12/12/09



I also serve as a Deputy EMS Coordinator for the County. In this volunteer position my role is to respond to incidents involving two or more EMS agencies in my half of the County. The coordinator’s job is to represent the Emergency Management Office and ensure that all EMS agencies on scene are working together, all patients are being cared for, and just try to be of general help while not getting in the way. Most incidents are vehicle crashes, although I have also… Continue

On 7 December 2009 I was elected Fire Chief by my Department. This is for a one year term for the calendar year 2010, overseeing the operation of a rural volunteer fire department serving about 2800 people over an area of 40 square miles.



As this will be my first time as chief, I’ve experienced a wide range of thoughts and emotions since the election. I had the idea that if I captured some of these thoughts and emotions and published them as a blog, they would prove humorous to… Continue

I have not been active on FFN for a while, and for good reason. A discipline problem has made 2009 pretty stressful at times. Due to ongoing legal issues there’s not much more I can say about it now, however the story will be told in a future blog. I will say that as 1st Assistant Chief I have tried to shoulder some of the load borne by the Chief, and help resolve the problem.



But I digress.



My wife and I have taken up gardening, and we are on our second year of tending a… Continue

On Memorial Day we should - and most do - remember and honor those who have given their lives for this great country. We should also remember and thank those who have served our country in wartime or in peace. There are several men that I remember quite often, and not just once a year. I certainly don’t need a reminder from anyone to recall them to my memory. Let me tell you about them.



My great-great grandfather, Ira S. Thurber, was a Lieutenant in the 64th Regiment, New York State… Continue

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On a late summer day in 1949, the members of the Cattaraugus Fire Department are putting their new pumper through its paces. A drafting operation has been established at an unknown location in Cattaraugus County, New York.



The truck has just arrived from Young Fire Equipment in Buffalo, and is equipped with a 500 GPM… Continue

A while back, Chief Billy Goldfeder wrote a little story in The Secret List urging everyone over 50 to schedule a colonoscopy. He didn’t need to convince me; after my father died of cancer in 2005, I went to the doctor and scheduled a complete physical examination. Doc suggested that I have a colonoscopy, so I resigned myself to the medical profession for the procedure.



I don’t recall that Chief Billy went into details about his experience, so I thought I would share mine for all of… Continue

On the afternoon of October 5, 1954, hurricane hunter planes found the eye of Hurricane Hazel about 50 miles east of the island of Grenada. The eye was poorly defined, but its highest winds were already near 100 mph. It was the beginning of a storm that was to spread death and destruction from the Caribbean up through the Carolinas, the middle of the Atlantic states and into Canada.



By 11:00 a.m. on October 14, Hazel reached North Carolina, its winds sustained at 150 mph. It was… Continue

Today is our 9th wedding anniversary, and with any luck we will be taking our children to a nice restaurant for a fine dinner. We will be celebrating nine years together, a high school graduation for our daughter and a new beginning for our son. I say “with any luck” because in the emergency services, one’s plans often get interrupted by the insistent beeping of a pager.



Three times over the last nine years, on this date I have been involved in the misfortune of others. In 2002 we… Continue

As a follow-up to Fire Siren's blog about choosing the appropriate forum for a post, here is my suggestion: Decide whether to post your thoughts as a DISCUSSION or as a BLOG, then do it. Don't post the same thing in both places.

For all of the newer members, there is a very handy SEARCH tool with which you can surf this site to see if your hot topic has been discussed before. If so, chances are very good that there are a number of responses from other members already; adding your $.02…

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The picture of a dog licking the face of a firefighter who had rescued her and her unborn puppies from a fire reminded me of an experience that happened earlier in my firefighting career.



On a hot July day in 1995 I was heading home with a carload of groceries when our mutual aid department was toned out for a house fire. “Great, we’ll be called in next; I hope it’s nothing because the ice cream’s going to melt in the car…” Sure enough, my department was toned out, so I changed… Continue

We had an ambulance call this afternoon for a person with chest pain. When I arrived on scene, I could tell from a glance it didn't look good at all. I guess that after enough years I have developed a sixth sense about these things. Once we had the patient loaded into the ambulance I cautioned my partner, a new EMT, to have the bag-valve-mask ready at the patient's head "just in case". The ALS tech dispatched with us climbed on board and began his workup.



About halfway to the… Continue

All the fuss over nothing - NO calls overnight, NO power interruptions, in fact the rest of the county was pretty quiet also.



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The weather forecast is pretty grim today. They are calling for freezing rain – up to ¾ of an inch of ice is possible by tomorrow morning.



THE GREATEST RISK OF FREEZING RAIN NOW APPEARS TO BE FROM THE WESTERN S. TIER TO THE FINGER LAKES REGION BUT THIS IS NOT CERTAIN & THERE REMAINS A RISK ACROSS THE ENTIRE… Continue

I am writing this to make you all aware of a potentially serious health problem that can take you by surprise.

Six weeks ago today I was diagnosed with acute angle closure glaucoma. Glaucoma is defined as a buildup of pressure inside the eyeball. The aqueous humor, which is the replaceable liquid inside the eye, cannot drain properly thus…

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A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 10 PM THIS EVENING

TO 7 AM EST MONDAY.



SNOW IS EXPECTED TO OVERSPREAD THE REGION THIS EVENING. THE SNOW WILL INCREASE IN INTENSITY BY LATE EVENING AND THEN BEGIN TO MIX WITH SLEET BY AROUND MIDNIGHT. THE PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO CHANGE TO ALL SLEET FOR SEVERAL HOURS LATE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY

MORNING. MIXED PRECIPITATION WILL CHANGE BACK TO ALL SNOW BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON. STORM TOTAL SNOW AND SLEET ACCUMULATIONS BY EARLY MONDAY…

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Thanks Art!