NY firefighters feud with residents over tower placement

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ff-medic

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We in public safety..... particullarily where I work ---> are suffering from budget cuts - equipment shortages, manpower shortages - communications problems. I understand.

Organizational leaders want to save a dime here and a penny here, but expect miracles when a disaster or emergency happens, and criticize Public Safety members if something "Did not go right", a person was hurt or killed, or property was lost. The lay person gets thier education in Public Safety from watching the old TV series "Chips", "Police Story", "Emergency" or a past show..... "Third Watch".

We in Public Safety are not a television series. The lives and the dangers are real. The risk of Haz-Mat exposure, being overcome by noxious fumes and gasses, being ran over while working the highway emergency, inside a fire with limited visability due to thick smoke and poisionous fumes, walking the woods at night on the search and rescue, suffering from an explosion. The dangers we face are notr only real...but more numerous than I just mentioned. Hindered radio / two way communication does not help solve our problems.....it adds to our communications problem significantly...sometimes five and ten fold.

I would believe that the Fire Department would know best where the radio tower should go. If you can't communicate, more than likely it would be hard to manuver inside the "Fire Ground". The people whom use the radio system, and know its faults and weaknesses, I would believe would know where to put the radio tower.

As I have stated before, I know what some departments are going through that are "Highlighted" on this website.

My agency suffers with lacking equipment, decreased budget / finances, old vehicles ( a 1970's fire engine as a rescue truck ) and low manpower ( we lost 4 members permanently.....about 6 years ago - and we would have trouble dealing with a really good fire / serious emergency / Mass Casuality Incident - and we currently do not have enough personnel "On Shift" for the "Two In - Two Out rule." )

Radio communciations is very important, and vital to completing the "Mission(s)" in Public Safety as quickly and as organized possible.....without injuring Public Safety members.....or others. Radio communications is essentially......the difference between life and death in some instances.

An agency needs to have a primary radio system and a backup radio system and repeater...including antennas, in case the primary radio repeater(s) is damaged from one of the following = Weather problems - mechanical problems - electrical problems...ect .

While I am mentioning this. People whom abuse Public Safety radio communications, by unlawfully - maliciously - attempting to cause a panic and or disruption.....by using their radio frequency, or by making.....or causing to be made... a false "9-1-1" or emergency telephone ( and cell phone ) call.....should have to suffer the penalitys.

They should be incarcerated, and make financial restitution + perform 250 hours of community service. I recommend this punishment for EACH count, individual event / incident / fake - false call / fabricated call ( arson - fake injury )

Fake EMS and Fire Calls Community Service :

For those that like to falsely report, by being malicious and trying to disrupt an organization / community and like to report false EMS calls, or cause them to be made :

EMS = 80 hours of EMS "Familiarization" in Basic Life Support and Advanced Life Support Medicine ( Ex = Peds - Geriatriacs - Medical
Emergencys - Trauma Emergencys - Cardiac - Pharmacology - A&P ) This includes successful completion of practical.....hands on, as
well as written tests ; just like us whom intially went through had to do.

40 Hours of supervised work in a hospital Emergency Room, dealing with emergency patients. This 40 hours is 40 hours of actual
patient work, not 40 hours of just sitting in an "E.R".

60 Hours of riding on an Emergency ( "9-1-1" ) Ambulance during emergencys and working supervised with
patients with in legal limits.

40 Hours of Station Work ( Cleaning - Painting - Building repair - Washing the Ambulance )

30 Hours of assisting with public education and community outreach.


For those that like to fake or report false "Fire" calls, or cause false fire calls to be made :

Fire = 80 hours of familirization of the Fire Service ( Ex = Fire Fighting - First Responder - Haz Mat -
Car accidents - Search and Rescue - Confined Space ops - Ropes ) With successful completion of written and practical..... hands on
testing...just like us whom went through initially had to do.

60 Hours of riding a Fire Engine, or Rescue truck on real emergencys, and working under supervision within legal
limits.

50 Hours of "In Station" Training ( Testing Fire Hose - Cleaning SCBA - Refilling SCBA -
Servicing Fire Equipment - Doing Fire system suppression checks and inspections locally )

30 hours of presenting Public Education / Fire Awareness / Fire Safety, and detailing the punishment and consequences for falsely
using "9-1-1". This is actually doing 30 hours of presentation - no travel to and from - and equipment setup / take down is counted
towards the time.

30 hours of Fire Station duty ( Cleaning the fire trucks - cleaning the station - moping - washing
walls - mowing the lawn - general repair of building and painting )


FF - Medic !!!
 
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Jay911

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Probably one of those kooks who thinks every tower within visible range is beaming cancer directly into his bedroom.
 

KevinC

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Classic case of NIMBY.
 

jonwienke

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Let the stupid NIMBYs die in fires and unnecessarily-delayed EMS and police calls, and the problem will neatly solve itself.
 

Kingscup

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Let the stupid NIMBYs die in fires and unnecessarily-delayed EMS and police calls, and the problem will neatly solve itself.

That problem does not only affect the public. It affects the responders too. A trapped firefighter inside a burning building. EMS in a physical altercation with a patient and they are unable to radio for help because radio transmission and reception is poor in the area.
 

jim202

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Maybe your all looking at it from the wrong side of the road. Lets step back and give those against this tower their way. However, you need to bring up the issue of their home owners insurance cost.

Radio communications is part of how the insurance companies figure cost of house insurance. Poor radio communications means higher homeowners insurance. Give those house and land hugger's what they want. Let them pay the higher cost for home insurance and then let us see how they view their protest on this new radio tower not being there.

Just make sure the town fathers lay this insurance fact out in front of those radio tower protesters. Maybe even bring in a couple of home insurance companies to the public meeting to explain the facts of life to the homeowners.
 

Kitn1mcc

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Go google the location the Volunteer company is off on a side road surrounded by fields with high tension towers near by


there company one does have a huge mono pole.

its the same thing we get around here people from the city move to the country and want to change how things have been done forever
 
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Wow I can't believe the residents is having a big stinking deal over this tower ! I would be absolutely happy to see a new tower pop up by my house!!! There probably thinking oh lets restrict the airspace above our house, we don't want anyone flying by that we don't know about ! OMG
 

jonwienke

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That problem does not only affect the public. It affects the responders too. A trapped firefighter inside a burning building. EMS in a physical altercation with a patient and they are unable to radio for help because radio transmission and reception is poor in the area.

Not if they no longer serve the area around the disputed tower due to unacceptable risk to personnel.
 

125

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People are missing the point... A Tower was errected without a building permit and during construction a "stop work order was issued" they chose to ignor the order... Everyone be it FD, PD, EMS, Joe's Taxi you need a building permit to put up a tower and if its being payed for by the taxpayer they need to be informed and have input (It really won't do much good but people leave the meeting fealing they made a point). The only reason a permit would not be issued is if the type of tower or tower base didn't meet building codes for the town. Any local government would never not issue a building permit for a public service unless there was a real problem (not wingnuts saying all towers bad).
 

Jay911

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People are missing the point... A Tower was errected without a building permit and during construction a "stop work order was issued" they chose to ignor the order...

The article states:

[A neighboring resident's] frustration was directed at the officials who oversaw the project, which he feels made no attempt at anticipating the damage to his property value or a decrease in his quality of life.

Doesn't sound like he was concerned about permits or safety.

The same could be said for the other resident quoted:

"I wanted to move to Lewiston because I wanted to get away from all the towers and craziness," Fortino said. "I busted my butt to get to where I'm at. I've got two young kids, who got to enjoy the place all of a couple months before this thing was sprouted up over a weekend."

These cranks are just whining because a radio tower is present. There's no inkling of concern over whether or not proper permitting bureaucracy was followed. The one even insinuates that his children will be unable to enjoy play in their neighborhood because the fire department erected a tower.
 

ElroyJetson

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DO NOT ASK ME FOR HELP PROGRAMMING YOUR RADIO. NO.
People demand 5 signal bars on their cell phone and get really bent out of shape if they can see the cell tower that gives them those 5 bars from their house.

People need to understand that there's a consequence to every action and every service requires infrastructure. People want access to air travel but complain about the noise from airplanes flying overhead, for a few minutes out of the whole day. They want cheap goods but complain about the noisy trucks on the interstate and don't even think about getting them started about those annoying trains that keep going by.

Sometimes people just need to accept the fact that services require infrastructure to provide it, and just shut up about it already.

If you want your firemen to be effective at their job, that means they need good communications. That may mean that towers need to be set up nearby where they are visible. Get used to it.

Not very diplomatic, am I? I never claimed I was.
 

radioman2001

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Quote"
Everyone be it FD, PD, EMS, Joe's Taxi you need a building permit to put up a tower. '

No not necessarily, New York State entered into a deal with Sprint some years back, and by putting the tower on their property within the town they cicumvented the local process. Our FD basically said the same thing, we can put up a tower anywhere we want in town and if necessary by eminate domian to do it. Not really a nice thing to do, but P.S. does takes precendent over local rights,and I would rather see eminate domain used for it's proper use such as this over a shopping mall as it has been used in the past.

Quote:"
Radio communications is part of how the insurance companies figure cost of house insurance. Poor radio communications means higher homeowners insurance. Give those house and land hugger's what they want. Let them pay the higher cost for home insurance and then let us see how they view their protest on this new radio tower not being there.

Some NIMBY's would say I don't care about the increase cost or risk, but if I was their neighbor I would sure be mad as hell if it went that way.

Going to work one day and there were NIMBY activists? standing on RR property getting signatures to try to keep a new Fire Station from being built on their block, that takes some B**LLS!. BTW I did call the PD to have them removed.

Quote
"I wanted to move to Lewiston because I wanted to get away from all the towers and craziness," Fortino said. "I busted my butt to get to where I'm at. I've got two young kids, who got to enjoy the place all of a couple months before this thing was sprouted up over a weekend."

This NIMBY who stated that he moved to a particular area to get away from towers just plain nuts, because the cell companies are going to keep adding more and more towers to get better signals out to all areas for those really unneeded services like TV over cell.

Radio towers are a fact of life nowadays, get used to it.
 
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