New York City Vs. Westchester & Nassau

mack

Administrator
Joined
Aug 8, 2009
Messages
13,431
I believe the V.A. Hospital in Northport, L.I. has a paid F.D. Well, they did in the 70's anyway.

Northport VA Medical Center

April 23, 2020 · Northport, NY ·

The Northport VA Medical Center Fire Department, led by fire department chief Pat McIntyre, works with his team of firefighters daily to ensure the safety of hospital staff and Long Island's veterans by inspecting, testing, and maintaining every fire safety component at the hospital. Along with the spread of COVID-19 came a wave operational changes and new considerations for firemen while on duty. "At the beginning of each tour, we start by cleaning the fire station. We are constantly trying to maintain a clean working environment in the fire house to keep us safe." A long list of responsibilities---building inspections, defibrillator inspections, penetration inspections and repairs, answering fire, rescue, and ambulance alarms---all must be conducted in a high-risk environment, and now with even more personal protective equipment required.

north.gif




 
Last edited:
Joined
Dec 24, 2020
Messages
21
Yes density and socio-economic situations impact the volume of calls, there are definitely areas of both Nassau and Suffolk that are busier than others (just as with NYC and each borough). One thing that departments on Long Island do not due when counting WF that they respond to is count the mutual aid work. Mutual aid is counted separately. For some departments if you combined their own work with their mutual aid the numbers would be quite a bit higher as many of those mutual aids could be the equivalent of being 2nd or 3rd due in NYC. Just as the volume in NYC has come down over the last 20-30 years the same can be said about the volume in Nassau & Suffolk. When I was involved on LI you had departments like Hempstead, Brentwood, Elmont, etc responding to a job a week (just in their own fire district) plus any mutual aid they went to. Responding to mutual aid jobs could for some departments double their work volume if not more. Also every department's district drastically vary in size, some are 2-4 square miles, whereas others can be 15-20 sq miles (and have no commercial or industrial zones).

Regarding how to label the additional resources as additional alarms or not can be tough to do, as the manpower is not the same nor reliable. There are many times where departments on LI can respond with 2-4 people on an engine or truck, and other times where they may have 6-8. There is also not a set # of mutual aid departments that are called as the IC calls requesting an Engine from X Dept a Truck from Y Dept, an ambulance from Z Dept, though some departments that do more work on LI may have these systems set up, also with limited resources as there are less and less vollies there is more automatic aid probably compared to my time (ive been gone 15 years).
 
Joined
Jun 27, 2017
Messages
1,179
Why don't you compare the densest sections of Brooklyn (where historically all the fire activity is) to those in Delhi. Apples to apples.
One of the operating rules of trial attorneys is never ask a question unless you already know the answer.

A quick look at NYC census tracts for population density show it highest in the majority of Manhattan, the West Bronx, Williamsburg and on the southeast side of Prospect Park (Ocean and Parkside). Interestingly, the highest density is in Corona (216,000/square mile). Several cities in the Philippines are much more dense than NYC with Manila the highest in the world (113,000/square mile).

If indeed there is a linear relation between population density and fire department activity, companies on the Upper West Side and those in Manila ought to be doing 15,000 runs/year.
 
Joined
Dec 6, 2007
Messages
1,586
Why don't you compare the densest sections of Brooklyn (where historically all the fire activity is) to those in Delhi. Apples to apples.

One of the operating rules of trial attorneys is never ask a question unless you already know the answer.

A quick look at NYC census tracts for population density show it highest in the majority of Manhattan, the West Bronx, Williamsburg and on the southeast side of Prospect Park (Ocean and Parkside). Interestingly, the highest density is in Corona (216,000/square mile). Several cities in the Philippines are much more dense than NYC with Manila the highest in the world (113,000/square mile).

If indeed there is a linear relation between population density and fire department activity, companies on the Upper West Side and those in Manila ought to be doing 15,000 runs/year.
Uncle
 
Joined
Dec 14, 2012
Messages
409
The run totals are high in the FDNY due to everything everyone has stated - plus the agency itself is a catch-all for things that other agencies dont handle.
Think - lock ins/outs, lost cell phones, every odor imaginable, domestic disputes, defective appliances, plumbing issues- you name it, we respond to it. Especially in NYCHA complexes where the residents know we will respond a lot sooner than NYCHA maintenance. We are basically superintendents in addition to everything else we do - we just don’t really truly repair anything. We shut it off.

People in Suburban NYC simply dont call the Fire Department for all this stuff. They call plumbers, electricians, etc.
 
Joined
Nov 2, 2020
Messages
1,089
Durham, you mentioned Brentwood. I worked for the District part-time as a dispatcher in the 70's. I recall once clearing, on a 4x12 shift, something like this.....
"Base 3-2-0 clear from 20 signal 12's, 5 signal 23's, 3 signal 13's and 1 general alarm. Time 2230 hours, Dispatcher 4, KEC863."

I know that fellow site member "Johnny Gage" would attest to my post.
 
Last edited:
Top