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doc13mets

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Everything posted by doc13mets

  1. I guess one out of three is hall of fame stats in the MLB. Do people actually take this board seriously?
  2. About 40+ firefighters have been hired over the past 2-3 years to replace the guys who retired who were making higher salaries. These new firefighters start at 33K a year... it will take about 5 years to even get close to 50K... keep typing keyboard commando
  3. Multi-million... that's pretty comical. Also school budget is from a different tax revenue. The one has nothing to do with the other.
  4. It's clear this poster doesn't understand how taxes work in Kearny. Municipal taxes do not pay teacher and School taxes do not pay firefighters. The School System is a separate tax and separate budget, just as the municipal budget/municipal taxes. Also close to the majority of the FD makes well under 50K a year, and that's before anything gets taken out.
  5. Not only are the two budgets completely different. They come from two different sources of taxes. One has ZERO impact on the other. Also that being said the Mayor has ZERO control over the school board. They are two different bodies all together.
  6. You must be smoking some good stuff!!! I'm not even going to address the absurd comments. Just clear up some of the ones that actually deserve attention. 1. The Mayor and Council can not impose residency requirements. It's State Law. That's just it. Can't do anything about it. Contact a State representative regarding that. 2. You can't have 1 officer and that's it. Unfortunately my response to this would require a lot of typing and my hands will hurt after. Neither of these departments even have a Battalion Chief so your obviously making thins up as you go along. A civilian fire director would have no authority of Day-to-Day operations of a fire department. Can't even take command at a scene even if you are a former qualified firefighter. 3. They don't have clothing allowances anymore. If a uniform is damaged or in poor condition they turn it in to be replaced. 4. Firefighters clean their own clothes. 5. TV, Cable, Internet, Recliners, Sofa's are provided for by the firefighters out of their own pockets. 5. Firefighters clean their own sheets. (That they provide out of pocket) 6. Have you been in a firehouse kitchen lately. HA! It may surprise you!! 7. Firefighters train every day. 8. The Harrison FD and the Kearny FD have amazing response times. Compare it to other towns or the national average. These times blow the standards away! Keep up the good work!
  7. Don't know about Harrison manpower on that day. But they did send an Engine to the scene, Jersey city sent an Engine and Ladder to the scene as well. North Arlington sent 1 Engine, 1 Ladder and Rescue to Station 3 for cover. East Newark sent 1 Engine and 1 Ladder to Station 2 for cover. This is the truth. Great stop KFD! Keep up the good work.
  8. I did google it. Nothing came up that matched in the first few pages except this forum. Please provide a reference, I would like to read.
  9. Of course volunteers would have to attend the fire academy. That's a State requirement All volunteer and career departments are required to abide by the same initial training requirements. Same academies train both Volunteer and Career and they are mixed in the classes together. East Newark and Kearny both send to Middlesex Fire Academy as of last check. Volunteer Points is already an established method by the Civil Service Commission and works in conjunction with the Veterans preference. Bloomfield and Nutley are both combination departments in the area and use this. What happens is Veterans always go to the top of the list, but once out of Veterans the volunteers would most likely have a better chance to be the next hired as they would have some bonus points on their score. You get one extra point for every year of service, up to 10 points max. Under this system we would see more of the volunteer hired which would also be local people and more homegrown people back in the "West Hudson FD" The reason I made 2 pure volunteer stations is to avoid any issues with a mixed house. This would probably not be welcomed at first and there could be a lot of tension in a mixed house. The stations are all close enough together that response time would not be highly effected.
  10. doc13mets

    Backdraft

    EMS runs out of that station. No need to sell. Good use. Central location to respond to Harrison/East Newark for EMS.
  11. When a department accepts a SAFER grant for hiring the are required to "MAINTAIN CURRENT STAFFING LEVELS" so if they did get it and guys retired they would have to hire on their dime otherwise they could be forced to pay the grant back as they would have violated the agreement of the the grant. Nutley's paid guys run out of HQ. There volunteer companies run out of HQ and another station. Volunteers only respond when the pagers go off. Works pretty well for Nutley. If the 3 towns got together I could see a combo department as a viable solution. My thought would be: West Hudson Fire Department (I've re-numbered the stations) Station 1: HQ - Midland Ave, Kearny 1 Paid Engine / 1 Paid Ladder / Car 1 (Chief of the Department) Station 2: Davis Ave, Kearny 1 Paid Engine / Car 2 (Paid Duty Deputy Chief in Charge of Tour) Station 3: Sussex St., Harrison 1 Paid Engine / 1 Paid Ladder Station 4: South Kearny (No current station but thats another topic for another day bottom line, they need one) 1 Paid Engine / 1 Paid Ladder Station 5: Kearny Ave, Kearny 2 Volunteer Engine / 1 Volunteer Ladder / Car 3 (Volunteer Battalion Chief) Station 6: Sherman Ave, East Newark 2 Volunteer Engine / Car 4 (Volunteer Battalion Chief) Quick attack and foam tender would be stationed in most reasonable place. Could also get a rescue truck which would be nice. Career guys handle most of the day-day calls. When they are overwhelmed with calls and resources run low you put the volunteers on Standby to man the volunteer rigs... When a fire comes in career guys respond first while putting the volunteers on standby to be your next alarm and cover the town in the meantime. By placing 1 engine and 1 ladder in South Kearny you reducing the relocation of resources that happen now while increasing fire protection to some of the biggest tax payers in town. This would reduce some overtime costs and increase fire protection in the whole area. Volunteers would be getting bonus points on the Civil Service test to eventually be hired so you would most likely see an increase in volunteers as they would be wanted extra points for the job. Add that with East Newarks current volunteer numbers and you have a viable combo department with NO REDUCTION of current paid man power. This is crucial as we would maintain the proper level of service our towns expect. With so many local resources would not have to go out of area often to deal with fires/coverage.
  12. doc13mets

    Backdraft

    Never said they were called to those. Those happened after the FDR fire. I said Kearny was called to those. Can't you read? In 2012 I would bet East Newark responded to about 100 calls in Harrison. Request the records from East Newark. It is public info. Obviously don't request the Harrison records because who knows where the Mayor got those numbers from in the article. I believe he said Harrison only requested M/A 14 times?!?!?! If there is a real concern about the EN fireman certificates someone should contact the Mayor or the State, not Kearny on the Web.
  13. I'm not really sure what this all means. Is the part that was censored actual names or curses? If these are serious concerns someone has then they should approach the Mayor of East Newark with them or contact the Division of Fire Safety. Or are these just ramblings someone wishes to post on a website. Personal attacks are never fair without proper evidence. If someone isn't certified to be in a certain position the issue should be brought up to the proper authorities and not just posted on a site. It was upsetting to see East Newark lose some valuable members. But they still have many dedicated people. Dating back for the past 2 years when Harrison was first chopped up by the Town Cronies, East Newark FD was there to help, not there to steal jobs. Most of the East Newark guys want to be paid F/F's. East Newark provided assistance for the past 2 years with little or no incident. It wasn't until there was a spotlight put on the HFD at the recent fire that they tried to blame there neighboring volunteers. Playing the blame game doesn't help anyone or solve any problems. If Harrison was so in the right and East Newark FD was at fault why has the Harrison Fire Director dropped off the face of the media planet following his out of line comments?? These guys need to all work together not work against each other, otherwise you will have more fatalities.
  14. Could be get a reference source for this? I could creativly write something... 1. Where a municipality pursues a private function, its liability is coextensive with that of a private person similarly engaged. 2. If the function is governmental, a municipality is liable, if negligence is proven by a jury, in the performance of such duty, and the same rule applies where the default is on the part of its employees. 3. A municipality is at fault on Tuesdays and Thursdays if negligence is present. The county is at fault on Monday, Wednesday and Friday if negligence is present. The state is at fault on Saturday and Sundays, excluding Christmas and Easter when the municipality is always at fault. Look I can just randomly create laws with no basis or reference too.
  15. doc13mets

    Backdraft

    Those numbers are not true. I would make a bet East Newark alone responded to Harrison about 100 times in 2012. Request the reports, it's public record. I'm pretty sure the Mutual Aid request numbers for 2013 are even higher. Where they are getting there data from is obviously incorrect. I can recall off the top of my head 5 times starting with the FDR fire that Kearny provided Mutual aid. The FDR fire, the following Wednesday night Harrison Requested Kearny's ladder respond to a "smoking outlet". The bakery fire, the Folders fire and the fatal fire. And thats just the past month or so. I wonder how many times East Newark responded prior to that? Yes it is true the police are also understaffed. They need hires as well. All services are suffering, this isn't just a FD issue.
  16. The answer is not to eliminate paid fire departments. I personally believe every town needs paid firefighters. It's crucial for life and safety reasons. East Newark is just lucky they have decent response times because they have a core group of very dedicated firefighters. It's not the same everywhere, nor could East Newark FD protect all of West Hudson on their own. It's just not practical and it's just not safe. East Newark currently draws volunteers from all 3 towns. They can't even fill there roster, the volunteers just aren't there. Personally I think well organized combination departments are the future. With a core of paid firefighters and volunteers to supplement their initial efforts. West Hudson could be combo if all 3 towns just put their budgets together and merge the departments. You probably would see even a small increase in volunteers and they would be afforded additional bonus points on the civil service test to be hired in the new department. They would also be a way to increase local hires to this newly formed "West Hudson Department". But believe me you still need about 100 paid firefighters between the 3 towns. Being able to staff a certain number of career engines and ladders would be critical. The volunteers could staff the rest and be a strong second response and also decrease overtime costs. Use Jersey City and North Hudson to come in and cover the town when the volunteers respond to the incident. It would not be easy to get on the same page but other towns have done it, so obviously it's a possibility. But 1 large volunteer department is not the answer and would not get the job done in these communities. Harrison desperately needs more manpower and Kearny does too as they are very short. Solutions to these problems are right in front of them.
  17. You are right. Many of the firefighters in West Hudson do care about the community. But we must realize some of them have no ties what so ever and to them it's just a job. This is due to the NAACP lawsuit from the early 90's. Many of the recent firefighter hired were from out of the area and to them it's nothing more then a job. All the volunteers in East Newark are obviously locals tied in to the community and most of the HFD and KFD that have been on the department for awhile obviously have ties to. They care. But the issues at hand having nothing to do with individuals feelings. It has to do with current budget issues and the positions the towns are in due to recent economic troubles. The firefighters want to do the best, but they don't have the support they need due to budget cuts and manpower. The fire leaders of West Hudson need to put politics aside, need to put paid vs volunteer ideas aside and come together to find a way to better serve all the residents. All 3 departments need each other. Kearny FD recently has started using more M/A from across the river and that will eventually bite them in the ass when the shit hits the fan. Resources that take 20 plus minutes to arrive should not be counted on as your first call for help. Wake up before a Kearny resident perishes next. All the West Hudson towns should be the first call to work together. I swear if a relative of mine dies in a fire in Kearny and Jersey City FD is the first call for mutual aid at the fire, I will sue and I will make sure the town pays dearly, no settlement, I will make sure a jury gives my family a hefty reward. And just wait, next time there is a little fire in Kearny and the whole department is there. Wait for the second emergency call to come in... when Jersey City is still 15 minutes out and there is that GAP coverage because they chose not to contact the neighboring departments first for aid again, I hope who ever loses life or property because of it will make sure you pay dearly. Kearny hope you increased your insurance policy because with decisions like this you are going to need it. I promise. The only real solution for the area is for the 3 towns to work closely together. Maybe the problem is the Harrison Fire Director isn't talking to other local department heads just like he isn't talking to the media I don't know. The guy seems to be a phantom these days. When it's time to lead, lead if you can't lead step aside. Let someone else do it. As for the HFD well I hope they get there shit together. None of those guys deserve to lose their jobs. They work hard with little resources they have. East Newark use to be automatic on fires, well they seemed to have stopped that since the last 3 fires ENFD did not respond at all. Same dispatch would have been easy and quick. Who knows a block and half or so away maybe they get there first if enough guys were around, maybe they don't. Maybe a life is saved, maybe it's the same outcome. The truth is no one knows. One thing for certain is when you put pride and as someone quoted earlier "ego's" ahead of life and safety you've missed out the whole reason fire departments exist. Time to go back to the drawing board Harrison cause your new philosophy just failed and resulted in a death. As for East Newark... well what can you say... volunteers... when called upon they help with as much as they can... when they aren't called... well they don't help... One thing is for sure. It's time for change. It's time to again put life, property and safety first. It's time to re-organize mutual aid or combine these departments.
  18. doc13mets

    Crime is Up

    Honestly these towns need each other.... they've always seemed to work well together in the past... these departments just need to get over this fire, obviously mistakes happen, no one go seriously hurt that god, we could have had 10 or more guys in bad shape... learn, grown and train together... Thats what these guys need to be doing... It's not the HFD fault for what's happened to this department it was years of mismanagement by the town and now they are suffering...
  19. Yes, Harrison has 5 Captains... 4 Lt's? and 20 Firefighters... Clearly it's almost a 1:1 ratio... Maybe you should stop back in a 3rd grade math class, looks like someone needs a refresher.
  20. The Harrison FD did an excellent job during the Hurricane. They ran many calls and rescued numerous amounts of people all around town. East Newark during the actually Hurricane responded as a 2nd engine to only 1 call. It was a report of smoke coming from the basement and the staged a block away from the building ready to bring in water if necessary. That was 1 of probably a 100 or so calls for Harrison that night. Harrison did a great job. When it comes to any fire in the area all the towns work together. They put all the BS aside and get the job done, that’s a fact. There is no 1 hero on any department, there are 3 heroic teams in West Hudson, the Heroes from Harrison, Kearny and East Newark. That simple. No one wants individual praise, and even if it's deserved no one cares if they get it. They are all there to do a job and they get it done. What’s happened to Harrison FD is not any one FF's fault, it was the fault of the politicians for allowing Harrison to live in LaLa land for many years. Come on guys the tax revenues is a political issue the FD had nothing to do with it.
  21. East Newark was not initially dispatched to the scene. Yes usually they have excellent response time for a volunteer department, but didn't have the best response time this time around. I saw the same article on nj.com very odd how it was worded that way. Not sure why. The entire KFD was at the scene and 1 engine from Harrison. Seems like the bad job was done by the person who wrote the article, all the FD's did a great job at the scene, as usual.
  22. Ha ha. The only BS is this post. I was actually listening to you for a second then I came across a statement that is 100% false, so I decided not to believe anything you said as it is mostly likely also 100% false. Tell me something... how can Harrison be top heavy with chiefs if they don't even have ONE chief?? That's right they don't have ONE currently. Which is also a shame but that's a different convo for a different day.
  23. To tackle Harrison's problems in one post is impossible. But if a merge happened seniority doesn't necessarily get transferred over. At least many other towns it hasn't. Look what’s happening in Camden, disbanding of one department and hiring by another, all those guys are bottom of the list in seniority. Same thing has happened in other New Jersey towns. Harrison needs help, don't know how to do it, but something should be done.
  24. You have been doing poor research apparently. For 2012 - Budget for Fire Department Salaries = $3,599,500 plus then you have the other costs of the department... this is ONLY salaries. For 2012 - Budget for Police Department Salaries = $5,045,400 plus then you have all the other costs of the department... again this is ONLY salaries Where did you get your research from? I got my direct from their budget. I do agree with you on one point, they need to increase manpower in both departments. It is in the best interest for the safety of the community. How to do that is the question. But it needs to be done.
  25. Agree 100%... lets understand something though... 3 men on an Engine.. that is not fully manned!! In my opinion Harrison should have at least a 4 man engine, a 3 man second engine and a 3 man ladder, any less is not acceptable. Would be good to have 4/4/4 though!
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