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.