volunteer vs paid firefighters

[NoCtUrNaL]

Originally posted by Deerhunter
I've seen instances where there is no way on the planet Rural Metro employees would be able to get the person out of the house. Sometimes the Emt's are 120lb girls. They could never carry out someone on a body board.

Funny you should mention the size of some of the EMT personal.

Lately, I'm seeing a lot of midget women in blue (BPD).

They really put the fear of the law in the baddies.

Say what you will about training, I doubt any 5'6" 145lb women is going to try and take down a pissed off 6'4" 230lb man.

[Linda_D]

I don't know about size, but I expect that while in training, firefighters have to be able to lift and drag a "deadweight" of a certain weight. I know that prison guards have to do this. It's part of the physical test they have to pass.

[Deerhunter]

That 5-6 145lb woman isn't going to get convicted of anything if she shoots the 6-4 230lb guy. It hasn't happened yet, but if she fears for her life, she is justified to shoot and kill the suspect. I highly doubt, any jury would ever convict her of anything if she did in fact have to shoot the guy. Art 35 gives Cops alot more benefit of the doubt , so to speak. If it was somthing that happened in any frequency, I would guess it would get looked into by the Justice Dept. Same way they look into any use of chemical agents. But thankfully it hasn't come to that, and hopefully won't.

[NoCtUrNaL]

Originally posted by Deerhunter
That 5-6 145lb woman isn't going to get convicted of anything if she shoots the 6-4 230lb guy. It hasn't happened yet, but if she fears for her life, she is justified to shoot and kill the suspect. I highly doubt, any jury would ever convict her of anything if she did in fact have to shoot the guy. Art 35 gives Cops alot more benefit of the doubt , so to speak. If it was somthing that happened in any frequency, I would guess it would get looked into by the Justice Dept. Same way they look into any use of chemical agents. But thankfully it hasn't come to that, and hopefully won't.

What ever happened to shooting someone in the leg...last I heard, that's pretty disabling.

[NoCtUrNaL]

So...if perp A is bitch slapping victim B, cop C's (the female midget) only recourse is to put bullet D through perp A's brain?

[Deerhunter]

Its New York States policy to shoot at center mass. If that means killing them , so be it. Warning shots are only allowed in Dept of Corrections. No Police agency in NYS is permitted to teach someone to shoot someone in the leg, or arm ,to disable. And if all you have is a head shot, so be it. Take it up with the legislature. In defense of a third party , yes , WNY, you are authorized to shoot and kill the suspect. Not just for bitch slapping though, unless you could see the victim was severly injured, and if he continued to bitch slap the victim, it would prevent aid to that person, or cause serious physical injury to them. And if the suspect , after bitch slapping the victim , came towards the Officer, she has every right to shoot him, and is fully justified under that law. Shooting someone in the leg, is somthing you see on TV, not realistic.

[Riven37]

Originally posted by crlachepinochet
That may be all well and good, but do you want to kill off all these extra firefighters that will be hired? The lime/white fire engines, even though I don't like them myself, are safer .

Thanks, I read it. One thing I would add is keep the Red trucks but when night comes the trucks change to white to help improve human visual sight. Now, that's one for those researchers isn't it.

[WestCoastPerspective]

Volunteers are great- but there is a surcharge added to your property tax to pay for their budgets.

Speaking of which- can someone tell me why many of the suburban volunteer districts have ladder or snorkel trucks when all of the buildings are less than 3 stories?

Big Toys for Big Boys and we pay the bill. Plus most replace their equipment every five years or so and aren't as heavily used as in the city. No oversight and no austerity.

[WNYresident]

Because the towns are growing and shortly we'll have 3,4,5 story buildings! They are thinking of the future.

[WestCoastPerspective]

puleeeeeeeze

Hamburg? The only tall building is the Gateway Office Building in Woodlawn. Orchard Park, Lancaster, West Seneca? Where's the growth? Wouldn't one ladder truck serve some of these communities and be on call for mutual aid? No- makes too much sense- EVERYONE needs a shiney new one to play with. They buy the biggest and best equipment without justifying the need.

Amherst and Cheektowaga can justify the need- the others- wake up!

[forestfirefighter]

Ladder trucks in high density populated areas are a must, particularly in this age of homes being constructed with truss roofs, insulated and sealed windows and increased use of synthetic materials for household items and furniture. These realities create very high heat, low visablilty scenarios as well as increased risk of backdraft. Truss roofs fail very shorly after fire impingement, sending a ventilation crew up there on the roof is far slower and far more hazardous than ventilating using an arial truck. Any idea what happens when you send in an entry or god forbid a search and entry crew into a flashover or backdraft condition without a vent crew on the roof ?

Ladder trucks also are equipped with high volume deluge nozzles and are in-valuable to fire suppression efforts at large structures like strip malls, auto dealerships, small warehouses and the like when roofs collapse and a department can get big water on a big fire that is not easily accessable to ground crews.

If I lived in a place like N Collins or Colden I'd say ladder trucks are not a priority, but in places like Hamburg, Tonawanda, Cheetowaga and the like they are a must.

[Linda_D]

Originally posted by WestCoastPerspective
Volunteers are great- but there is a surcharge added to your property tax to pay for their budgets.

Speaking of which- can someone tell me why many of the suburban volunteer districts have ladder or snorkel trucks when all of the buildings are less than 3 stories?

Big Toys for Big Boys and we pay the bill. Plus most replace their equipment every five years or so and aren't as heavily used as in the city. No oversight and no austerity.

The Gowanda VFD has a ladder truck that was used just last week to rescue somebody from the second floor apartment during a fire in a neighboring town. It gets used a lot because it's the only one in the area.

[citymouse]

Great. If you live in South Buffalo and there is no ladder truck don't worry, Lackawanna has one and if they are not busy, they'll be right there.