]

ok kentland 33 guys are great guys they know thier stuff.

GoshenFD to answer your question i know a couple of guys form thier and met them at a show and talked to them and asked them if i could come and ride and they said yes so i go down once every 2 months or so. GoshenFD PM if you want more info

Affordable housing is not every affordable any way. My old department was looking into getting affordable housing and they found out that only about 2 or 3 people could qualify or it.

Personally a live in program in such towns as Bedford, Bedford Hills, Somers, Mamaroneck Village, cause they are busy departments. Pleasentville, Briarcliff and maybe Mount Kisco cause they are close to Pace.

The mainpoint in having a live-in program is creat a great fire dpeartment and get out fast. Which is good for the community. If you had a live in program in a fire department that has a big coverage area then they could get out faster, and also if they run ems it would be easy for to get and they would not have tone out the department over 60 control they would only have to set the house tones off.

I would like to hear form alsfirefighter and Homer J what thier feelings about live-in program in general and would or could it work in westchester

Edited December 8, 2005 by CM36

[Guest]

If you are not looking to travel to far I guess you can bunk in Upstate NY in the Syracuse area. Onondaga county has many volunteer fire depts in the area that allow bunk ins. Most of the rules for the bunks ins are to maintian a 2.5 gpa with the local colleges.. Syr,Leymone,or Onondaga communtiy college, witchs has a fire protection degree. A lot of downstate folks come up and stay for free at the fire houses and obtain there degree in fire science. Just another tool to look into.

[mikeinet 37]

Syracuse University doesn't have any fire programs... I believe SUNY OCC (Onondaga Community College) does have somewhat of a fire core.. I'm not sure if it's a degree sense though - I have taken a number of classes there, not sure academically how it works though.

[roeems87 0]

TCCC (TC3, Tomkins/Cortland Com. Col.) has fire science degrees I believe. For other examples of live-in bunker programs, I know Tomkins County NY has many, both EMS and fire. Dryden Ambulance comes to mind, as does Cayuga Heights FD off the top of my head. They both have websites...

[firecapt32 282]

how does a "live in " live in? who makes the rules or are there no rules??

do they have to be in by 11?? what about drinking? or other things?? who is the " live in" police?? seems to me there are more questions !!! just because "it gets you out faster" dosent make it right . whos is responsilbe if excrement hits the oscollating machine?? The Department?? the village or town?? Im sure you need a lot more things answered beffore some one uses a "live in"

just my thoughts

being that homerj or als hasent answered yet

[ex-commish 490]

"The stupid rule that exists in NYS about not being a member of more than 1 department doesn't exist in most other states."

Actually you can ride with another department as a mutual aid member providing you meet the qualifications of the dept you wish to ride with. We have two guys who ride with us and belong to other departments.

Andy Mancusi

Chief

Hawthorne FD

[mfc2257 464]

how does a "live in " live in? who makes the rules  or are there no rules??

do they have to be in by 11??  what about drinking? or other things?? who is the " live in" police?? seems to me there are more questions !!! just because "it gets you out faster" dosent make it right . whos is responsilbe if  excrement hits the oscollating  machine?? The Department?? the village or town??  Im sure you need a lot more  things answered beffore some one uses a "live in"

just my thoughts

being that homerj or als hasent answered yet

←

I've commented on this a few times before but for review.....

Live in's essentially are FF's who live in small quarters that are built into the fire station. Liken it to a college dorm "single" in most cases although at some stations they utilize military style bunk rooms or partner folks up as roomates. Typically these folks are exceptional firefighters who are willing to trade the freedom of living in their own appartment or home (and all of the incurred costs that go with it) and live at the fire house. The most notable live in programs in the US surround the Washington DC area. Prince Georges County is probably the most noted in discussion. You can visit for examples www.34box.com for the Chillim-Adelphi Station 34 in PG County or www.kentland33.com for Kentland Station 33 in PG County or www.cpvfd.org for College Park (University of Maryland) Station 12. These three as well as many others have strong live in programs. Some stations are covered solely by vollies others by a combination of career and vollie crews. The rules are set in the by-laws and sog's just like they are for any other fire department activity. You need to make a certain percent of calls in order to maintain your live in status, and obviously you are responsible for station duty and cleaning. Each department will be slightly different, but there are usually strict 8 hour or more no drinking policies before stepping on a rig as well as restrictions on having guests or significant others spending the night.

As many folks including myself have said before, the fire service (both vollie, career, and combo) in the DC metro area is quite a bit farther along in this process then anyone in the North East. People are quick to jump and pass judgement when they hear comments about live-in's, combo stations, county departments etc because they don't understand how it works... Fact of the matter is, there is a lot to be learned in Westchester, Nassau, Suffolk, and the remainder of the NYC metro area from the way the volunteer and career fire services in Baltimore, Prince Georges, Montgomory, Howard, Fairfax, Louden, Anne Arundel and other Counties that surround DC and Baltimore have been able to work together.

[firecapt32 282]

didnt mean to start a argument just needed some clarification on the subject.

[mfc2257 464]

didnt mean to start a argument  just needed some clarification on the subject.

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I would assume you're replying to my novel written above... No problem, to be honest I'm a little overpassionate about it because I spent several great years of my life involved in the combination fire service spanning the counties from Southern PA, DC & Baltimore Metro Maryland, & DC Metro Virginia (sounds like a big area to be familiar with, but it's only about sixty miles from Southern, PA through the Baltimore & DC Metro areas into Northern, VA.)

I still have a bunch of friends down there who are active as Vollies, Live-ins, or Career Firefighters spanning that area.

It really is a system (group of systems by county that is) that work very very well. I've always had a hope that the NY Metro area would move in that direction from an orginizational standpoint (not just live-ins or combo stations but the whole organization of a county fire service.... Just because the county takes administrative control of policy doesn't mean that the individual companies lose thier autonomy it just makes them work together more effectively) It's hard to invision how seemless everything works down there without actually being part of it for a few years.

Anyone who has an opportunity to go ride in PG County, Baltimore County, Montgomory County, Fairfax County, Louden County, Anne Arundel County, etc I would jump on it.

[Guest]

how does a "live in " live in? who makes the rules  or are there no rules??

do they have to be in by 11??  what about drinking? or other things?? who is the " live in" police?? seems to me there are more questions !!! just because "it gets you out faster" dosent make it right . whos is responsilbe if  excrement hits the oscollating  machine?? The Department?? the village or town??  Im sure you need a lot more  things answered beffore some one uses a "live in"

just my thoughts

being that homerj or als hasent answered yet

←

Here is how it works Upstate Ny in the Syracuse area at this volunteer fire dept.. The college in question is Onondaga community college and yes they have a full A.A.S OR CERTIFACATE in fire protection. I am a past grad with this a.a.s degree. They also and have been teaching NATIONAL CERTS IFSAC/PRO-BOARD [NOT NYS CRAP] IN THE FOLLOWING since early 90's at the request of the Syracuse firefighters.

http://pstc.sunyocc.edu/corselst.php?filter=fi

It seems to me the training is lacking in the downstate NY area? Forget NYS crap go with national stadards!

Moyers Corners Seeking Students

The Moyers Corners Fire Department has been running a Student Bunk-in Program for 5 years now, and it has been a tremendous success. Students, who are enrolled in the Fire Protection Technology Curriculum at Onondaga Community College live at our four fire stations. In return for living at our fire stations, the students work regular duty shifts to help maintain the fire stations and apparatus, and when an alarm comes in, act as firefighters and respond with our apparatus. This has not only helped to keep our facilities and apparatus well maintained, but has also helped our daytime staffing.

What do the students gain? The students take what they have learned in their fire service training/education and apply it through experience responding to our alarms. The students also gain responsibility, independence, how to work as a team, and many other traits that will help them to be successful in the career fire service. As you can see this is a win/win situation both for the students and the fire department.

What are the requirements to be a part of the program?

Student candidate shall be a minimum of 18 years of age.

Student must go through a formal interview process.

Student shall be a full-time matriculated student enrolled within the Fire Protection Technology degree program at Onondaga Community College or another accredited university.

Student shall be an active member of a recognized volunteer fire department in New York State and outside of Onondaga County, New York.

Student would be required to enter into a written contract with the Moyers Corners Fire Department.

Student is required to maintain a minimum of 2.5 G.P.A. at the college. School is the number one reason the students are in our program, and the fire department cannot stress enough how important it is to us to make sure the students are successful in school.

Edited January 26, 2006 by dodffdog

[Guest]

"Syracuse University doesn't have any fire programs... I believe SUNY OCC (Onondaga Community College) does have somewhat of a fire core.. I'm not sure if it's a degree sense though - I have taken a number of classes there, not sure academically how it works though."

WRONG READ ABOVE POST AND USE THIS LINK

http://www.sunyocc.edu/courses/courses.php?course=FPT

Edited January 26, 2006 by dodffdog