The Stamford Fire & Rescue Debacle

Over the past year I've been following the issues between the City of Stamford, CT fire department and the so-called "Five Volunteer Fire Departments that surround the city. From my perspective, it appears to be a volunteer vs. union thing. The paid guys are looking to expand their "turf"; the volunteers are struggling to maintain some vestige of the volunteer fire service for the residents that they have been doing for the last 100 plus years.

The long and the short of it is that Stamford is going to create a new "Stamford Volunteer Fire Department". If I understand it correctly, the current volunteer fire departments, which supplement their volunteers with paid staff, will most likely lay off the career staff and force them to re-apply for their jobs. However, this time around, the current volunteer fire fighters are also enabled to apply as well, and apparently the new fire department is not going to use the civil service list as they are not required to do so. Hence the name calling and "scab" calling that is now taking place.

Its how gotten to the point where paid firefighters are accusing anyone who take any of the new jobs as being "Scabs". Hell, I'm beginning to think that most of them who post in EMTBravo.net have no clue what a scab is.

The AFL-CIO teaches its members (or is supposed to anyhow) that a "Scab" is a person who crosses a picket line and performs or supports struck work.

The last time I checked, the fire fighters of the Stamford Fire & Rescue Department(SFRD)are not on a legally sanctioned strike. In fact they are manning their apparatus in accordance with their labor contract that is in effect.

So what's with this term "scab" they throw around so lightly??? I think the main issue here is that they don't really understand what a "scab" is.

Unionized fire fighters amuse me; when its contract time, they suddenly become hard-core unionists (in their minds anyhow) and everyone in the labor circles become "brothers" or "sisters" and demand steadfast fealty to their code of Brotherhood.

Keep in mind that many of these so-called "Brothers" & "Sisters" are the same people who patronize stores like Costco, BJ's, Hanafords, Walmart (which is vehemently anti-union), Ikea; they are the same people who purchase their cars and pickup trucks from auto manufacturers who use non-union labor to make them; they buy their sneakers from Nike (who moved to Mexico and enjoy paying their employees $1.25 per hour while still charging the same for sneakers as they were when manufactured in the USA); they buy Perdue and Tyson Chicken (both anti-union); buy their underclothes from Hanes (another viciously anti-union company); they buy and eat Blue Diamond Walnuts (which is on the AFL-CIO hit list for illegally firing striking workers); etc.

The main point being that I sure don't have a lot of respect for many of the fire union members, who claim to be unionists, particularly when its contract time. Don't get me wrong; not all career fire fighters are like that; some of them practice what they preach not only at contract time but year-round. It's the fair-weather union members who put a huge blemish on the Fire Service labor movement.

I think they need to learn to be true unionists before they start to put on the facade that they are. Hipocracy has no place in the Labor Movement, especially in the fire service.

Captain Vince Iaccino

While at the fire station on this past Monday, we had just concluded our monthly business meeting when one of our District Fire Safety Officers called all of us back into the meeting room whereupon he notified us of the death of Fire Captain Vince Iaccino, of the Roosevelt Fire Department.

Apparently while participating in a drill at the Dutchess County Fire Training Center in Poughkeepsie, NY that Monday night, the 65 year old Capt. Iaccino began to suffer chest pains and was rushed to the hospital where he passed away. The news of his passing was met with stunned silence by those present, with several pausing to offer their own muted prayers.

Hearing of his sudden passing reminded me of our own mortality and how precious life is; having been through 2 LODD's (Line Of Duty Death), one in each of the 2 departments that i've been a member of since my entry into the firefighting service in 1975, you never get used to having to deal with a LODD. You roll out on a call sometimes with the Brother or Sister fire fighter or respond from your home to the scene and when the call is done, you always expect everyone to go back to the firehouse, put the trucks back in service, kick back, chat for a bit, only to find out that one of you didn't make it back and won't be coming home to their families or loved ones. Words alone cannot express the loss we suffer when one of the members of our fire fighting family die in the line of duty. Most often, the loss is carried with us throughout our entire lives, etched in the memory of time, never to leave us.

In the meantime, resiliency being a common denominator, the department will do what they have to do to bury their Brother and help as best as they can with Vince's family in dealing with his sudden passing. The CERT Team will be in the background in case their help is needed. Other departments from around the county will likewise assist as needed, whether it be staffing the station to respond to alarms that come in during the coming week, or to help clean Roosevelt's Apparatus to get it ready for the upcoming funeral or whatever else is requested of them. After all, we are one big family and its times like this where we all pull together for the common good of the fire service, especially when it involves one of our own.

I personally did not know Captain Vince Iaccino, but upon hearing of his age (65) and his years of service to the Roosevelt Fire Department (22) and positions held (Captain, President) it struck me that here was a man who obviously gave his all for something he believed in and it was reflected on his family who, as I've come to learn, have 2 son's serving in the same fire department as their father. It is the perfect example of a tradition of families serving their town/city/hamlet; doing what must be done to protect life and property which stand out as traditional American values.

Rest In Peace Vince, may the good Lord welcome you into his Kingdom and grant you eternal peace and happiness.

How Times Change

When I first joined the fire service back in 1975, I joined a Hose Company (another name for engine company) excited with the thought of being able to assist my community in their time of need. I found myself with 29 or 30 equally excited members, many of whom had been in the fire service since the 1930's.

When the fire horn would blow for a fire call, you'd have volunteers rushing from every part of town towards our fire station; we were lucky in that we had our own station for our company; other companies were all squeezed in together at Fire Headquarters and all of them had to share the limited facilitates that were then in existence.

The apparatus always got out; we had a rule in those days that the trucks could not leave until they had a full crew; ie; a driver, an officer and three firefighters; most then often the truck was completely overloaded by the time it pulled off the ramp (remember in those days you could ride the back step, the side steps and ride in the hose bed if necessary).

After every fire, the trucks were wiped down and left spotless; after all we wanted to show the public that we were taking care of their tax dollars purchased equipment. We stood ready to serve the public at a moments notice.

To be selected to be an officer, whether it be business or line was considered a huge compliment and those of us elected took our positions very seriously.

For around 20 years I was a member of the company and then a move upstate NY caused my resignation as an active member to be offered and alas, I became an Associate Member of the Fire Department and moved on with my life.

Just this past week, I spoke over the phone with one of the more senior members of the company and inquired how things were. I was told that elections had just been concluded and that we had a new Captain; but that was it; no other line officers were elected and the excuse was given that no one wanted to serve in those positions, which now puts the Captain in the untenable position of having to do everything himself.

Now I realize that over time things change along with values, but this really caught me off guard once I heard what had happened. Is it because of the new requirements that many fire districts have imposed on those seeking to be an officer? Or is it because people are lazy or have no interest in assisting in the operation of the company?

I'll be attending the Annual Benevolent Association Meeting in a couple of weeks and hopefully I'll get a clearer insight as to whats going on down there in my beloved fire company.

My how times change.

Spring Is Upon Us

It looks like spring is set to come to fruition. With the advent of spring means the beginning of Parade season for most volunteer/combo departments.

Now I've been attending parades ever since 1976 and I've worn everything from tee shirts to full dress Class-A uniforms but I've found over the past few years, that my body doesn't tolerate full dress uniforms in 90 degree/95% humidity as well as I used to back in the day.

So when the suggestion was made to wear non-regulation uniforms, of course my hand was the first to go up in support of the proposal. It was argued that wearing full dress uniforms were necessary if you wanted to win the "Best Overall" trophy, which to me didn't have much significance since I only attend parades for the enjoyment, not competition. Well, needless to say, the proposal was crushed and its still full dress class A uniforms to this day; which is a reason why I no longer attend parades and march in them. I'm much more comfortable in my Fire-Police short sleeved shirt directing traffic instead at parades.

To each their own I suppose.