Billy Bob Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 3 times a week? Less than 1% of a fire departments call volume is an actual fire. Once a year is more of an accurate number. I only wish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Bob Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 They name it Tonawanda Lew! HH No we didn't....the friggin Indians did... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Bob Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 Sad at anytime of year,but at christmas is the worst. I found that kinda wierd aswell Lew. As a vollunteer,all members were trained and qualified to use SCBA's. Each department will have it's own qualifications depending on many circumstances....when you have a lot of man power to choose from you can operate different then from a small community. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adolson Posted December 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 3 times a week? Less than 1% of a fire departments call volume is an actual fire. Once a year is more of an accurate number. Once every year or two is probably accurate here. If three houses went up in flames every week, this entire town would be ashes in 2-3 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lew Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 Our trucks per department rule doe NOT roll unless there are three green tags (interior fire fighters) on board Wearing a mask is a basic thing for a firemen and is one of the 1st things their taught when they come on the job....at least in Canada anyways, and I couldn't imagine a truck sitting and waiting in the firehall for qualified men to get there before they respond to a fire. If it works for you guys, then OK I spose, just seems really odd to me. Not arguing with you Bob, just stating an opinion from someone who did it for alot of years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Bob Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 Wearing a mask is a basic thing for a firemen and is one of the 1st things their taught when they come on the job....at least in Canada anyways, and I couldn't imagine a truck sitting and waiting in the firehall for qualified men to get there before they respond to a fire. If it works for you guys, then OK I spose, just seems really odd to me. Not arguing with you Bob, just stating an opinion from someone who did it for alot of years. I never thought we were arguing...just exchanging ideas and ways things are done here and there....again, professionals have a different way because they have full time men at the hall but are very limited to men because they are paid fire fighters. Our department alone has the capacity of 240 fire fighters....we are the LARGEST in the state as far as I know when it comes to volunteers....it's the reason when a neighbouring district needs mutual aid we are the first to be called because they can depend on us. BTW we NEVER lost a basement....LOL Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lew Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 professionals have a different way because they have full time men at the hall but are very limited to men because they are paid fire fighters. When I retired 11 years ago we had about 3000 men on the job in Toronto and if I remember correctly we were the 4th largest department in North America, behind New York, Los Angeles & Chicago. And we saved most of the basements too :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Bob Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 (edited) When I retired 11 years ago we had about 3000 men on the job in Toronto and if I remember correctly we were the 4th largest department in North America, behind New York, Los Angeles & Chicago. And we saved most of the basements too :lol: But how many were on duty per truck per day....I know in Buffalo (poor example) they only have 3 men on their trucks. In some areas within NYS there are paid fire fighters who drive and operate the truck with volunteers manning the truck....so it all depends on where you live and how much money you have to throw around. BTW our truck seats eight and many times it's full to capacity with more fire fighters arriving at the scene via their own vehicles....you can never have too much muscle at a working fire as I'm sure you know. Bob Edited December 12, 2011 by Billy Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smally21 Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 (edited) are you in lancaster BB? 240 men is a big VFD - maybe not by american standards - dont know. our area has about 270 volunteers over about 10 stations, and 500 career in about 15 stations. similarly, volunteers wait for 3 men to respond. no distinction between interior/exterior. it would be great to have a million beers and discuss the american volunteer system, i think its different in that larger communities, even cities will have volunteer protection vs canada where they switch to career the instant they can afford it! often when they can't career fire only resonds 15 men to a residential structure fire here...to start anyway. as for 3 times a week - well at 30,000 calls per year you are not far off , its more like 2% in our area, and some vehicles hitting 2500-4000 calls/year. sure not every guy is gonna have 3 a week, often go months without. but somebody is going to them, maybe 600 structure fires/year( just residential), average of 2/day regrettably, lost a basement recently. we are still recovering Edited December 13, 2011 by smally21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Bob Posted December 13, 2011 Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 I belong to the Depew Fire Department....it's the largest village in NYS... We have 6 companies with each company having a max of 40 men per company as per our department By-Laws... Now those beer are going to be Cold Canadian Beer, right ? ? ?LOL...no I'm not kidding...LOL...I am well qualified to drink beer as it was a requirement to join...LOL We average between 325-375 calls per year...we must make 10% to qualify for our Service Awards program. I would love to discuss this further....but I have a fire police meeting at 7:30pm....yes, I no longer drag hose but instead direct traffic and secure the fire scene for my fellow fire fighters....momma didn't raise no fool...I knew when it was time to let the young bucks take over...but I'm still considered a 100% fire fighter in my department and I'm still qualified to drive and run the truck if need be...but gave up my green tag a couple years back for obvious reasons. Keep it Safe, Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lew Posted December 13, 2011 Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 I knew when it was time to let the young bucks take over When I went on the job in '68 Bob, I was working with a bunch of old men, but when I retired more than 3 decades later I was working with a bunch of kids. Funny how that works out, eh ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaspumper Posted December 13, 2011 Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 I thought this was a report about some unlucky family loosing there house,not a pissing match about which fireman can and can't enter a burning house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adolson Posted December 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 Hey, fire guys. This is may be a stupid question, but what good is "saving a basement" anyhow? Presumably it makes rebuilding easier, but there must be something more to it? If that's the only thing, and my house burns but my basement is "saved," it's of little use to me, as the town here probably wouldn't let me rebuild due to changes in the building code or bylaws or whatever. I own a lot that used to have a house on it, and I was told I would probably not be permitted to put a small garage on it now because of such issues. Anyhow, I was just curious. I thought this was a report about some unlucky family loosing there house,not a pissing match about which fireman can and can't enter a burning house. Why can't it be both? We feel bad for the people who lost their home, and see whose firehose is longer. Or something.. It's not the length of the hose, it's how much water it sprays! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhickey Posted December 13, 2011 Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 (edited) Check your local codes and talk to the township. OLD foundations might not be allowd to biuld on but the "foot print" may be used if your willing to put a new foundation in thats up to code. From my understanding at this piont in my carier whenever structural ellements are involved in renos or rebuilds. Any alteration to existing fundimental ellements must be brought up to existing code requirements and inspected. Involving enginieres/architechts and munnicaple code inspectors. $$ Having said that some townships dont realy have strict rules so do your home work regarding municaple building code requirements. Caution should always be taken when altering foundation/framing/plumbing/water source!!! and septic for those that like rual comunities. This is why they try to save foundations as it is the most expensive and important ellement of any structure. Edited December 13, 2011 by saltydawg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustic-Fisher Posted December 13, 2011 Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 3 times a week? Less than 1% of a fire departments call volume is an actual fire. Once a year is more of an accurate number. BETTER check your facts bud, Toronto had 276,729 unit responses, 144,407 emergency calls and 40,767 "FIRE CALLS". Thats 28% actual fires. Far from 1% . R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danbouck Posted December 13, 2011 Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 I thought this was a report about some unlucky family loosing there house,not a pissing match about which fireman can and can't enter a burning house. I don't see any pissing matches Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimace Posted December 13, 2011 Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 Hey, fire guys. This is may be a stupid question, but what good is "saving a basement" anyhow? Presumably it makes rebuilding easier, but there must be something more to it? Pretty sure they were just joking. If your house burns to the ground the concrete basement is unscathed and useless. Hence the joke, we saved the basement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adolson Posted December 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 Check your local codes and talk to the township. OLD foundations might not be allowd to biuld on but the "foot print" may be used if your willing to put a new foundation in thats up to code. From my understanding at this piont in my carier whenever structural ellements are involved in renos or rebuilds. Any alteration to existing fundimental ellements must be brought up to existing code requirements and inspected. Involving enginieres/architechts and munnicaple code inspectors. $ Having said that some townships dont realy have strict rules so do your home work regarding municaple building code requirements. Caution should always be taken when altering foundation/framing/plumbing/water source!!! and septic for those that like rual comunities. This is why they try to save foundations as it is the most expensive and important ellement of any structure. Pretty sure they were just joking. If your house burns to the ground the concrete basement is unscathed and useless. Hence the joke, we saved the basement. I thought that, but... The above reply seems to make some sense to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lew Posted December 13, 2011 Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 I thought that, but... The above reply seems to make some sense to me. Dana "Saving a basement" is just more of an expression used by firemen when a house is a total loss after a fire and nothing is salvagable other than the property. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Bob Posted December 13, 2011 Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 When I went on the job in '68 Bob, I was working with a bunch of old men, but when I retired more than 3 decades later I was working with a bunch of kids. Funny how that works out, eh ?? When I hire out as a kid on the RR I looked around and saw all these old guys sitting at the lunch table before I started my first day on the job. I thought to myself, my God they look so old and worn out and the day hasn't even started yet. Then 30 years later I noticed all the green horns sitting at that same table thinking they are so young, they will never make it on the railroad....LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Bob Posted December 13, 2011 Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 BETTER check your facts bud, Toronto had 276,729 unit responses, 144,407 emergency calls and 40,767 "FIRE CALLS". Thats 28% actual fires. Far from 1% . R My father had a old saying "Figures lie and liars figure"... The point is your 28% (if your math is correct) categorizes "fire calls"... this does not mean there were actually 40,767 working fires in Toronto....if so, then Toronto would be the second most dangerous city to live in, only behind Buffalo....LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adolson Posted December 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2011 Well, the police and fire marshal finished up today, took down the police line tape, and I guess that's a wrap. They didn't ask me for a statement, despite telling me they would be around on Monday evening. I saw one of them today with some kind of device, touching the ground in many spots with it. I assume it was a hydrocarbon sniffer or something, but I don't have much knowledge of these things. The news reported on this last night, and they said that the wife was injured in the initial explosion, but we saw her outside and she wasn't hurt in any major way, thankfully. I heard from someone who heard from someone who heard from someone that the initial blast was a hot water tank that exploded. The wife is still mad that nobody cleaned all the of tons of broken glass out of our driveway. I am glad our house didn't burn down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbles Posted December 14, 2011 Report Share Posted December 14, 2011 I am glad nobody was hurt I rarely read 3 page posts from beginning to end but I enjoyed this one, thanks for the education fireguys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillM Posted December 14, 2011 Report Share Posted December 14, 2011 So were they cooking meth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adolson Posted December 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2011 So were they cooking meth? In their hot water tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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