Taking care of Our Own

[nfd2004]

  With this web site, many of us have become personnel friends. Many of us who also frequent this site live in the Tri State area (NY, NJ, and CT) which was hit the hardest from Sandy. Many of us still have no electric power, not able to get gasoline, no heat, and its getting colder, no hot meals etc. Have families with young children.  Some have lost everything.

  First, I would like everybody to know that here at my home, about 120 miles northeast of NYC, I never lost power and somehow didn't suffer any storm damage. With that said, the weather is getting colder. Things are very tough for some of the members on this site. If ANYBODY needs a warm place to stay, kids and all, you are welcomed to stay at my house until things get back to normal. It may not be the Hilton Hotel of Midtown, but I have plenty of food, heat and of course a scanner if you want. Just send me a pm or call me (860) 705-6812. If I can help somebody here, I'd be more than happy to do it. And just to let you know, many gas stations in places like Stamford and Norwalk are now out of gas. But I think beyond Bridgeport its not too much of a problem.

  I have been lucky enough to get in touch with a few other members of this site. And if you could, please let us know if you need anything, if we can help, or if you did just fine like I did. Just add a reply.

  I have heard from these members:

  "mikeindabronx" - Mike lives in the Bronx and he never lost power. He is doing okay. I think he said his wife is scheduled for some surgury early this week. So we wish her all the Best.

  "G-man" - lives in Staten Island. Amazingly he did okay. Lost power and no phone service, but I think he said he has power now.

  "Johnd248" - John lives on the shoreline in Eastern, Ct. The shoreline of Connecticut was hit pretty hard, but John and his wife Michelle, did okay. A few trees down and some shingles missing. He lost power from Monday to Friday.

  "vbcapt" - Deano who lives in Virginia Beach, VA says he did okay and he says that they did not get hit as hard as the NY/NJ area.

  Those are the people I have heard from. I have a few phone numbers of members and I hope to give some of them a call later today. If you can post how you are doing, I think there's a lot of us that are concerned.

  And as I mentioned, don't spend another night out in the cold. If you can get about 40 miles outside of NYC you should be able to get gas. And you're welcomed to stay at my place. If you have young kids, its even more important. Willy "D"

 

[nfd2004]

Talked to "fdce54" who lives in Orange County, NY. He says that he lost power for two days but everything is okay. He works for Con Ed, gas division and says he is at work now and will be glad to get home when possible. One of the biggest problems he says is getting fuel for the trucks.

  He also says that during the height of the storm, one of the Con Ed workers lost his young son when he was playing video games with his friend in a house and a tree fell on it. Both young children were killed. This happened in North Salem (?), NY.

  He also tells me of another woman who lived out on the forks of Long Island. She did not evacuate and they found her body the other day, along with her dog. The house was completely washed away.

  Two very sad stories of more victims from this terrible diseaster.

  Glad to hear that "fdce54" is okay though.

 

[wake96]

Courage in all in these difficult moments. Stay safe !!! In thoughts with you from Switzerland.

 

[nfd2004]

A little bit of good news.

  Site owner "TBendick" doing okay and has been pretty busy helping his Brother FDNY members out on Breezy Point in Queens.

  Also word is that Retired FDNY Captain, "JBendick" also doing okay, but was without electric power for five days.

  Latest word is that Asst Site Admin "Truck 4" has been hiding out somewhere's on some sunny warm island while this was going on. 


  AGAIN, there's a lot of hurting people out there. Believe me, just 120 miles away, and I can NOT relate at all to whats going on in NY/NJ and other parts of Connecticut.

  Thank you "wake96" on your encouraging words from Switzerland. I also have a friend who is a member of the Toyko, Japan Fire Dept.  He has seen some of the problems facing these people in this diseaster area. Probadly the most populated area of Our Country. It is my guess that except for 9/11 when our country was attacked, this has got to be the Worst that I can remember, and I'm 63 years old.

 

[fdny1075k]

Thanks for checking up on everybody Bill and the support. It's great to hear so many site members are doing okay. For those of you who aren't doing well, and for those who know people who are struggling through this difficult time, have faith and courage. Stay safe and stay strong.

I live in Southwestern CT and many people in my area are still without power. I lost mine at around 6 p.m. on Monday night, but luckily, was able to get it back this past Thursday afternoon. I myself am doing fine. Unfortunately, there are many who are not as fortunate, not just in Connecticut, but mainly in New York and New Jersey. Many people have all of their posessions and many have lost love ones. I attend college in Westchester County, and there are many students who live in places like Queens and Southern New Jersey who lost everything, but are still upbeat, happy to be alive and together with their families. The college and alumni are working hard to do everything they can for these students and their loved ones. It's also nice to hear the outpouring of support by friends neighbors of those affected by the storm, particularly in my area. I can't personally relate to the toll this storm has taken on many individuals, but I can say, this has been one tragic ordeal all around.

My mother works for CL&P(Connecticut Light and Power), which has been working day and night to restore power all over Connecticut. Apparently, there are still over 40,000 out, down from over 600,000 state-wide.

To add to the tragic aftermath of the storm, we had a Line of Duty Death in Connecticut the night of the storm. His name was Lt. Russell F. Neary, 55, of the Easton, CT Vol. Fire Department. Lt. Neary was killed after a tree fell on him while working at an emergency scene. My mother used to work with his brother, Peter Neary, a Fire Marshal of Easton, CT. Unfortunately, I could not attend the service, but from what I hear, it was a great turnout. I wish I could have been there.

Despite being incredibly rundown from the storm, both paid and volunteer firefighters alike came together in honor of a fallen Brother. That's what it's all about.

Again, stay safe out there everyone.

-Emmett M. (a.k.a. fdny1075k)

 

[grumpy grizzly]

Is there a site where we can takr care of our own, my donation would be small but Grumpy wants to help.We have 2 great dogs, maybe we could help somebody, I know I would be more concerned about them than myself. Bear and Austin will respond to the "All Hands" taking care of their buds!! I do it for you. I know you would do it for me!!

 

[Bxboro]

Just talked to Willy "D"......all is good where I live !!! Very little damage at my house. Prayers go out to the brothers in need. Anything we can do....let us know. 

 

[nfd2004]

"kfd274" and "efd274" are both doing okay too.

 

[68jk09]

Is there a site where we can takr care of our own, my donation would be small but Grumpy wants to help.We have 2 great dogs, maybe we could help somebody, I know I would be more concerned about them than myself. Bear and Austin will respond to the "All Hands" taking care of their buds!! I do it for you. I know you would do it for me!!

........THANK YOU GG....... From the nycffbrotherhoodfoundation.........QUOTE......First let me say that each one of you that has suffered loss are in our prayers. The magnitude of loss felt by our brothers and sisters in The Rockaways, Belle Harbor , Breezy Point, parts of Brooklyn , Staten Island , Lower Manhattan and the Jersey shore is more than anything we could say would ever matter.

We are raising funds as quick as possible both from Facebook as well as putting into motion money we had in reserve.

Logistics are difficult to work out as of now. But we do have an advantage. 2 of our members ( Kenny Specht & Kevin Cunnane) reside in South Carolina. We are looking into the viability of purchasing generators and dewatering units to make available to our members who may have such a need. However we have been told by some that such a purchase is not necessary. The Army Corps of Engineers is on the ground and water will recede. We welcome ideas.

However, we can't even say that this is the best idea available or the best way to spend our funds. So we are open to ideas, thoughts or more urgent needs of our members. We are ready to adapt our ideas and implement "better" ideas of immediate needs.

We are ready , willing and able to exhaust all of our funds, but we think it important to get the most bang from our buck. To that end, we are looking for ideas to be either posted here, or in a private message, or by calling Kenny Specht at 917-482-7674.

Time is of the essence and we are ready to move on our ideas and hope for the best if we hear from nobody or if nobody voices any questions or concern.

We know that each of you active or retired has been affected in some way. So understand that it is difficult for us to call on your help. But if you are in a position to donate, please visit us on Facebook and look for the paypal link where donating is as easy as a click of a mouse. Or you can mail donations to the following address;
Checks or money orders can be sent to NYCFF Brotherhood PO Box 343 Putnam Valley NY 10579

The paypal link is posted below. Just copy and paste the link and it will take you to the donation page.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=EJPH33EWXYV8W

PLEASE ADDRESS ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS TO KENNY SPECHT AT 917-482-7674.

we have been doing this with quite a bit of success for some time now. we always respect privacy and no information is ever made public. though we have never taken on an attempt at assistance such as this, we are ready to try to help in any way we can.

UNQUOTE........This is a legitimate organization run by Active & Retired FDNY Members........Please give if you can ...Thank You.

 

[nfd2004]

  Latest word is that Asst Site Admin "Truck 4" has been hiding out somewhere's on some sunny warm island while this was going on. 

  From "Truck 4", he states that he wasn't on that sunny island yet. In fact he stated that he had maybe 4 meals in 4 days. His job required him at times to work 18 hours straight.

  And let me say that this diseaster is beyond anything that I have ever seen. Just a few miles away, and I'm one of the very lucky ones that's not a part of it. In just a few short hours, Mother Nature has turned what was once a happy home into a week plus of no food, no heat, no gas, and for some, no shelter. One person that had seen parts of Queens in the Rockaways and Breezy Point described it as a War Zone. I know of one Connecticut firefighter that went down with a truck full of supplies, but I reminded him that he needs enough gas to get home.

  Like Chief JK has said, we need to support the NYCFF Brotherhood foundation. And I will pass that link along to other fire dept web sites that I frequent. This is one time where those that can, really need to help out. Last night the temperature got down to the low 30s. There's about 30-40,000 people homeless just in NYC alone.

  Everyday we take so much for granted. We have a warm home, food to eat, gas for our cars to come and go as we please, and clothes on our backs to wear. For many that doesn't exist anymore.

  There are still a few of our site members that I tried to contact from the NY/NJ area and I have not been able to hear from.

  And just as a point of interest, for anybody who frequents this site who would like to be contacted during such an event as this, I'd be happy to add your E-mail/phone number to my list. Of course your information is NEVER given out to ANYONE, including site members without your permission.

 

[nfd2004]

Site Member "Atlas" just contacted me by phone. He is okay but he had to leave his second floor apartment due to no power and as he told me that the water was as high as the refregator in the first floor apartment.

  At this point "Atlas" says he is staying with his daughter in upstate New York. It is in the country and he reports that he has trouble sleeping because the roosters are waking him up. Apparently he misses the peace and quite of Brooklyn with those sirens and air horns.

  But at this point, "Atlas" is okay, he just doesn't know what its like back at his apartment.

  So we know he's okay, and I'm glad that he contacted me.

  He may need our assistance and if that's the case, we need to be there for him in whatever way we can. "Atlas" was very good to us during one or two of our get togethers/member meetings. Now it might be our turn. (Atlas, Just let us know).

 

[nfd2004]

Got the word from "mack" and he says he's doing okay at his home in Virginia. he said a lot of wind and rain, but no damage.

  Anybody hear from "svd385" ? I think he lives in NJ. I called his house but only get the answering machine.

 

[Lionheart]

All the best to everyone from germany.
Unfortunately, i can't do much from overseas, but my donation to the relief found was made!

Feel free to contact me at everytime if someone think i can do other things, then spent money.

Take care my friends and stay safe and i'm looking forward, to met some of you in teh near future personally.
My next trip to the USA and NYC is planned for march / april 2013!

 

[grumpy grizzly]

This is what makes "the job" so great. you have friends from everywhere.