FDNY: Frequently Asked Questions

One of the guys at the fire house here asked me to ask on here what  is the job of the battalion chiefs driver at the fire scene
 
Assist with radio transmissions, accountability, recon etc...

Anyone else, please add on or correct me if necessary
 
In the FDNY.... the title used to be "Chief s Aide".......in more recent years it is referred to as "BN Firefighter"........it is a very busy & responsible position.....At a job after driving the BN rig to the scene ... the BN FF gathers valuable info for transmission to the Disp & incoming units....he relays to the Disp. ...(word for word) .....progress reports dictated to him by the Chief over the HandyTalkie.....he relays  orders (from the Chief ) to incoming units verbally as they arrive if the Chief is occupied elswhere on the fireground.....at an ALL HANDS or Multiple he will fully gear up & accompany his Chief in whatever area of the bldg the Incident Commander has assigned them...also at a Multiple where a Command Channel has been activated on the H.T. he will be on the Tactical Channel & the Chief will be on the Command Channel monitoring transmissions......at a box the 1st due BN FF must also get names & badge #s  of any other agencies at the scene as well as names of occupants ...affected apt #s ...bldg address ...the Co #s of all units operating & where they operated & what they did ...names of injured MEMBERS & who treated them ..etc ...etc.......THEN when he gets back to quarters his work starts all over again adjusting the manpower if any FFs were injured ....then......compiling all the info & entering it in the National Fire Incident reporting System  (NYFIRS).......aside from all this he compiles daily manpower rosters & projected rosters for the next 3 days  for all the units in his BN & keeps them updated all tour long. ......the ENG ECCs & LAD CHAUFS  get a few extra cents  for driving the rig .....the BN FF gets nothing extra for his work.....just the RESPECT of the Chief.
 
Education Day is when selected Companies go to the Fire Academy (Rock) & are given classes on relevant or new info &/or techniques.....it is done on a rotating basis & the Unit is Out Of service for Fire Duty for the tour.
 
Hey Chief, just wondering, what happened to your aide after you retired? Did you keep the same aide or were they platooned?

Thanks, Elwood
 
Generally you have the same BN*FF w/ the same group # as you so generally you always work together.....the Chief gets to pick his FF......my long time FF who was my partner for 9 of the 10 years that i spent there had been  a FF in LAD*138 for 22 years before coming to the BN....He suffered a heart ailment & was retired about a year before i was ......a great guy & friend.
 
I have been doing some research on depts history on man power and was wondering the highest number of men have been on the job in fdny and how many engines and ladders  were there at that time
 
FD347 said:
Class 3 alarms are those received from a central station monitoring company. I don't know how or why we started using this term but it dates back at least 35 years, probably longer.
Click to expand...

In telegraph transmission, the numeral 3 preceded the box number which was followed by the "terminal", or final number(s) in series which defined the particular building or location, as well as the type of alarm device: Manual, automatic, valve.

This was transmitted in the format 3-1082-1. 

Prior to use of ERS boxes c1970, All FDNY supervised Class 3's were identified and transmitted as above. With ERS the signal transmitted was limited to four digits, thus all FDNY Class 3 locations were converted to 8000 series box numbers. 

Private fire alarm services like ADT that install their systems legitimately with FDNY approval and inspection were required to be granted a Class 3 terminal number and printed assignment cards defining it were distributed; but in these days of non-enforcement and irresponsibility such companies stopped that practice and began telephoning the alarms to the Dispatchers with an "unassigned" alarm location with the address only resulting in less information than previously provided, and frequent incorrect addresses.  In many cases the Dispatcher would ask the private fire alarm operator what type of alarm (device) it was; frequently the answer was "a FIRE alarm", Duh? 

Complying with codes all legitimate private fire alarm companies were required to have at least two independent means of transmitting their alarms to the FDNY Dispatchers.  This usually consisted of a dedicated telegraph circuit (similar to a street alarm box circuit)  where they could transmit their signals to FDNY as well as a dedicated direct telephone line to our Central Offices.

The FDNY telegraph system had multiple series of special signals that could be transmitted other than fire alarms.  Some examples were orders for companies to telephone Dispatcher, Units going in or OOS, stopping for verbal alarms, bridges or ferry services OOS or back in, air raid alert and all clear signals since in those days many firehouses controlled the local "air raid" sirens.

Where the designations for Class E or J type building alarms came from is for someone else to answer. Maybe from the Local Laws that defined such classes of buildings.


 
The aforementioned box (signal) 3-1082-1 was the box assigned to the Brooklyn CO.  There was an actual box with that number inside the CO.
 
Great post and information. I thought I would offer a couple suggestions for the "Fire Operations" Section with some preliminary descriptions for the list. I'm sure the pro's out their will correct my mistakes  :D:

- Add description of "mixer-off message" and when its used (a transmission from a unit in the field which the dispatcher, upon his approval, turns off the repeaters across the city, so to provide sensitive information to the dispatcher)

- Add description of the various ride positions of an engine company and a ladder company:

Engine: Officer, Chauffeur, Nozzle Man, Control Man, Back-up, Door Man
Ladder: Officer, Chauffeur, Irons Man, Can Man, Outside Vent Man, and Roof Man  (Inside team are the Officer, Irons, and Can man while The outside team are the OV, Roof, and possibly the chauffeur)

- Add Mention of the "Progress Report": what it is, what it is comprised of, who reports it, and when.  As I understand it, a Progress Report is a situation report provided by the incident commander to the borough dispatcher.  The Progress Report is usually provided at 10-75, 10-76, 10-77 workers or higher or other extraordinary incidents (10-80s for example). [Note Most boxes' progress report can also simply be the final disposition of a box "where using one engine and two trucks for a 10-26 (food on the stove), All units will mark up when available".] 

The Chief's Aide usually communicates the Progress Report to the dispatcher unless Field Comm is operating.  It contains:

1) The Size-Up (as applicable): "Fire building is 6-story, 100'x100' OMD";

2) The exposures (adjoining structures, streets, etc) in a clockwise rotation starting with the front of the structure "Exposure 1 is the street, Exposure 2 is a similar attached, Exposure 3 is unknown, Exposure 4 is an alley";

3) Summary of operations: e.g. "Fire is on the third floor showing through two windows, One line stretched and in operation, second line being stretched, trucks are opening up,  searches negative",

4) Current status: either "Doubtful" which is truncated for "Doubtful will hold with assigned resources" or "Probably will Hold" which tells the dispatcher the incident can be management with the resources/units currently assigned or "Under Control" which is self-explanatory.  Another response is "All hands Working (or Operating)" which tells the dispatcher several things: anticipate a second request for resources "extra engine and truck" or for another alarm, or no currently assigned-units could be released for another box nearby.  Progress Reports are provided at regular intervals (about every 15-20 minutes).

Please correct or adjust as necessary.
 
For the PM portion it was AFRD, Reinspection, but they dropped that in the late 80's.

And not to show my age but there also was a sign hung from the side of the rig for the unknowing public that explained that they were still available while on AFID.
 
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