04-09-12 Staten Island 5th Alarm Box

[FDNYBuff97]

Did 96 really go to Staten Island ? Wow , ff503750 You were , right , it came back and bit me in the A** , lol

 

[SIfire82]

Both of oceanic's rigs were there within the first 10 minutes.

 

[grumpy grizzly]

Grumpy has a question. You have been relocated to SI either voluntarily or otherwise. Say it was E-10 from Manhattan, I assume they have never seen SI. How do they know box location/street locations?? Boston box numbers have some sort of rhyme and reason, my box was 54XX which was in E-34 still district. Is it same the same in FDNY??

 

[SI1075]

grump............  staten island is easy for many relocators because at least half the job lives on the island,  especially the companies from brooklyn that relocate there regularly and even lower manhattan companies

most si jobs get relocators from brooklyn,  then outer areas of brooklyn fill into bay ridge.  it gets interesting when a job goes to a 4th or better or if there is a fire going on in broooklyn.... then lower manhattan companies will refill brooklyn or sometimes go straight to staten island. 

it seems manhattan companies get relocated to bklyn or si more in the brush fire situation.... i dont know but am curious if when the grass is burning if they grab companies out of areas with absolutely no brush around.  a dispatcher would know that answer

 

[Len90]

it seems manhattan companies get relocated to bklyn or si more in the brush fire situation.... i dont know but am curious if when the grass is burning if they grab companies out of areas with absolutely no brush around.  a dispatcher would know that answer

That is something that I was really wondering. I know from watching the news that Engine 26 (midtown) was at the actual brush fire working. How do these firefighters handle something that is not within their normal realm. For instance, wouldn't it be best to pull companies that have more brush experience or does dispatch not have the ability and takes what they can get?

 

[MP1234]

Grumpy, most firehouses have route cards. These are cards with directions to each box from quarters. Thats what most companies will use to get around an unknown area.

Len90, you put the wet stuff on the red stuff, always works.

 

[grumpy grizzly]

SI 1075 You are right, most guys on the  job  in Chicago live in either the northwest area such as E-119 or the southeast side like E-104. Boston is different 25 miles from the city limits, clever geography work. Thanx for the info. I remember massive mutual aid fires in the Boston area, off-duty jakes would respond to the house to direct companies, such as the Chelsea conflaration.

 

[grumpy grizzly]

Many thanx for the replies. I know  guys have had questions on Chicago/Boston which I could answer. Appreciates being on the receiving end, we are all in this together!

 

[68jk09]

Grumpy, most firehouses have route cards. These are cards with directions to each box from quarters. Thats what most companies will use to get around an unknown area.

Len90, you put the wet stuff on the red stuff, always works.

.........ALL FDNY Companies are required to have route cards ...it is the responsibility of the Co Commander to insure they are kept updated....some CPTs have been scapegoated in the past when the route was used as a smokescreen like in the case of the double fatal fire after the city closed ENG*294 in the early '90s.....the lack of a near by ENG was a big factor but the city deflected the heat  by blaming the route taken by the responding ENGs which were actually proper (as well as the type hydrant hookup used which was also proper).......on another issue regarding route cards once again..... if there is no AKA from the original nearby street box provided on a ticket to a new Transit box then the existing route card is useless for a relocator or covering Officer or detailed Chauf......the Co Commander cannot make route cards if they are not provided w/a printout of their Transit boxes......if something goes wrong the CPT may be the scapegoat again........as far as  a day like yesterday in SI every Company should have a current Hagstroms type street map on the rig since route cards are only made for 1st alarm boxes & on a hectic day the responses may well be out of the 1st alarm area.

 

[Atlas]

There are 18 engines on Staten Island besides 12 trucks working out of 19 stations. In addition there are 5 Brush Fire Units (BFU) that are either crossed manned by the assigned engine or manned by overtime personnel. The borough can be covered by 12 or more engines. Today's dispatch computer will automatically inform the dispatcher if a response neighborhood is open. With current policies there is a need to cover more fire companies to meet response requirements then what was done during the war years. Depending upon conditions, like the old fashion 4th of July, companies can be doubled up so that you can have two engines co's responding from one station at the same time. The delayed response problem yesterday in SI was caused by on going construction on the Staten Is Expwy & when the West Shore Expwy was shut down, it became a parking lot, traffic came to a stand still on the SIE. So dispatchers were telling companies to cross the VZ & then use local streets. The local streets also became jammed by traffic.

As I said, there are 18 engines on SI. A full 5th alarm assignment calls for 20 engines + 1 addational engine to respond with the Satellite. In order to cover the response requirement, out of boro. units were needed for both response & relocations. Being a 'red flag' day, the smart thing to do was to cover each of the engines, just in case they had another fire & also based on the traffic situation.

Years back on the 4th of July, the BFU's were manned as seperate units, reserve units were manned, & a task force of 2&1 with a BC, was established & placed at Eng 160's quarters so that it could be deployed boro-wide in order to meet the demand that was placed on FDNY.

Yes, SI needs more companies, but where would you put them?

 

[lucky]

The battalions and deputies had GPS in their vehicles with a program that enabled them to get the directions to each  fire box and fire house in the entire city. Is that still true?

 

[grumpy grizzly]

Wow!! It seems like a simple relocate might be the route to hell. Now I umderstand why no companies would not volunteer. Look for the smoke I guess!!!

 

[IRISH]

grump............  staten island is easy for many relocators because at least half the job lives on the island,  especially the companies from brooklyn that relocate there regularly and even lower manhattan companies

most si jobs get relocators from brooklyn,  then outer areas of brooklyn fill into bay ridge.  it gets interesting when a job goes to a 4th or better or if there is a fire going on in broooklyn.... then lower manhattan companies will refill brooklyn or sometimes go straight to staten island. 

it seems manhattan companies get relocated to bklyn or si more in the brush fire situation.... i dont know but am curious if when the grass is burning if they grab companies out of areas with absolutely no brush around.  a dispatcher would know that answer

Ladder 10 was on the island last year for a brush fire along with TL 15

 

[SoHoTruckin20]

Run Down and Relocations floating around any where?

 

[MP1234]

yes SOho we know you really want the run down for 3rd time asking lol.

 

[FDNYBuff97]

i'm just curious which way would 96 & 82 have gone last night ? Would they have went through Queens or Manhattan to get to Brooklyn and went across the Verrazano Bridge ? Or a simple hop on the Cross Bronx to the GWB through Jersey right to Fresh Kills ?

 

[Atlas]

82 & 96 would have stayed in NYC - to go via NJ they would need a NJSP escort.

 

[FDNYBuff97]

82 & 96 NYC - to go via NJ they would need a NJSP escort.

I guess that's the way they went than , probably took them a while , although probably not a lot of traffic , did they go to the Fire or a relocation ?

 

[AuxWarYearsCapt]

As stated by MP1234  route cards are required. The route cards are located at the housewatch desk. In a double house there would be two sets, one for the engine and one for the truck. I do the route cards and just started working on the 4th. & 5th alarms. In general the route are usually for the first alarm assignments ( 1st, 2nd & 3rd due ).. It takes time to make sure it is accurate. The last time I updated the route cards was when  277 was in 222s quarters. In January I got a copy of ask our boxes from the first thru fifth alarms.  Our route cards were already from the 1st to 3rd alarm, which is very unusual to see. Now I am working on the last two alarms.When I am done there will be 3781 route cards. The  chauffers don't complain.

 

[mikeindabronx]

http://www.dnainfo.com/20120410/st-george-port-richmond/smoke-from-staten-island-brush-fire-not-health-concern-bloomberg-says