hARRISON vOLUNTEER fd

[Guest Noone]

Did you know that Harrison had a volunteer Fire Dept. during WW2? I use to visit my grandfather at the Fire House when I was a boy. He worked his regular job during the day and volunteered at night. He ate, played cards and slept at the Fire House on Sussex St. and 5th St. across from the RCA. At that time, Harrison was not civil service. The volunteers were promised full time jobs after the war, but Mayor Rodgers reneged and brought in civil service and veterans got first choice. The volunteers worked well and were doing their part for the war effort. Harrison was going around the clock with its industry and had a larger population. The volunteer Fire Dept. worked well.

Why can't Harrison op/out of Civil Service, and have voluteers assist the paid FD. When an opening occurs, they should get the job and it would be Harrison residents. I think the Mayor and Council should think this over and put it into effect.

[Guest Guest]

Did you know that Harrison had a volunteer Fire Dept. during WW2? I use to visit my grandfather at the Fire House when I was a boy. He worked his regular job during the day and volunteered at night. He ate, played cards and slept at the Fire House on Sussex St. and 5th St. across from the RCA. At that time, Harrison was not civil service. The volunteers were promised full time jobs after the war, but Mayor Rodgers reneged and brought in civil service and veterans got first choice. The volunteers worked well and were doing their part for the war effort. Harrison was going around the clock with its industry and had a larger population. The volunteer Fire Dept. worked well.

Why can't Harrison op/out of Civil Service, and have voluteers assist the paid FD. When an opening occurs, they should get the job and it would be Harrison residents. I think the Mayor and Council should think this over and put it into effect.

I lived next door to that fire house moving there in 1946. I never knew the history. I did know however that all the firemen were veterens. Live and learn. Our house was owned by the RCA and my father was the Chief of Guards and we had to live there as part of his job.

[Guest downwithfedres]

Did you know that Harrison had a volunteer Fire Dept. during WW2? I use to visit my grandfather at the Fire House when I was a boy. He worked his regular job during the day and volunteered at night. He ate, played cards and slept at the Fire House on Sussex St. and 5th St. across from the RCA. At that time, Harrison was not civil service. The volunteers were promised full time jobs after the war, but Mayor Rodgers reneged and brought in civil service and veterans got first choice. The volunteers worked well and were doing their part for the war effort. Harrison was going around the clock with its industry and had a larger population. The volunteer Fire Dept. worked well.

Why can't Harrison op/out of Civil Service, and have voluteers assist the paid FD. When an opening occurs, they should get the job and it would be Harrison residents. I think the Mayor and Council should think this over and put it into effect.

Rodgers asked everyone who came to him asking for a job after WWII:"Are you an ex-GI"?Fortunately,my father was able to connect with Otis Elevator after Clark Thread moved to Georgia in 1947.Catering to ex-servicemen at that time is what is wrecking this country currently.Our cities have become war zones due to the handing out mortgages willy nilly for ex-GI's to move to the suburbs.I apologize for the hijacking and semi-incoherency,but I felt it necessary to point out another of King Frank's errors.OK,you caught me.I'm an anarchist at heart.

[Guest Guest]

Did you know that Harrison had a volunteer Fire Dept. during WW2? I use to visit my grandfather at the Fire House when I was a boy. He worked his regular job during the day and volunteered at night. He ate, played cards and slept at the Fire House on Sussex St. and 5th St. across from the RCA. At that time, Harrison was not civil service. The volunteers were promised full time jobs after the war, but Mayor Rodgers reneged and brought in civil service and veterans got first choice. The volunteers worked well and were doing their part for the war effort. Harrison was going around the clock with its industry and had a larger population. The volunteer Fire Dept. worked well.

Why can't Harrison op/out of Civil Service, and have voluteers assist the paid FD. When an opening occurs, they should get the job and it would be Harrison residents. I think the Mayor and Council should think this over and put it into effect.

Good idea. Why don't you be the first, stop in the firehouse and tell them you're there to volunteer.

[Guest Guest]

Rodgers asked everyone who came to him asking for a job after WWII:"Are you an ex-GI"?Fortunately,my father was able to connect with Otis Elevator after Clark Thread moved to Georgia in 1947.Catering to ex-servicemen at that time is what is wrecking this country currently.Our cities have become war zones due to the handing out mortgages willy nilly for ex-GI's to move to the suburbs.I apologize for the hijacking and semi-incoherency,but I felt it necessary to point out another of King Frank's errors.OK,you caught me.I'm an anarchist at heart.

Why don't you post some facts before you spew your crap. Take a look at the default rate on the military home loans and the default rate of those given to the public (subprime borrowers). I agree that King Frank is an idiot but I think you have the wrong Frank.... it is Barney Frank.

[Guest Guest]

I'm going to ignore the comments about WWII hiring preferences and veteran home loans from the 1940s-1950s (because that really has nothing to do with our current nation-wide housing issues; Fannie Mae, Ginnie Mae, and Freddie Mac and the government subsidies supporting loans to those that can't afford them are a major part of the underlying problem, although the programs did originate in the 30s and 40s, but anyway...)

The most important part of this thread is: Harrison should not have a paid fire department. There should be a regional West Hudson fire department for the towns of Harrison, Kearny, and East Newark that operates with volunteers. These are small towns with few residents. They can easily operate with shared services. Further, a paid fire department (although likely better than a volunteer force) is no longer a luxury we can afford: the constantly growing benefits (rising with health care costs and increased life expectancy) make it unsustainable without rapidly increasing taxes or major cuts to other local government services.

It isn't a personal thing against the firemen in these towns. Many of them are great guys that know their job and do it well. We just can't afford that anymore.

Merge these towns and eliminate as many government positions as possible. FD is probably the first place that could be cut. And yes, it is still expensive to have a volunteer FD, but a merged West Hudson volunteer one would be substantially cheaper (only 1 chief, no pensions and lifetime health benefits).

[doc13mets]

Good idea. Why don't you be the first, stop in the firehouse and tell them you're there to volunteer.

They will just say... Go down the Blvd, left onto Sherman and stop in at East Newark. Look saved you a trip.

[Guest Harrison's Bravest]

I'm going to ignore the comments about WWII hiring preferences and veteran home loans from the 1940s-1950s (because that really has nothing to do with our current nation-wide housing issues; Fannie Mae, Ginnie Mae, and Freddie Mac and the government subsidies supporting loans to those that can't afford them are a major part of the underlying problem, although the programs did originate in the 30s and 40s, but anyway...)

The most important part of this thread is: Harrison should not have a paid fire department. There should be a regional West Hudson fire department for the towns of Harrison, Kearny, and East Newark that operates with volunteers. These are small towns with few residents. They can easily operate with shared services. Further, a paid fire department (although likely better than a volunteer force) is no longer a luxury we can afford: the constantly growing benefits (rising with health care costs and increased life expectancy) make it unsustainable without rapidly increasing taxes or major cuts to other local government services.

It isn't a personal thing against the firemen in these towns. Many of them are great guys that know their job and do it well. We just can't afford that anymore.

Merge these towns and eliminate as many government positions as possible. FD is probably the first place that could be cut. And yes, it is still expensive to have a volunteer FD, but a merged West Hudson volunteer one would be substantially cheaper (only 1 chief, no pensions and lifetime health benefits).

Once again I have to point out Barney's stupidity. Barney makes the assumption that there are many unemployed men and women sitting around their homes with nothing to do, that are willing to travel to the Bergen or Middlesex Fire Academies for training and then be willing to man the fire apparatus 24-7.

Since Barney is so committed to this idea, I think Barney should poll town residents to see how many people actually have the time or inclination to take on this demanding job for free.

Barney, please report back here when you've completed this poll and advise us on the feasibility of moving ahead with this project.

[Guest guest]

Most of the Harrison Firehouse fraternity boyz haven't been to a single fire since the fake fire they train you on at the academy. Harrison should immediately start forming a list of volunteers to phase out the overpaid, underworked children there now and by January of 2012 the transformation would be complete. The $5 million dollar budget for the frat house, and that money is for salaries ONLY, nothing else, could go towards paying Harrisons massive sinkhole of bond debt obligations and start to return the town to a good place to live again. How can a dinky little town like Harrison afford to pay only 42 employees $5 million a year in salaries alone. Outrageous. The reason McMole won't ask for volunteers is because the curent idots are all family members or patronage appts. That is not hard to figure out. If it were 42 guys who came from A to Z on a civil service list instead of the current in-crowd they would have been disbanded years ago. Some genius keeps insisting that there were like 276 fires in 2008. Thats what McMole and Dollarhan REPORT to the state, not reality. I bet that there were not even 5 fires in Harrison in 2010. Yet they will report like 300 to the state to justify not being disbanded. The genius also states that fires go up in bad times, not crime. This F**KING asshole should ask the armed guy who robbed the gas station or the guy who shot in the head in Kearny, which is Harrisons close neighbor, about that. More cops are needed and a volunteer fire dept. could handily do the job while Harrisons attempts to stop going into more debt. A merger is not the answer, the North Hudson Regional merger cost more than the individual towns did. Millions upon millions wasted on these losers. STOP THE BLEEDING.

[Guest guest]

If Mayor McDonough were a real man instead of a maggot, good things could happen. What we now have is extremely high taxes and $30 million of debt. If he wasn't so concerned that the 42 boys in that firehouse weren't his barbecue buddies he would start a volunteer fire dept. and in six years, only six years, at $5 million dollars a year in saved gifted salaries over 6 years, the town could pay off the entire debt. Along this time he could eliminate patronage jobs and in only six little years taxes could actually start going down. Amazing how simple things can be. Never happen. For example, the mayor had to get rid of the $85,0000 a year + pension + benefits transportation officer because the Governor was onto the scam. So he transferred this guy, Mr. big ears the rat, to the street dept. at the same $85,000.00 salary and he now walks around town 3 or 4 hours a day with a stick with a nail on the end spearing paper cups and gum wrappers and putting them in a black plastic bag. $85,000.00/year of your tax money for that!! It is sickening to think of someone actually doing this and raising taxes to pay for this to the very people that voted for him. Congradulations!!

[doc13mets]

I'm going to ignore the comments about WWII hiring preferences and veteran home loans from the 1940s-1950s (because that really has nothing to do with our current nation-wide housing issues; Fannie Mae, Ginnie Mae, and Freddie Mac and the government subsidies supporting loans to those that can't afford them are a major part of the underlying problem, although the programs did originate in the 30s and 40s, but anyway...)

The most important part of this thread is: Harrison should not have a paid fire department. There should be a regional West Hudson fire department for the towns of Harrison, Kearny, and East Newark that operates with volunteers. These are small towns with few residents. They can easily operate with shared services. Further, a paid fire department (although likely better than a volunteer force) is no longer a luxury we can afford: the constantly growing benefits (rising with health care costs and increased life expectancy) make it unsustainable without rapidly increasing taxes or major cuts to other local government services.

It isn't a personal thing against the firemen in these towns. Many of them are great guys that know their job and do it well. We just can't afford that anymore.

Merge these towns and eliminate as many government positions as possible. FD is probably the first place that could be cut. And yes, it is still expensive to have a volunteer FD, but a merged West Hudson volunteer one would be substantially cheaper (only 1 chief, no pensions and lifetime health benefits).

While I see the advantage of having a West Hudson Regional Fire Department I have some views on why it should be different. First off if you had a 3 Volunteer FD's vs 1 Large Volunteer FD's the cost is pretty much the same. Chiefs of volunteer FD's don't receive much more compensation then a regular Firefighter.

In East Newark according to the Boro Ordinance the Chief receives a $625 a year clothing allowance and a regular firefighter receives $400 per year. A whole difference of $225.

In North Arlington according to the Boro Ordinance a firefighter receives $700 per year and the Chief receives $1400. Also not a substantial difference.

In Lyndhurst all I can find is firefighters receive a clothing allowance of $225. It's also mentioned they are enrolled in a LOSAP program. (which is like a special retirement account)

Volunteer firefighters don't receive any sort of salary they only receive the clothing allowance. (In this immediate area)

Having 3 volunteer fire chiefs vs. 1 volunteer fire chief is really no different.

As for the West Hudson Regional FD you propose I do not believe if it ever happened it should be all volunteer. It should be a combination department. A large group of paid firefighter supplemented by a volunteer base.

If you had a Regional FD you would only need 1 Fire Chief and 5 Deputy Chiefs and 1 training officer. Right now Harrison and Kearny each have 1 Fire Chief Kearny has 5 Deputy Chiefs and Harrison has 4 Battalion Chiefs and each have their own training officer. This is where we would see the most savings in having a merged department.

Kearny Station 1 could be made a volunteer engine. Kearny Station 2, 3 and 4 should remain paid with 3 Engine's and 2 Ladder Co's. Harrison HQ should be a combo station with a paid Ladder with 2 paid EMS units and 2 Volunteer Engines. Harrison Cleveland Ave Station should be a paid Engine. East Newark would be 2 Volunteer Engines and a Volunteer Ladder. (This would be my plan if I were put in charge of it)

A merge makes the most sense for Kearny and Harrison but not so much East Newark unless they would receive more money for their department. But Kearny and Harrison could most certainly merge down the road and just cut down on overhead. I could only see East Newark getting sucked in because they would be a volunteer department stuck in the middle of a regional department.

On an interesting side note Harrison and East Newark merged their Dispatch as reported on www.nj.com and it went into effect yesterday. Harrison and East Newark to Merge Emergency Dispatch

Kearny should jump on board as well with that plan. Then we could save some real money with civilian dispatchers.

[Guest T-Bird]

The only laugh I got from your post is that you don't see much difference of a $700.00 clothing allowance and a $1400.00 clothing allowance. Thats DOUBLE you jerkoff. Thats like saying I don't see a difference between a $50,000 salary and a $100,000 salary. I hope you are not involved in any decision making with your logic. Lets concentrate on the real problem, the Harrison Fire Dept. instead of bringing all this merger crap into the picture. Harrison needs to go to a volunteer fire dept. ASAP and get rid of these $125,000 a year malingerers and total wastes of the taxpayers money. This is no joke. People are going hungry and can't pay their bills because of this destructive decision making by McDonough and friends who just refuse to put their best friends out of work, even though it is crippling the town. Years ago at a council meeting, the late Peter Higgins said," As long as I'm alive, Harrison will have a paid fire dept." McDonough chimed in with, "Damn right." Thats the answer to why they not only will not disband this sinkhole of money, they refuse to even drug test them after many incidents involving illegal narcotics. Mr. Mayor Ray loves the HFD due to nepotism and patronage and might even resign if forced to take action against them. These are his neighbors and friends in Point Pleasant. Thats all that matters.

[Guest Guest]

While I see the advantage of having a West Hudson Regional Fire Department I have some views on why it should be different. First off if you had a 3 Volunteer FD's vs 1 Large Volunteer FD's the cost is pretty much the same. Chiefs of volunteer FD's don't receive much more compensation then a regular Firefighter.

In East Newark according to the Boro Ordinance the Chief receives a $625 a year clothing allowance and a regular firefighter receives $400 per year. A whole difference of $225.

In North Arlington according to the Boro Ordinance a firefighter receives $700 per year and the Chief receives $1400. Also not a substantial difference.

In Lyndhurst all I can find is firefighters receive a clothing allowance of $225. It's also mentioned they are enrolled in a LOSAP program. (which is like a special retirement account)

Volunteer firefighters don't receive any sort of salary they only receive the clothing allowance. (In this immediate area)

Having 3 volunteer fire chiefs vs. 1 volunteer fire chief is really no different.

As for the West Hudson Regional FD you propose I do not believe if it ever happened it should be all volunteer. It should be a combination department. A large group of paid firefighter supplemented by a volunteer base.

If you had a Regional FD you would only need 1 Fire Chief and 5 Deputy Chiefs and 1 training officer. Right now Harrison and Kearny each have 1 Fire Chief Kearny has 5 Deputy Chiefs and Harrison has 4 Battalion Chiefs and each have their own training officer. This is where we would see the most savings in having a merged department.

Kearny Station 1 could be made a volunteer engine. Kearny Station 2, 3 and 4 should remain paid with 3 Engine's and 2 Ladder Co's. Harrison HQ should be a combo station with a paid Ladder with 2 paid EMS units and 2 Volunteer Engines. Harrison Cleveland Ave Station should be a paid Engine. East Newark would be 2 Volunteer Engines and a Volunteer Ladder. (This would be my plan if I were put in charge of it)

A merge makes the most sense for Kearny and Harrison but not so much East Newark unless they would receive more money for their department. But Kearny and Harrison could most certainly merge down the road and just cut down on overhead. I could only see East Newark getting sucked in because they would be a volunteer department stuck in the middle of a regional department.

On an interesting side note Harrison and East Newark merged their Dispatch as reported on www.nj.com and it went into effect yesterday. Harrison and East Newark to Merge Emergency Dispatch

Kearny should jump on board as well with that plan. Then we could save some real money with civilian dispatchers.

Yeah thats all we need in this area is a bunch of wannabes running around with their blue lights playing fireman. East Newark FD is a joke we don't need anymore goofballs running to fire houses in all three towns and getting in the way of the professionals. Give it a rest with the Volley B.S

[Guest Harrison's Bravest]

If Mayor McDonough were a real man instead of a maggot, good things could happen. What we now have is extremely high taxes and $30 million of debt. If he wasn't so concerned that the 42 boys in that firehouse weren't his barbecue buddies he would start a volunteer fire dept. and in six years, only six years, at $5 million dollars a year in saved gifted salaries over 6 years, the town could pay off the entire debt. Along this time he could eliminate patronage jobs and in only six little years taxes could actually start going down. Amazing how simple things can be. Never happen. For example, the mayor had to get rid of the $85,0000 a year + pension + benefits transportation officer because the Governor was onto the scam. So he transferred this guy, Mr. big ears the rat, to the street dept. at the same $85,000.00 salary and he now walks around town 3 or 4 hours a day with a stick with a nail on the end spearing paper cups and gum wrappers and putting them in a black plastic bag. $85,000.00/year of your tax money for that!! It is sickening to think of someone actually doing this and raising taxes to pay for this to the very people that voted for him. Congradulations!!

Hey Barney, it's "Congratulations".

[Guest Guest]

Most of the Harrison Firehouse fraternity boyz haven't been to a single fire since the fake fire they train you on at the academy. Harrison should immediately start forming a list of volunteers to phase out the overpaid, underworked children there now and by January of 2012 the transformation would be complete. The $5 million dollar budget for the frat house, and that money is for salaries ONLY, nothing else, could go towards paying Harrisons massive sinkhole of bond debt obligations and start to return the town to a good place to live again. How can a dinky little town like Harrison afford to pay only 42 employees $5 million a year in salaries alone. Outrageous. The reason McMole won't ask for volunteers is because the curent idots are all family members or patronage appts. That is not hard to figure out. If it were 42 guys who came from A to Z on a civil service list instead of the current in-crowd they would have been disbanded years ago. Some genius keeps insisting that there were like 276 fires in 2008. Thats what McMole and Dollarhan REPORT to the state, not reality. I bet that there were not even 5 fires in Harrison in 2010. Yet they will report like 300 to the state to justify not being disbanded. The genius also states that fires go up in bad times, not crime. This F**KING asshole should ask the armed guy who robbed the gas station or the guy who shot in the head in Kearny, which is Harrisons close neighbor, about that. More cops are needed and a volunteer fire dept. could handily do the job while Harrisons attempts to stop going into more debt. A merger is not the answer, the North Hudson Regional merger cost more than the individual towns did. Millions upon millions wasted on these losers. STOP THE BLEEDING.

Oh please, enough of your boring nonsense.

[doc13mets]

The only laugh I got from your post is that you don't see much difference of a $700.00 clothing allowance and a $1400.00 clothing allowance. Thats DOUBLE you jerkoff. Thats like saying I don't see a difference between a $50,000 salary and a $100,000 salary. I hope you are not involved in any decision making with your logic. Lets concentrate on the real problem, the Harrison Fire Dept. instead of bringing all this merger crap into the picture. Harrison needs to go to a volunteer fire dept. ASAP and get rid of these $125,000 a year malingerers and total wastes of the taxpayers money. This is no joke. People are going hungry and can't pay their bills because of this destructive decision making by McDonough and friends who just refuse to put their best friends out of work, even though it is crippling the town. Years ago at a council meeting, the late Peter Higgins said," As long as I'm alive, Harrison will have a paid fire dept." McDonough chimed in with, "Damn right." Thats the answer to why they not only will not disband this sinkhole of money, they refuse to even drug test them after many incidents involving illegal narcotics. Mr. Mayor Ray loves the HFD due to nepotism and patronage and might even resign if forced to take action against them. These are his neighbors and friends in Point Pleasant. Thats all that matters.

If I went to Atlantic City and over a year lost $700 gambling vs $1400 gambling it's really not a big difference remember those numbers are spread out over a year.

Now a yearly salary of $50,000 vs $100,000 is. The two examples are not even comparable. If you think they are then you are just foolish.

[doc13mets]

Yeah thats all we need in this area is a bunch of wannabes running around with their blue lights playing fireman. East Newark FD is a joke we don't need anymore goofballs running to fire houses in all three towns and getting in the way of the professionals. Give it a rest with the Volley B.S

I'm one of the biggest paid Fire Department supporters. Read all my past posts. I am also educated. I know in the current economy unfortunately paid fire departments at the levels they are now in the area won't be able to be sustained in the long run. A lot of towns have combination departments.

Do volunteer firefighters go to different academies then the career firefighters?

[Guest Fire Marshall Bill]

Good idea. Why don't you be the first, stop in the firehouse and tell them you're there to volunteer.

I tried but the door was locked and no one answered.

[Guest Harrison's Bravest]

The only laugh I got from your post is that you don't see much difference of a $700.00 clothing allowance and a $1400.00 clothing allowance. Thats DOUBLE you jerkoff. Thats like saying I don't see a difference between a $50,000 salary and a $100,000 salary. I hope you are not involved in any decision making with your logic. Lets concentrate on the real problem, the Harrison Fire Dept. instead of bringing all this merger crap into the picture. Harrison needs to go to a volunteer fire dept. ASAP and get rid of these $125,000 a year malingerers and total wastes of the taxpayers money. This is no joke. People are going hungry and can't pay their bills because of this destructive decision making by McDonough and friends who just refuse to put their best friends out of work, even though it is crippling the town. Years ago at a council meeting, the late Peter Higgins said," As long as I'm alive, Harrison will have a paid fire dept." McDonough chimed in with, "Damn right." Thats the answer to why they not only will not disband this sinkhole of money, they refuse to even drug test them after many incidents involving illegal narcotics. Mr. Mayor Ray loves the HFD due to nepotism and patronage and might even resign if forced to take action against them. These are his neighbors and friends in Point Pleasant. Thats all that matters.

Barney/T-Bird, Since you're so knowledgeable on this subject, where are all these able-bodied people with all this time on their hands that are willing to become volunteers? I figure you'll need at least 60-70 volunteers to cover 24/7, understanding they wouldn't be available when they're away at work, etc.

I'm sure you've researched this and identified this 60-70 man pool before you came forward with this reorganizing plan. I would suggest you move forward with this plan and bring this list of potential volunteers to the mayor and council where you can make your presentation. Good luck.

[Guest Guest]

Barney/T-Bird, Since you're so knowledgeable on this subject, where are all these able-bodied people with all this time on their hands that are willing to become volunteers? I figure you'll need at least 60-70 volunteers to cover 24/7, understanding they wouldn't be available when they're away at work, etc.

I'm sure you've researched this and identified this 60-70 man pool before you came forward with this reorganizing plan. I would suggest you move forward with this plan and bring this list of potential volunteers to the mayor and council where you can make your presentation. Good luck.

I don't think Doc13Mets said anyting about a completely volunteer fire department.... I attached Doc13Mets paragraph just for your reference... Please read (and if necessary re-read) and then post your comment.

"If you had a Regional FD you would only need 1 Fire Chief and 5 Deputy Chiefs and 1 training officer. Right now Harrison and Kearny each have 1 Fire Chief Kearny has 5 Deputy Chiefs and Harrison has 4 Battalion Chiefs and each have their own training officer. This is where we would see the most savings in having a merged department."

[Guest Guest]

I'm one of the biggest paid Fire Department supporters. Read all my past posts. I am also educated. I know in the current economy unfortunately paid fire departments at the levels they are now in the area won't be able to be sustained in the long run. A lot of towns have combination departments.

Do volunteer firefighters go to different academies then the career firefighters?

No they go to the same academies as the paid guys but they don't train nearly as much and there is no debating that. Paid guys train every time they go into work, volunteers train once maybe twice a week. Paid guys see more fires then volunteers being they work in more urban areas where fire happen more often. Combination departments aren't as well off as you would think. There is a lot of resentment between the professional and volunteers in combination departments. Just ask the guys in Nutley. I never questioned how smart you are and some of you're ideas about a regional department are valid, but suggesting volunteers is not the answer trust me. Volunteer fire departments are starting to become things of the past. People just don't have the time to put into it anymore especially with all of the new things fire departments are being asked to do besides fire fighting. As for merging departments just doing Kearny and Harrison doesn't make much sense in savings. The best way to save big money is doing one big County Department much like L.A County, Baltimore County etc.

[doc13mets]

No they go to the same academies as the paid guys but they don't train nearly as much and there is no debating that. Paid guys train every time they go into work, volunteers train once maybe twice a week. Paid guys see more fires then volunteers being they work in more urban areas where fire happen more often. Combination departments aren't as well off as you would think. There is a lot of resentment between the professional and volunteers in combination departments. Just ask the guys in Nutley. I never questioned how smart you are and some of you're ideas about a regional department are valid, but suggesting volunteers is not the answer trust me. Volunteer fire departments are starting to become things of the past. People just don't have the time to put into it anymore especially with all of the new things fire departments are being asked to do besides fire fighting. As for merging departments just doing Kearny and Harrison doesn't make much sense in savings. The best way to save big money is doing one big County Department much like L.A County, Baltimore County etc.

Yeah but in this area where politics are so engrained into society it would make sense to me to start small with merging then two regional departments could merge. Like if there was a West Hudson Fire eventually down the road it would make it easy to merge with North Hudson Fire. Maybe even Jersey City and Bayonne would jump on board then. Who knows. But the idea is to give it a start. I would think one advantage to a combo department you would get some guys who want to become career guys. Then they have a much easier transition and would get some preference points which is nice. If there was a West Hudson Fire Department with some volunteers at least those guys that live in West Hudson and were volunteers would get some extra points which would be nice. Maybe we would actually start to see some locals get hired for the first time in how many years!

[Guest Guest]

No they go to the same academies as the paid guys but they don't train nearly as much and there is no debating that. Paid guys train every time they go into work, volunteers train once maybe twice a week. Paid guys see more fires then volunteers being they work in more urban areas where fire happen more often. Combination departments aren't as well off as you would think. There is a lot of resentment between the professional and volunteers in combination departments. Just ask the guys in Nutley. I never questioned how smart you are and some of you're ideas about a regional department are valid, but suggesting volunteers is not the answer trust me. Volunteer fire departments are starting to become things of the past. People just don't have the time to put into it anymore especially with all of the new things fire departments are being asked to do besides fire fighting. As for merging departments just doing Kearny and Harrison doesn't make much sense in savings. The best way to save big money is doing one big County Department much like L.A County, Baltimore County etc.

You must be kidding, career firefighters train everytime they go into work????? how? sleeping, eating and watching tv? or maybe planning where they will order from next meal? WRONG PAL.... Yes they do go throught the same training older firefighter received their training in house in Harrison. please don't bash those that try to support their community in terms of getting involved in volunteering. If your gonna talk crap then don't hurt the ones that might help you in your lifetime. Merging will most certainly happen very soon. Mr. Sweeny as well as the Governor will make this happen

[Guest guest]

I am trying to figure out why a minority individual cannot get a firemans in terms of equality. There are many minority Police Officers but the Mayors of these local towns havbe their input into the civilservice scores, that definate, to get to who they want. Harrison has the one token black to avoid state scrutiny and a march by Sharpton and the National Action Network. He was hired instead of a relative only because he had to be to keep the peace. In my opinion, ** ** *** **** ****** ** ** ******* ****** ***** **** ******, *** ** *** the job. In Jersey City one family has 10 members of that family working as fireman right now. All civil service equality? Yeah, right! The Police have diversity, why not the Aryan fireman nation?

Edited January 7, 2011 by KOTW
Content.

[Guest Guest]

Yeah but in this area where politics are so engrained into society it would make sense to me to start small with merging then two regional departments could merge. Like if there was a West Hudson Fire eventually down the road it would make it easy to merge with North Hudson Fire. Maybe even Jersey City and Bayonne would jump on board then. Who knows. But the idea is to give it a start. I would think one advantage to a combo department you would get some guys who want to become career guys. Then they have a much easier transition and would get some preference points which is nice. If there was a West Hudson Fire Department with some volunteers at least those guys that live in West Hudson and were volunteers would get some extra points which would be nice. Maybe we would actually start to see some locals get hired for the first time in how many years!

You clearly want to be a fire fighter which is a great thing. But even with the points for being a volunteer isnt a given. What needs to be done is fight the NAACP (easier said than done). They are the reason why Kearny and Harrison had to open up their lists to both Hudson and Essex counties. As for merging if you are going to do it, do it right off the bat. North Hudson Regional is still a mess and they have been in operation since 1999. I'm not 100% sure but I think its costing the tax payers more money then when all 5 departments were separate, and they are down well over 100 men since that merger went into effect. They even closed 3 more companies just a few months back.