Fire-Police: The Unsung Hero's Of The Fire Service

Years ago when I first joined the fire service as a "knob" as we were known back then, I was going on one of my first calls as a very young firefighter. As we got close to the scene I noticed that traffic was being directed by what seemed to me to be a very old man with a vest on. I was always used to the police directing traffic at all emergencies. I asked who he was and was told fire-police; when I asked more about this I was told that when firefighters got too old to fight fires, they were relegated to directing traffic at fire scenes. I could never envision myself doing anything but fighting fires (we all know how it is when we are very young--we are never going to grow old) so I put it out of my mind. Spin ahead 39 years later; my days of going into burning buildings are over; I'm more of a liability inside a burning building as opposed to being outside staring in as the young knobs go running into a building. In the career service, most men or women my age would be retired in most cases, but for me it's too tough to let go of something I love doing. After a few months of standing around being frustrated because there wasn't anything useful I could do on the fire ground I seriously contemplated leaving the fire service for good. As I was telling another fire fighter at the fire station of my intentions, a fire Police officer who was there overheard me and approached me and explained that while I might not be able to fight fires anymore, there was always something you could do that would be very useful to the fire department and that was to join the Fire Police. I thought about it and figured I'd give it a chance; hell, if i didn't like it I could always resign and leave the fire service. After joining I quickly found out that fire police officers did a lot more then directing traffic; in addition to their traffic control duties, they crowd control duties, prevented looting on the fire scene, assisted the local and state police agencies as directed, kept the fire ground safe for the firefighters/EMT's, protecting evidence at potential crime scenes and other duties assigned to them. What an eye opener for me! Additionally, in New York State, all Fire-Police officers are sworn Peace Officers, which means they have full powers of arrest when on duty, which makes us a part of the Law Enforcement community. Many, but not all, Fire-Police officers take additional training aside from the state mandated 21 hour Fire-Police training course, to help them enhance their skills on the street. When you think about it, they really perform a very valuable service not only to the fire service but to the law enforcement community as well since it frees up police officers to do other things that are important as opposed to standing directing traffic. The Fire-Police motto is "first to arrive, last to leave"; I think in many cases, fire-police officers are under appreciated not only by civilians (only because many of them don't realize what they actually do) but also by the fire departments in which they serve. Next time you see a fire-police officer directing traffic, remember the contributions he/she makes to keeping things safe for you and your family.

Wisconsin Votes to Strip Workers Of Collective Bargaining Rights

Now that the republican senators have used the so-called nuclear option, unless it is overturned in court, once signed it'll become law in Wisconsin. And it'll stay that way unless in the next election cycle, the people vote out the republicans who supported this bill and repeal it.

I think it will happen.

According to polls, the people of Wisconsin strongly oppose certain parts of the bill which they feel are an encroachment on civil rights of workers in the state.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepo...117472988.html

While the public workers may be down, they are definitely not out. I suspect it'll become the 1930's again in Wisconsin; in some aspects I think it'll be good since many unionists know very little or nothing about unions in general and the sacrifices made back in the day when they fought street battles with management and company hired security hacks and this is a wake up call to not only public employees but also those in the private sector who think they are immune from what took place in Wisconsin.

Make no bones about it, the private sector unions are next on the republican's hit list. After all, the Republican Party owes its soul to the US Chamber of Commerce so hopefully it'll galvanize everyone from both the private and public sectors to band together as brothers and sisters with a common bond to work to vote out the governor and every republican of either house who supported this bill.

On March 10th, after it was announced that the republican senate in Wisconsin had passed the bill by 18-1, five of my co-workers, all staunch republicans revealed to us that they are so embarrassed by what their party did in Wisconsin, they plan on leaving the party and registering as independents.

I look forward with extreme enthusiasm to the next two years. I honestly believe that the Republicans have awakened a sleeping bear.

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.

New By-Laws Wreak Havoc With Some Members

Well I knew It wouldn't be long before one of the members complained about the recently passed re-worked/re-written By-laws. One of our members who remained quiet during the entire process of creating the new by-laws we now have and suddenly he decides that the newly adopted by-laws are unfair and how could we pass sometime so draconian? Funny that he sat mute during the whole process of drafting new by-laws; then at the meeting to vote on them he became angry and walked out and as such didn't stay long enough to cast his vote. Now he's threatening to terminate his membership if we don't reinstate the old by-laws which we changed because they were hold overs from the early days and were severely outdated.

The reaction of the base membership to his antics are less then ecstatic; most of them we've talked to say good riddance and don't let the door hit you on the ass leaving.

Some members question why even have by-laws in the first place; the answer is simple, without by-laws you'd have complete anarchy and there'd be no guidance for the members, so some type of organizational guidance is necessary.

Either way the by-laws are what they are and there's not much to be done about it as of this point other then go by what we all voted on. People need to accept what others have voted to do in a democratic system and learn to embrace change as most of the time its for the betterment of the organization. Otherwise your beating a dead horse. Just my two cents.

Time To Sharpen The Knives!

Well, once again in my fire department we are gearing up for the upcoming fire company elections which will be conducted the first Thursday in December. Its an annual ritual that takes place once per year and the process is more interesting to watch then prime-time television (and i know cuz i work in television).

Its a process older then many fire departments in the state; strange things happen when this time of year rolls around; people who were best of friends suddenly turn on each other and stab each other in the back. Its a truly amazing sight to behold. I've actually seen some friendships that never recovered due to the infighting and backbiting that occur during some elections; of course some years are worse then other years; its sort of cyclical process.

Some members of the fire company, in an effort to eliminate some of the pettiness that goes on during elections, have changed the by-laws of the fire company to prohibit anyone from running off the floor. Its felt that this will help to eliminate last minute quirks in the election; we shall see.

Already, the secret meetings are taking place in the various corners at the fire station, new cliques are developing like larvae from mosquito eggs dropped into stagnant water. They wiggle as small groups and connive ways to get their candidate elected; I think some of these people would have done well to have worked in the last presidential campaign last year. Deals are being cut as we speak.

I'll report on the results of the election once they have been conducted.

The Legend of The Lincoln Fuse

Most people don't think twice about a penny when they hold it in there hand. For some its a nuisance; something to be discarded as soon as possible; for others they pick through their pennies looking for the famous "wheat" penny hoping to make a rare find that will turn them into millionaires.

During the depression, the Lincoln penny was used by many American's to keep their power on in their houses. You see most people in the days of the depression had houses which used the screw-in type fuses in their power panels and when the fuse would burn out, rather then going out and spending money on a new fuse (remember things were tight during the depression financially) which worked well up to a point. The main problem was that fuses have a certain amperage rating and while most fuses were rated to 15 amps or so, the penny was good for about 60 amps. The end result was in many cases homeowners ended up burning down their houses because the wiring wouldn't support up to 60 amps. The moral of the story is: being cheap in the short run may cost you dearly in the long run.

Rest In Peace FF Patrick Joyce

Its always a very sad time in the life of a firefighter when a Brother or Sister passes away, its particularly tragic when its a line-of-duty death and even more so when its arson-related, which in this case is what happened.

Yonkers Fire Department NY lost one of its bravest when FF Patrick Joyce, 39, died while trying to escape a "Flash Over" which occurred on October 9, 2009. He jumped out of a third story window to get away from the blistering heat and smoke which intensified due to the flash over. Two other of Yonkers bravest suffered injuries from that same fire but fortunately will recover from their injuries.

The Yonkers Police Department apprehended a suspect, Rafael Roldan, 33,who allegedly lit the fire for reasons of revenge for being tossed out of his apartment for non-payment of rent. I hope that he faces the family of Patrick Joyce in court when found guilty to see the loss and hurt he has caused. Ideally the courts will sentence Mr. Roldan to life without parole so he may spend his remaining days thinking about the horrible deed that he did and the heartache and suffering he caused to the family and friends of Patrick Joyce.

May FF Patrick Joyce rest-in-peace.

Freemasonry and The Fire Service

I've been a member of the fire service for almost 34 years, having joined back in 1975 when I was a college student looking for something to give back to the community. When I first joined the Daniel P. Hays Hose Company of the Pleasantville Fire Department, I was amazed at how the guys stuck together; there was a atmosphere of camaraderie that I'd never seen on this scale before.

One of my earliest exposures to the "fire fighter caring for another fire fighter and their families" occurred after i'd been a member of the company approximately 2 months; "Bob", one of our more senior members had suffered a major heart attack; fortunately he survived it and on doctors orders, was confined to bed and major rest for 6 months. Bob's lawn was cut every week by one of our members; when he had to go visit the doctor or cardiac rehabilitation center, one of the members of our company was there to drive him; if his wife needed assistance shopping for groceries or handyman work around the house, one of our members was at her disposal and any other assistance that was needed one of our firefighters was there for Bob or his wife. I was impressed of us taking care of "our own" and through my life its stuck with me as a constant reminder of our duty, not only to the citizens we protect, but to ourselves and families.

Spin the dial forward to the year 2000; this was the year that I became a Freemason when I joined the ranks of the fraternity. For those of you who don't know, Freemasonry is a Fraternity which has been around for centuries and is steeped in tradition. Within three months I had completed my first degree (Entered Apprentice), second degree (Fellowcraft) and third degree (Master Mason) and i plunged head long into Freemasonry to learn the craft was well as I could and in the time since i first became a Freemason, I've moved up the ranks of the craft and am now serving my fourth term as Master Of The Lodge. How glorious it is to sit in lodge with Brothers from all walks of life where everyone is an equal no matter your profession, your name or background.

As I grew in Masonry, I became instantly aware of the comarardrie between the Brothers of the craft; it reminded me of my time spent as a firefighter in Pleasantville for over 20 years. It was then I learned that from my original company in Pleasantville (Hays Hose) there were many volunteers who were also Freemasons and I began to put two and two together. I asked some of the older Freemason members of the company about the history of the company and I found out to my amasement that at one point nearly all of the firefighters in my former company were Freemasons. That explained why our meetings were conducted so formally from meetings of the other companies within the fire district or why members faced the Captain and addressed him as opposed to the company. There were so many similiarities between the Fire Company and the Masons. As Masons we are taught to look after our Brothers and their widows and orphans as the case may be; the same was ingrained in me when i was a member of the Fire Company. Its almost unheard of in this world to see a homeless or distressed Master Mason wandering the streets; this again is because our love for our Brothers and the craft.

When I moved from Westchester County north about 55 miles to Dutchess County of course it was only natural from me to continue my service to the community by joining the local fire department. The main difference between this fire company and my old one was that there were only a few Freemasons in the department, and it was a different atomsphere from Hays Hose. Not that it was horrible, just a different feeling.

With any organization, changes do occurr; in this case over the past 10 years, we've seen more firefighters joining the ranks of Freemasonry. Our fire company now boasts 6 Master Masons and 1 Entered Apprentice. Its a long way from my old company where you had a couple of dozen Master Masons, but change does take time; I feel with the coming years more firefighters from my department will join the ranks of craft.

Why This Blog Exists

Someone asked me yesterday why I created this blog; it was created after much thought as many new blogs pop up on a daily basis on the internet.

I used to write articles for my fire department newsletter; priding my self on being an open-minded individual, wrote many articles on the fire service and some regarding my current fire department of which i've been a member of for over 13 years now.

From time to time my articles were edited, which while I didn't mind editing for spelling errors or sentence structure. The straw that broke the camels back came when they refused to print an article I prepared because they were afraid that it was "too controversial".

It was at this point that I vowed to create a blog for volunteers who could read my thoughts and make comments without having to worry about fire company censors deciding what people could or couldn't read.

And thus, The Pull Box was born. While we've started off slowly, I am starting to contribute articles once again on a regular basis.

I look forward to your replies to my thoughts and ideas.

LOSAP - More Then Just An Award

Some 25 years ago, the state of New York passed legislation permitting volunteer fire districts to have the right to start up Length of Service Awards Programs (LOSAP)for their volunteer members in an effort to retain/recruit members.

The main thrust of the program was to pay an "annuity" to volunteers who accumulated enough points during the course of a year to qualify for annuity points and after five years of "annuity" points, the member would become "vested" and at a pre-determined age, would be entitled to a monthly payment predicated upon length of credited service.

Of course at the early stages of writing the legislation proposals, there was an outcry from the career firefighters and their unions claiming the money could be better spent hiring career firefighters and more equipment, etc. While they had their own agenda, strong lobbying efforts by FASNY and individual firefighters helped to get this legislation passed and 25 years later many people have benefited from it.

Something many volunteers need to take into account is the fact that many of them are employed by small companies who do not provide defined pension plans and as such, aside from whatever savings they accumulate over the years they are employed, all they'll have to look forward to is government supplied Social Security and who knows what It'll look like in 20-30 years from now. The LOSAP is another way to cushion the retirement years and make their lives just a bit easier. Put in five good years and you've gotten yourself vested and and when you hit that magic age, the money starts rolling in every month.

Some may argue whether or not it actually helps retain and/or attract volunteers. I've found in my 25 years in the program that each department that I've been a member of found an initial surge of members showing up for as many alarms,drills, meetings and details that they could possible make in order to get their points and thus qualify for LOSAP credits. Over time it does tend to level out, but I can attest that recruiting continues remain stable with new members joining our ranks ever year. While expensive to start up, I think long-term the fire district benefits from having qualified fire fighters retained and staying very active. Some may leave for many reasons, but those who stay in most cases can be depended on to respond to calls and attend meetings and drills on a consistent basis.

When I joined the fire service in 1975, there was no LOSAP, medical assistance, free pool passes, train rides, etc. We did it because we wanted to volunteer and make a difference; I still to this day think that people continue to join our ranks not because of the benefits, but for the camaraderie and the satisfaction of making a difference in the communities that we live in. I think those who join only for the LOSAP (and their are some) or other benefits have the same mentality as some of our paid counterparts; ie. being in it for the money which most rational thinking people would agree. But the majority are in it to make a difference.

The fire service continues to evolve and as volunteers, we too are evolving; programs such as LOSAP are good in that they benefit the volunteers and public in general as it helps keep down the costs of having to have a fully paid department.

Fire House Clowns - No Bozo's Allowed Here

Every firehouse has at least one clown; in my 34 years in the fire service I’ve been located in only 2 fire stations; my first one was a pumper company tucked away in the quiet northeast corner of the village which I spent the first 20 years of my fire career; the second house was a combination of companies including an Engine Company, Fire-Police Company and Rescue Company; a rather messy combination if you ask me. But the common denominator in each case was that there was a clown (aka knucklehead) in each house. As a matter of fact there was more then one clown at times.

My first house had several clowns over the twenty year period I was based out of there; the one that really stood out to me was an old crusty New Englander whom we’ll call Moe. Moe probably had the worst people skills of any fireman that I’ve ever known. I affectionately called him “Peaches” much to the humor of the various members of the company. Peaches was always prone to criticize anyone and anything that wasn’t done the way it was done when he was the Chief of the Department. Peaches was also the part-time janitor of the fire house and woe to those who left any scrap of paper out of its intended place. One time I was upstairs eating pistachio nuts and I dropped a half of a shell onto the floor. I got down on my hands and knees and searched high and low for the offending shell but alas, I couldn’t find it. But Peaches found it; and at the next company meeting there was hell to raise over this nefarious shell that was found and the captain addressed the offending firefighters and reminded us of our duties of cleaning up after ourselves. One time when he was sitting in the can dropping a deuce, I mistakenly shut off the lights in the bathroom; well you’d have thought I’d castrated the old buzzard and he caused such a stink I swore never to walk into the men’s room when he was in there again. He and I butted heads at various times while I was a member of that company, until his passing some 15 years later.

At my second and current house, We have several other firefighters who, through their actions, have other company members scratching their heads in disbelief over some of the antics that have taken place. At times suspensions are the rule of the day, mostly involving younger firefighters, aka "Young Turks" or "Knuckleheads".

I’ve often wondered what causes these kinds of people to enter the fire service; is it to perform true community service? Or is it some personal agenda that they have? I wish I knew the honest answer.

Firefighter Discussion Forums –Friends or Foes Of Volunteers?

One thing that the internet has brought to society is the ability to communicate in a cyber world within nanoseconds of the enter key being depressed by the user. This gives the person unlimited access to the exchange of information at their fingertips and as such there are numerous firefighter forums that we, as firefighters can engage our fellow firefighters in whether its debate, sharing training information, discussing various calls that we go on, etc. I personally have visited numerous sites and decided that I’d share with you my experiences and give you my personal rating on each major sight I have visited. The rating will be on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest rating. I’ll also include their web address so you can visit and make your own determination.

Firehouse.com - The website is very user-friendly and easy to use and has numbers separate forums on different topics you can use. There are forums for volunteer, career, paid-on-call, training, and the like. From my experience, they don’t appear to generate a lot of traffic forum-wise but most of the posters in the forum are legit about having honest and frank discussion, tho’ there are a few flamers and trolls in there which the moderators are quick to address. Web address: www.firehouse.com Rating: 4

Nassau Fire Rant - Before you get any negative ideas, Rant stands for: Resources. Articles. News. Training. I must say that this is one of the most clear-cut interesting firefighter forums where you can have genuine dialog on firefighting. It is volunteer-friendly and those registering are told up front that if they are there to bash volunteers, they are wasting their time. The site has a nice layout and is very easy to navigate. Posting can be tough to start up as there appears to be a waiting period before the administrators will give you posting privileges. The members who post in there appear to be a friendly lot and I’ve yet to observe any animosity among the posters. The moderators obviously ride heard on anyone violation the TOS. If you are desirous of having good open dialog about the fire service, then this is the sight for you! Web address: http://www.nassaufdrant.com/ Rating: 5+

EMT Bravo.net – They have a nice design and layout of the website. Register and fill in the information they ask of you and your good to go. Unfortunately that’s where it ends. The clientele if you will, are composed mostly of very vocal Westchester/Fairfield County, NY career firefighters, some volley-wanna be career firefighters from the Greater Metro NY area in addition to a few brave volly’s who venture into the inner sanctum of this website. A great many of the posters in the forum are anti-volly and make it known to all present. Additionally, they engage in a great deal of censorship in that forum and while they have a perfect right to do so since it is privately owned, it nonetheless it discourages open and honest dialogue. To their credit, the moderators do attempt to maintain some level of decorum in there, but if your one of their “Outstanding Member Award Winner” they tend to leave you alone and I’ve read complaints on censorship in there. If you’re career, like copious amounts of whining and enjoy reading and/or engaging in volunteer bashing, then you’ll be in your zone. Volunteers, wear helmets when posting! Web Address: www.emtbravo.net Rating: 2-

New York City Fire.net – This forum is maintained by NYFD members and is more of a place to share information on alarms attended; there is some union politics on the forum, but as NYFD is unionized it is to be expected. They appear to be volunteer friendly; probably since they don’t feel threatened by volleys and many of them are two-hatters in the towns they live in for those who live outside the city. The site is user friendly and well laid-out and is relatively easy to navigate. The only thing missing more or less is participation from more firefighters. Its an excellent site for discussion on fire ground tactics-city style and news of rescue efforts, which in NYC is a constant given the amount of runs they engage in. Its definitely worth a visit to the web site. Web Address: www.nycfire.net Rating: 3

The Watch Desk.com – Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse. A quick visit to this website found that while they have separate forums for every state, most of the traffic is generated from Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Orange County, New York. And with the exception of Orange County thread, all of them, almost to the man, fight with each other, whether they are career or volunteer. If you’re a church or temple going person, you’d best stay out of the site as the language in there is worse then a sailor cursing after a night out in a bar. There is a constant exchange of “colorful metaphors” between the posters in there. The moderators maintain absolutely no control over what is said and done in there and as such, the posters run wild. Its amazing, when you think of it, that some of our brother (and yes, sister) firefighters have not met up and come to blows over some silly argument. Website design and navigation is less then desirable. If I were the owners, it’s high time to retool the sight, clean up the language and jettison those who refuse to comply. Normally I would have given them a “0” for rating but since Orange county thread is rather civil, they merit at least something on the chart. Enter the website at your own risk! Web Address: www.watchdesk.com Rating 1+

There of course are many more out there, including numerous satellite forums of the ones discussed here. And while this may generate some flack from the owners of some of the forums towards me, this is something I felt that firefighters, both volunteer and career need to be made aware of.

Volunteer vs. Paid Issues

As an active volunteer firefighter for past 33 years, I take a keen interest in the fire service and as such read and participate in a few firefighter forums. Many of them run the gamut from being objective to nothing more then volunteer bashing platforms. It amazes me of the animosity in some forums between volunteer and paid firefighters.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), www.bls.gov, volunteer firefighters make up 70 percent of fire companies in the United States which are composed of 100% volunteer membership. Saving American taxpayers billions of dollars each year in taxes, these volunteers place their lives on the line everyday for no salary or real compensation. It is an American tradition that goes back to the 1700’s when Benjamin Franklin formed the first volunteer fire department to fight fires in Philadelphia.

So why is it that such animosity exists between the paid and volunteer forces? Why is the “Brotherhood/Sisterhood” fractured when it comes to employment status? Volunteers, while not compensated in most cases, mainly make a career volunteering out of spirit and a willingness to help out in the community, make a positive difference, acceptance socially and a desire for self satisfaction. Paid firefighters on the other hand are compensated for their services and for many, like their volunteer counterparts wish to make a career out helping people. While you won’t get rich being a paid firefighter, you can live comfortably and know that in 20 years, you can retire with a 50% pension benefit and full medical/life insurance policy. Not a bad deal if you don’t mind working odd hours and holidays.

I asked a friend of mine who is a paid firefighter in Westchester County, New York why, in his opinion, paid firefighters take an adversarial view towards volunteers. He told me first off that not all the paid guys resent volunteers, but there is a vocal minority that reject the volunteer concept as a threat to their livelihood and feel that volunteers do not have the same training standards as the paid crews. In other words, he told me, they feel that volunteers are not their equals. Many all-paid departments refuse to call on neighboring volunteer departments for mutual aid claiming that the level of training that volunteers is inferior to that of the paid firefighters.

While it is true that most volunteers do not have the level of training that paid types have, which I think is around 239 hours vs. 89 for volunteer basic, the volunteer fire service is structured much differently then paid. In the paid world, if you will, there is only one kind of firefighter, one who does all; interior and exterior duties all rolled into one. This is the only concept that many of them can comprehend. However in the volunteer service, by the nature of the employee, you have interior firefighters, exterior firefighters, fire-police, administrative/support-only firefighters and drivers (chauffeurs). It is structured this way because this is what works best as some members do not wish to go into burning buildings, but are fine with exterior work, some only want to do rescue (EMS) related, fire-police or driving of the apparatus. In the eyes of many volunteers, having a paid firefighter man a master stream or performing ground ladder work when he could be utilized as interior is a waste of manpower and resources and is something a volunteer could easily do thus freeing up the paid firefighter for interior duties. But in many jurisdictions, union work rules generally forbid volunteers from working with paid firefighters.

Could it really be that paid firefighters truly view us as a threat? The IAFF has publicly declared that volunteer firefighters are the “enemy” in a recent report to the membership; indeed, they have forbidden their membership to volunteer in many instances, threatening those who do with sanctions and possible expulsion from the union. Could it be true? My first reaction is no. The main reason for this is that under law if they throw out a member for anything other then non-payment of dues and/or fees, they must be allowed to continue employment with the agency employing them. This would defeat the purpose of persuading them volunteering and also financially crippling to the various locals who would lose the dues money they need to operate. They also risk members resigning from the union and converting to agency fee payer status or even worse, core membership.

The volunteers aren’t perfect angels here either; I personally know a few who resent paid firefighters because they receive monies doing something that the volunteers feel should be done as a community service thus saving taxpayers valuable dollars. Others resent the haughty attitude exhibited by paid firefighters being a mentality of “we’re professional and volunteers aren’t”. Indeed, the forums at times look like the civil war redux where one must duck for cover when reading them.

I think its high time that the paid firefighters who have this anti-volunteer attitude need to re-evaluate their positions on the volunteer fire service and likewise the volunteers who subscribe to “volunteer only” need to stop and realize that paid firefighters have their place, especially in major cities where the amount of alarms makes an all volunteer force unfeasible.

Only when both sides decide to become one and recognize the different concepts and methods of operation, will the fire service finally become what it should have been over the years. That is a band of Brothers and Sisters working together towards a common goal.

The Crusty Old Firefigther Brings In The New Year

The Crusty Old Firefighter always loves parties, especially New Years Eve parties, since he first joined the fire service so many years ago. “I wonder how this years party will turn out, after all I’m one who volunteered to put it on this time around; can’t believe I agreed to hold it at my home” he thought to himself as he sat on an old metal framed chair sorting though flat wear looking for bent or rusted pieces that might somehow sneak into the pile of freshly washed implements that the guests would be using later that night. “God forbid if Joe Slick, one of the more senior members of the department got a bent fork stuck in his rather extensive dentures and ended up breaking or even worse pulling out the entire saliva-covered mess at the dinner table; boy that’d give the young piss-ants something to jaw-bone about for the next 20 years or so.” He mused “probably good for a few laughs though”. Suddenly, the doorbell rang; or sort of. It was a three-chime affair when new, but now was reduced by age to one and a half chimes when it worked at all. “Come on in” he shouted from the kitchen as he craned his neck around the corner to make sure that friends were entering his musty-smelling house. It was Chrome Nozzle and right behind him Bob Noxious, his favorite EMT, who for once wasn’t carrying his red-colored crash bag slung over his shoulder. “Happy New Year, Bro.” as they both shook hands with the Crusty Old Firefighter. “We came by to drop off some beer and buffalo wings and help you set up; we left the wings on the porch since they’re still frozen and its colder then hell outside so they’ll be fine until you need them later on.” The Crusty Old Firefighter peered at them under his coke-bottle thick glasses. “You guys want some coffee? It’s on the stove, go over and help yourselves; the milk’s out on the counter.” While pouring his coffee, Bob Noxious looked over at his two compatriots and softly mentioned “You guys know that as of tonight at 12 midnight, the town is losing its ambulance service for a new one? I can’t believe they’d actually replace Crocket Ambulance after all they’ve helped us out over all these years!” “Boy, isn’t that the truth”, Chrome intoned. “Every time the town got into jam with one of these low-budgeted ambulance firms, Crocket always jumped into the fray to help the town out and now they’re going to dump them again for another one of these fly-by-night outfits. What’s the name of this new one they want to add? ”He asked inquisitively. “I think their called Transfusion Paramedics; they do a lot of work to the south of us in the city.” Bob replied. “From what I heard, they even overbid Crocket by a few thousand dollars, even so the town signed a contract with them!!” Chrome looked over at Bob, feeling his blood pressure rising. “This is ridiculous! It makes no sense at all; we’ve got a good working relationship with them, they know the district, there here when we need them, they’ve helped us out time after time when we’ve gotten burned by these other services the town signs up with; and what about our good friends, Ed Bagger and Sue Liner? They work so well with us at all the scenes. Something’s not right with this.” Ed Bagger was the regular paramedic assigned and Sue Liner was the EMT who regularly worked with Ed. “Hey easy Bro.” the Crusty Old Firefighter piped up. “There are ways to let the town know in a civil manner that you’re not happy with their selection. Rather then letting your blood pressure skyrocket over this, try sitting down and writing a letter to your representative on the Town Board? And show up at the meeting if they discuss your letter in public; that way you’ll get your feelings on the subject known to them. You never know, if we all sit here and bitch about how bad this is and how bad that is and not contact them to let them know our feelings, they won’t know how you feel about it. At least you know you tried. But to do nothing will accomplish exactly that.” Looking at the Crusty Old Firefighter Chrome replied “You know, your starting to sound like a broken record” “Perhaps” he retorted “But I know from experience that it has worked and maybe this time it will if you give it a shot.” Bob thoughtfully said, “You know, I think you’ve got a good point there; remember the year we went as a group to the Commissioners meeting and made a stand on having an air conditioner installed on the new rescue truck; at first they didn’t think we needed it due to the cost, but after we made rational arguments, they saw it our way and agreed to have air conditioning installed. Who knows? Maybe it might work if we try it.” Chrome walked over to the stove, lifted the lid of the pot that contained the super spicy chili, sniffed it deeply, replaced the lid and said sheepishly, “mmmm, damn good chili. Alright, I think that’s what I’m going to do then. In retrospect that really sounds like something we should try; after all I think we need to make sure the town monitors the service of Transfusion to see if we are getting the bang for the buck. Believe me, you can’t replace experience with a cheaper contract that easily; we’ll just have to see how they do and if we aren’t happy with the service we think we should be getting, then we’ll ask them reconsider our former ambulance service.” The Crusty Old Firefighter, leaned back in his chair, the bulk of his massive frame spilling out over the arms of the chair, farted wetly and smiled at both of his comrades in arms, knowing full well that they’d taken his suggestion seriously. Both Bob and Chrome wrinkled their noses at the offensive odor and moved diplomatically across the room to the cleaner air in the pantry. The Crusty Old Firefighter looked at them quizzically and said, “you know, not for nothing, even thought the Town Board decided to go with another service that some of us wouldn’t have gone with, I’m sure in their hearts they knew the decision they made was in the best interests for the residents of the town, so try not to be too hard on them! Well let’s get this place set up for our New Years Eve Party. The gang from the firehouse will be here shortly.” Bob, holding his nose said “well open up a window first, it reeks in here.”

Bah! Humbug!

It was a cold November night in Beekman; the wind whistled through the rafters; the smell of hickory wood burning in a freshly cleaned chimney wafted throughout the house. In a small cramped room nestled in the upper southwest attic of the house sat the wise firefighter, Chrome Nozzle, who’d been a firefighter for the past 25 years. Next to him on the table in a chipped, weather-beaten coffee mug labeled “Firemen are always in Heat” was a hot steaming cup of coffee. The Christmas tree in the corner was lit by about 6 or 7 dull bulbs and most of the ornaments had disappeared over the years. Even tho’ it was a rather sad looking tree, it fit perfectly in the musty-smelling attic. Chrome really enjoyed the camaraderie with his fellow firefighters and was the kind of person who always thought of them in the kindest of ways. Still being a believer in Santa, it became his call in history to always hope and pray that Santa would pay his firehouse a visit and drop off some well needed gifts for all of the firefighters there; even if there was no chimney. Besides, he mused, using the front door was a lot easier then getting dirty going down creosote blackened chimneys. He labored over his paper, squinting while he scribbled his yearly screed to Santa……….

Dear Santa,

It’s been a while since I last penned a letter to you groveling for gifts at the firehouse for myself and all my buddies here, cuz we really worked hard this year and we behaved for the most part, well most of us anyhow. I’d like you to consider the following; Please arrange to have the funding made available to remodel our fireman’s room so It won’t look like a cross between a sterile hospital room and a rustic moose hunting lodge minus the head trophies…..I’d love for you to buy a new thermal imaging camera for us...a change of mindset in the way we think so that someday we may form a Volunteer & Exempt Firemen’s Benevolent Association which benefits all the firemen as opposed to a select few…..louder pagers so our deaf members can hear their pagers open up at night and respond to all calls….I’d really love to wake up on Christmas morning and find Beekman’s “Taj Mahal” finished (including the onion domes) …..I’d love for you to send books entitled “The Importance of Volunteering” to all the firefighter/EMT’s; I think this would help them get our ambulance out of the bay once in a while so we don’t look like complete buffoons throughout the county…..while your at it please throw in a new front tooth for Captain Joe, so he can smile without looking like a picket fence… new toilets in the men’s room that don’t clog up when you put a job in them…new seats in 34-67 to replace the one’s broken by our larger sized members…But most importantly Santa, a year where all of our members and their families remain in good health and spirits.
Signed,


Chrome Nozzle,
Firefighter


Happy Holiday’s everyone!
, T

Pride

In a recent fire company meeting, a discussion was held regarding wearing full regulation dress uniforms, debate was held on whether or not to wear non-regulation uniforms to parades. The long and short of it ended up being that we will continue the long-standing tradition of wearing our regulation uniforms to parades. But what stood out in my mind during the debate was when someone brought up in defense that we should continue to wear them because even though they are uncomfortably warm during parades, “pride” dictates that we should wear them. Hmmm…I thought pride? That’s a term I don’t hear kicked around a lot at the fire station. What do we show pride in? When we wash the fire apparatus? Or rolling hose? Or perhaps at election time? After much thought and deliberation I found that I can’t really find much of what I thought was pride. So I looked it up in the Websters on-line dictionary and found this:

pride Pronunciation: \prīd\ Function:noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English prȳde, from prūd proud — more at proud Date: before 12th century
1: the quality or state of being proud: as a: inordinate self-esteem : conceit b: a reasonable or justifiable self-respect c: delight or elation arising from some act, possession, or relationship 2: proud or disdainful behavior or treatment : disdain3 a: ostentatious display b: highest pitch : prime4: a source of pride : the best in a group or class5: a company of lions6: a showy or impressive group

This gave me a whole range of definitions but I figured it would be better used if I was able to put it into something simpler to read for all the Brothers and Sisters at the fire house; so here’s my definition of “pride” and how it relates to the fire service:
Pride is the feeling you get when you are at a fire scene and you’ve made a good stop; Pride is when you’re fire training has proven your confidence and ability to perform your duties as professionals; Pride is watching the backs of your Brother and Sister firefighters whether it be at a fire scene or a social function; Pride is honoring a deceased firefighter after he or she has answered their final alarm; Pride is following the orders of an officer whether you agree or not; Pride is the care you show when you use the fireman’s room for relaxing and entertainment and treat it as you would your own home; Pride is how you deal with the public on the fire ground; Pride is the respect of a fire fighters family when in their presence; Pride is the accountability for all your actions in life; Pride is getting out of bed at 3am to extinguish a small pile of burning leaves or help at a rescue call involving lifting an elderly person back onto their bed or chair; Pride is the ability to maintain your professionalism and dignity no matter what the situation whether in public or private; Pride is allowing someone to speak freely without holding a pique or grudge against them because of their position on a particular matter that you may or may not agree with; Pride is performing at least one good deed for someone per day no matter how trivial; Pride is comforting the parents or loved ones of someone who’s been in a auto accident or medical incident as opposed to looking the other way; Pride is remembering that we are all in this together and we are one band of Brothers & Sisters. If we claim we have pride we just can’t pick or choose from what we like, it must be all inclusive. How many of these can you honestly say you embrace??