WOULD YOU BELIEVE, THE FIRE DEPARTMENT IS AT IT AGAIN?
Here we go AGAIN Folks! The Fire Chief David See & Deputy Chief Gordy went behind the City Council's back once again and have applied for a Grant without going to the Council first. One thing you have to give Police Chief Webster credit for is the fact that he respects the process and always goes to the City Council FIRST before he asks for anything.
Not See & Gordy. Now Get This! Even though the COUNTY has backed and supported the Parsonsburg Fire Department HAZMAT Team, these Firefighters aren't fully qualified to be a first responder in a Hazmat environment. The Salisbury Fire Department is however. That being said, there are NO volunteers within the SFD qualified to be on the Hazmat Team, yet the monies being funneled through this equipment will certainly find its way through the Volunteer account.
If you were to ask around the SFD you'll also come to learn that there is but ONE Firefighter truly interested in anything to do with Hazmat, so purchasing this Trailer and having to match the grant funding, it will cost the taxpayers $17,000.00 just for the trailer alone. None of the rest of the Firefighters want anything to do with this, so I'm told. I'm sure we'll see a bunch of anonymous comments saying differently but those who are qualified and ON the Hazmat Team want it.
Now get this. Guess what the Fire Department says they'll need to pull this Trailer. They claim they'll need a $85,000.00 TRUCK to pull it, NOT mentioned in the proposal. You see Folks, there's always a catch to what See & Gordy do. I highly doubt the Parsonsburg Fire Department spent anywhere near $85,000.00 for a pickup truck to pull their Hazmat Trailer but I'm sure it says FORD on the front of it and not MACK! So once they buy one thing they'll quickly be coming to the City asking for the other, you've been warned Taxpayers.
See & Gordy also haven't informed ANYONE that there hasn't been a TRUE or REAL Hazmat Situation in the past 20 years in the City of Salisbury. In fact, you'll probably see more use out of the Fire Boat than you will the Hazmat Team. Conveniently, when YOU call the 911 Center and let's say you have a gasoline leak. 911 considers that a Hazmat condition, yet it's not. Gasoline can be diluted with water. A Hazmat condition is something like a hydrochloric acid spill, something that just doesn't happen here.
Hazmat Teams are for areas like Baltimore or New York. Where box cars carrying these hazardous materials could derail and so forth. Like what I say or not, this Hazmat Team thing is for the birds. It's complete BS! Once again Chief See & Deputy Chief Gordy are trying to milk the taxpayers for more and more toys and playing the game of, well, it will only cost us $17,000.00 and grant money will pay for the rest. However, the grant specifically states that none of the funds can be used to purchase any part of the vehicle that pulls the trailer. So YOU will be paying for a $85,000.00 Truck once Gary Comegys, Louise Smith and Shanie Shields rams it though tomorrow night's Council Meeting. More TOYS for the Boys.
I have made numerous calls on this and there is not a single person I have spoken to that believes this is important. In fact I have been told that Dick Hazel donated a Pepsi Truck that has been used for years for the Hazmat Team and again, it has never been used for a legitimate Hazmat Condition.
Last week Gordy and Hoppes and others spent most of their entire week behind closed door specking out this trailer, (your tax dollars hard at work again) and again, they did all of this without consulting the City Council first. Instead they'll present it AGAIN as a last minute pressure point on PAC14 trying to make RESPONSIBLE Council Members look bad because more than likely we'll see yet another 3-2 vote, I could be wrong. I should say we should see a 0 - 5 vote on this with ALL Council Members using this as an example saying ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
Remember, the Chief will tell you they had 400 to 500 Hazmat calls last year but NONE of them qualified for a Hazmat condition. The good old scare tactic. OMG, we have 400 calls a year for Hazmat, NOT! Now go sell your pie in the sky package to the Council See & Gordy and let's see how you do.
Oh, there was a drop of mercury spilled at the WWTP once, hardly a Hazmat condition. Now all you're going to hear is, well, what if a propane tank ruptures? What if, what if, what if. Your spending needs to be stopped and we the taxpayers are going to take our City back. Vote for Jim Ireton Folks!
51 comments:
Have you ever heard of a tank "rubsuring"? A tank may rupture. Just have to irk you once in a while. I do believe your spelling is getting better. Keep up the good work; keep their noses to the grindstone.
I know you don't like being proven wrong, but I'll try any way. If their is any type of spill reported any where in the "World" the fire service will treat this as a hazardous materials incident until it can be proven otherwise. The fire service has designed different types of procedures for different types of hazardous materials incidents. One of the thing you will never see a fire department do is put water on a gasoline spill. The EPA would have a field day with any fire department caught doing this. If they don't use some type of absorbent material they will use specially designed pads to soak up the product and then place it in protective packaging for proper disposal. You never fight a gasoline fire with water. That is where the use of foam comes in. When you see pictures of firefighters flowing water on a tank farm for instance they are attempting to cool the storage tanks. To the best of my recollection the SFD established a bonifed Hazmat Response until after 9/11. This particular unit has responded a half dozen times give or take an incident to other counties for mutual aid to assist that particular county's hazmat response team. This area must wait now for the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE)Specials Hazards Respond Teams to come from Baltimore. Because of this, most lower shore county's have established their hazmat response teams to mitigate the incident until MDE arrives on location. Yes the hazmat vehicle now housed by the City of Salisbury was originally to be a Wicomico County Hazardous Materials Response Vehicle where neighboring departments would supply additional trained Hazmat Reponse Technician. This never materialized for reasons I am not aware of. However, there are "Decontamination Units" stationed in Sharptown, Delmar and Willards which will respond into the city upon request or anywhere else for that matters. In response to your last paragraph of your post this issue is NOT SPECIAL TO THE SALISBURY FIRE DEPARTMENT. Fire Schools nation/worldwide teach to err on the side of caution, this is taught in several class (Staff & Command, Strategy & Tactics, etc)
I am not speaking for the SFD. Not my intention here with my response just trying to pass along public information. I again call on Bill Carey or Bryan Records to clarifiy what I have stated here. By the way a mear small spill of mercury can create a mess of havoc. Please check CHEMTREK to verify this. Thanks for your time.
David Pollitt
WOW...Diluting gasoline with water..Thats interesting. Now what do you do with the contaminated run off that you just made? Or lets see..You have an area of gasoline spilled in a 10 x 10 area, add water and you have just successfully created a stream of floating gas..Not saying SFD needs the HAZMAT trailer...BUT you really need to do some investigation into HAZMAT before talking like that.
Signed,
SFD HAZMAT Team member.
There are volunteers that have the training to be on that team. They just dont care about being a member of it. Its a bunch of crap for something that never happens. The paid maids can take care of it. Let parsonsburg have it and save the city a bunch of money.
So what it is a grant. The money is not coming out of taxpayers pocket. Get over it already Joe.
I drove by the new station 16 and they alrady have 2 trailers out there and numerous trucks out there.
You're reaching well beyond your level and area of expertise. Salisbury has oil farms on its river shores. There is hazardous material in many of the barges that traverse the waterways of Salisbury. Many of the tank trucks that travel through Salisbury on its roads carry hazardous materials, as do many of the rail cars.
Your point that because Salisbury has never had a serious hazmat situation occur, and thus they don't need hazmat equipment and trained personnel is akin to saying that since it's been so long since a Salisbury police officer has had to use his service weapon the city could save money by not buying and issuing pistols to its officers. Frankly, I'm quite shocked to learn that Salisbury doesn't have the equipment or the trained personnel to handle a hazmat situation.
Are these guys embezzling funds for themselves or not? It sure sounds like it.
Joe,
Here is a run survey from a national magazine. Look at the numbers of these cities that are much bigger than Salisbury. I wonder how many of these calls are actuall Hazmat calls.
http://www.firehouse.com/magazine/surveys/02_hazmat.pdf
Keep in mind this was also right after 9/11 when everyone was running scared so the calls for Hazmat "skyrocketed." Now agencies are inventing hazmat calls just so they can justify the grant money.
What a Joke, what a waste of good money.
guess no one gets the point They got the grant money to buy something the tax payers will have to come up with the rest without asking and they still need something to pull it with that the grant money doesnt buy
Anonymous said...
So what it is a grant. The money is not coming out of taxpayers pocket. Get over it already Joe.
7:41 PM
This idiot and yes let me reiterate IDIOT obviously isn't a tax payer. Ok Sunshine, if this money is not coming out of the taxpayers pockets then where is it coming from? Obviously a farmin in salburry!!
David P said...
David Pollitt
6:27 PM
Thanks Poo Poo, what is your expertise in Hazardous Material? When was the last time you responded on a Hazmat Call? Oh, never, OK.
Are you writing this post on Salisbury News when you are supposed to be dispatching for the county?
Are these people still in JUNIOR HIGH, oh, pardon me...the correct term is now "Middle School?"
What a bunch of overt whiney little "I'm the best and if you mess with me, I'll mess you up," crap.
Didn't these people ever grow up? Don't they know their mommies and daddies cannot save them from the REAL WORLD?
Is the county, the city tax fund their personal toy chest? Is it to be pilfered at will with a bit a glib affectation and pronouncement and all those who pay taxes are to accept that drivel/vomit?
Salisbury, "The Crossroads of Delmarva" better re-think their slogan to be "Bend over, we'll supply the KY, it won't be too bad, just keep your eyes shut and brace yourself."
I hear they say that in prison too. Hey, at least it's not being handed a packet of grape jelly and told to get busy, but if bad things come to pass, it might be close enough.
Have a NICE day.
And speaking of Mike Dunn, oh how I remember him, graduating a year ahead of me.
The spindly, little geeky, squeaky-voiced "I wanna be in charge" that everybody laughed at even back then. But back then, he was able to laugh at himself as he did it, which made it acceptable.
How does such a person get into government when he was laughed at in high school? The only thing he ever had going for his was his family's $$ and power, even with the high-powered duds, well, he was a dud, he couldn't even walk right, unless it was because of the aftermath of working really hard to convince someone else of his worthiness. It would be no wonder he'd walk a little funny afterwards. That must have happened a lot.
You know nerves can make your knees pretty weak, and pretty much ruin a confident stride.
But I know his idol was Mike Seidel, who graduated three years ahead of him --Mike Seidel was going places, everyone knew it.
It was kinda like Linda Hamilton, we all knew she was meant for better things as well, but she was quiet about it.
Mike Dunn saw the brass ring, he leaped for it, came up short simply because he didn't have it. Most of us don't, but never reach and embarrass yourself, some folk remember you from back when. Being lead around by the nose is ugly to witness, take the ring out, stand tall and away from the implosion. Don't become part of the fallout.
I have before and always will dilute small gasoline spills with water. Gasoline will evaporate quite quickly and most times dont have to worry. So before you HazMat freaks get crazy with your pads, get some common sense. Its just gasoline and they have been diluting it for years.
salisbury had few firemen on the team to begin with. Dave Meritt and Hitch are gone and there hasnt been anyone join the team since. You aint got nobody but the pirates gang on the team anyway. All that bulls**t on the coke truck and nowhere to go. These clowns are as bad as the maytag man. All decked out with their BDU's and jump boots with no calls. Its a status thing and we aint impressed. Station 2 told See to get the hazmat truck out years ago and it sat out back and turned pink. You livin in a dream world boys and girls. Salisbury doesnt need it.
9:50 Sounds like a bit of jealousy. You're guaranteed to miss 100% of the shots you never take. Sounds like you remained safe and secure standing on the sidelines watching the others take chances.
The hazmat team started with Brezler and his boy See (Captain Sunshine) when he was at station 2. Brezlers gone and See aint got long. Take the Haz Mat truck when you leave because we dont want it.
6:36 You scare me. The comment above yours, the one you write a sarcastic comment on, states just the opposite of what you read and/or comprehended. If you're on the fire department's hazmat team, I suddenly feel less safe.
The $17,000.00 is only 10% of the overall cost to ALL Maryland Taxpayers. That's right, the trailer actually costs $170,000.00. WTF! The grant only requires the City taxpayers to come up with 10%. You people are so stupid that you'll actually fall for a trailer costing $170,000.00!
And for what? You have a Hazmat truck already. Oh, that's right, it's not painted like the new black and reds out there.
You guys are clueless just how fast the citizens are growing tired of your BS spending! You may be laughing now but one thing I can assure you of is the fact that it will soon be over for you.
Anonymous said...
I have before and always will dilute small gasoline spills with water. Gasoline will evaporate quite quickly and most times dont have to worry. So before you HazMat freaks get crazy with your pads, get some common sense. Its just gasoline and they have been diluting it for years.
10:07 PM
I agree with Anon 10:07 PM. Anyone with half an education in emergency services knows that it is better to let gasoline evaporate or burn off instead of putting it out.
that little trailer should be able to be pulled by their command why buy another truck.Another waste of money on a vehicle that is totally unnecessary when they have a vehicle to pull it.
Poo Poo...please remember to wash your hands when they need to be washed.
Your wrong about many things. There are still many people who train and prepare for hazmat. There are quite a number of paid guys who remain Technicians and ALL are at least Operations. Cant have a job and not have at least Ops. Goes for vols as well. There are a number of vols who are techs and all are supposed to have Ops as well or not supposed to be able to ride on any calls. Numerous vol officers are still techs and still respond when needed and continue to take needed classes.
As someone else stated, go ahead and "dilute" gasoline and see where the fines end for that one; what a dumb comment. Must come from an ignorant person as MDE would have your behind should they find that out. This aint your grand dad's FD anymmore there dummy. It doesnt work that way anymore.
The SFD hazmat/spec ops team has responded on numerous calls both in the district and out. They've gone to Cambridge and assisted them a number of times. Been to Seaford, Hurlock, Parsonsburg, Vienna, Mardela, here in Salisbury, and most prominently; the Katrina disaster where that group worked very long hard hours and represented the city of Salisbury very well. The mayor of the town they helped (cant remember??) was certainly happy to have them and appreciated the help.
Merritt is gone (shame)and he was big into it. He and the Rat went to many places for training and brought alot back. Those guys knew their stuff. Rat isnt involved as much anymore but if you talk to him about it, you find he's forgotton more than most of us knew in the first place. He instructs hazmat and if your in one of his classes, you can see he knows it pretty well.
The trailer is expensive, no doubt. But that (unfortunately) is what anything "hazmat" costs. Heck, anything that says fire costs twice as much as anything else. It isnt just a hazmat trailer either. It will hold other tools for other disciplines.
Folks in this city should be PROUD of the work many of their firefighters do. There arent a ton of cities that have hazmat, rope rescue, high angle, trench, confined space, dive/marine operations along with EMS and fire suppression in such a small department. There are even a few like Tull, Rat, and Jester that have some building collapse training.
So Joe, you keep calling the SFD idiots and that is offensive to them. If you dont like See and Gordy, that's fine. They were told to attempt to get some grant money. And yes, that's kinda dumb to say it isnt taxpayer money cause it is. They must have been able to get it and now your griping because they've gotten it?? As you say; WTF??
Do you want the protection or not? If there was an incident and they couldnt handle it, you'd gripe about that too, so what do you want them to do?
Also remember this; Any Chief makes a budget. That budget reflects the things he/she needs to operate on a daily basis as well as (if their smart) what they may need for the future. Its up to the council and the mayor to approve or cut funding. The chief has NO control over what they approve or deny. So, if you have a problem, your gripe should be there, NOT with whoever is the chief. He/she doesnt get to make the final decision on what he/she gets to have for funds.
The economy isnt the greatest and that will play in whatever decisions are made about this possible new rig. But the city told them to go get grant money; they did evidently.
Wont argue about extra money needed, but look at the money it could save as if SFD doesnt get it, some other FD will. And hazmat can be billed for, so money can be recouped through that process.
Not trying to argue with points made, but just wanted to point out some things that werent entirely factual in your original post.
And to the whoever it was that said you didnt want the hazmat truck, that's ok. If you want to get rid of it, that's one less thing we have to worry about. Just dont complain when it's your property that is threatened by something and the tools arent there to use.
SFD "Farmin"
Anon 11:17 PM,
Ho Hum, yawn, boring. Yes you are nothing but a Farmin and you are useless to the taxpayers of this city. Why don't you go buh bye with bubba comegys!
anonymous 11:17,
Thank you for making yet another good point for us. While you're playing around with OUR equipment in other Counties and States you actually have the nerve to brag about it.
I knew none of you would be man enough to use your names when defending this other scam on the taxpayers. It's a SCAM, period.
Let me close with this. I know this has NOTHING to do with the Firefighters. This Post is not intended to go after any of the Firefighters at all. It's the Department Heads that are out of control.
Oh, let me add this. God Forbid Salisbury allow someone to come here to help us out, right?
In the rare situation, (which has never happened before) we do have a Hazmat situation, after all the Deputy Chief has done to GIVE AWAY non surplus items to ALL of the local Fire Departments throughout the tri state area, don't you think they could help you out by bringing in their Hazmat equipment and special trained people to clean up the problem?
Nah, not Salisbury. This is EXACTLY why none of you know what the meaning of BROTHERHOOD is. You're selfish and the Department Heads need to go. Thank God Chief See will be out of here at the end of the month.
Anon 11:30 pm
So the "farmin" is useless to the taxpayers of this city.
I sincerely hope you never ever need the services of the fire department for whatever reason. As a matter of fact if you ever do, I hope the "farmin" stay home.
I'm not selfish about anything. If Salisbury needed help, I'd be happy to have the county guys help in any way. SFD cant do it all by itself. I think a county team would be good, but lawyers seem to keep that from happening for some reason.
And this "farmin" would not stay home as the one poster suggested. Appreciate the support, but that's not what were hear for. Who's emergency it is doesnt matter, we go because they call and they need help. The name on the mailbox doesnt and shouldnt ever matter.
And youre still wrong about hazmat. MAJOR spill of gasoline tanker back when Paul Jones was still active. Major tank farm fire back in 70's, just to name 2. Hundreds of "white powder" calls after 9/11. May have all been hoaxes, but still required same training and precautions as if they were real.
Hazmat is as much about being prepared as it is doing job. Look at what travels through Salisbury everyday on water, rail, and road. If a railcar with chlorine in it (comes through all the time) were to derail and "rupture", if SFD wasnt prepared, you'd want to sue them for being unprepared. Again, not arguing but stating truth.
Maybe you dont aim your rants at the firefighters, but what you say (calling them selfish and idiots etc) isnt going to make you any friends either. You say your not after the "farmin", but you sure let others make poor comments about them. Again, not arguing, but just reread these posts. Nuff said.
For the most part, your point with this article is valid.
What is so frustrating about you is your know-it-all attitude about the fire service. Do they need this trailer? Probably not. But then you go and say stupid things like, "There hasn't been a HAZMAT incident in 20 years..." Uh, I believe there was one just last week at SU?
For someone so smart, you can be so dumb.
By the way, Worcester County used their HAZMAT trailer to mitigate an incident from an accident (it wasn't a tanker of oil into the bay, OMG it must not be serious by your standards!) as reported right here on SBYNEWS (except you missed the HAZMAT part...)! Those very incidents are exactly what HAZMAT units are for. Too bad your more to come never came, but it looks like it'll be on FITH shortly.
Come on Joe, admit where you're wrong. When you don't, you alienate readers. People LOATHE people who spout off on something they really don't know about, but that's your biggest flaw. Man up and figure it out.
And a third note, I am not saying anything about your criticism about the cost, but your arrogant criticism that there is no need of a HAZMAT trailer in the AREA in general is where you're blatantly wrong.
SFD , my heros , bunch of want to be heros. Every since 911 the guys think they are GOD. Get over it ,
come down to earth . It's a job.
My father-in-law was a lifer in the fire dept.. He never did a thing but sleep most of the time and get paid for watching tv and playing cards etc. Go put your fires out. Leave the hazmat up to the contractors you idiots.
You boys are full of yourself. Called to Vienna, Cambridge,Willards and Louisiana. Well you weren't want in Louisiana and told to return home. Gordo kept going, becaus his buddy in the oil business called him. His buddy aint FEMA. You just did what you wanted and paid the price over the years since. Willards was a hoax with carpet c;eaner in the mailboxes. Cambridge was goose poop falling from the sky. They sent you home when your leader came into a hot zone and used his finger to test a product. Vieena was rainwater in a discarded drum. What dangers you face everyday. I challenge you to name ten people who are active on this team. I would give you a week to get a team together for a legitimate HazMat call and you would struggle to get them. The only division of your Spec Ops crew that does anything is the dive section. They are needed and can get a crew quick. I'll give you that much. High angle rescue. You tried that once and the pirate hung himself. If Jester aint there you can't tie a square not, so dont even try that group. My vote is to keep the dive team and scrap the rest. At least they can show proficiency and a need for their existance. HazMat, no way.
The entire hazmat party in salisbury is about money. They started it to get alot of money from the county. The intent was to have members from the county volunteers units on the team with salisbury. They stopped taht when they found out they wouldn't get as much money. They dont allow anybody but salisbury people on the team. I say let parsonsburg have the team and give them the money since it goes all over the county.At least they are interested and can get enough people. Fire companies dont like salisbury because of their greedy,arrogant way of doing things. All they want to do is control everything and grab the money.
Its not just the money they get from the county. How about the thousands they can bill for the incident. The MDE does the real work and Salisbury collects for whatever it is they claim to do.
Joe, I think you need to get a bigger vision of what the emergency responders are suppose to do. Remember, man without vision shall parish.
First of all, after 9/11, many mandates came from the federal and state governments to all fire departments and first responders to have certain things (just in case) Sometimes we as your local fire department don't have a choice in what mandates we are given. Most of the time it's up to us to fund what we are called by the new regulations to have. Every year the rules and regulations, the requirements and mandates are more and more, with stricter penalties and greater oversight. Fire departments all over, no matter how big or small are being required to comply, or else we'll have our funding stopped. The funding that is our life blood to keep operating.
When I was in the Navy, I understood the level of oversight and micromanagement. I didn't always like it, but none the less respected it. It's much harder to understand when I view this from the point of a small volunteer department.
Fire companies do not keep equipment for what happened yesterday. They have to have a vision about what hazzards are in there area, and plan accordingly to have the right tools and equipment for the "what if".
You made a comment that Salisbury shouldn't have the hazmat trailer becauce of the brotherhood, they can get the help from surrounding communities, but when they themselves go help surrounding communities, you say that they shouldn't. You mocked them for helping the cities and town that they have helped. The paid staff at Salisbury would be able to have the up to date training, and actually remember how to operate the equipment than surrounding towns would. They do this for a living. The volunteers in the surrounding towns don't train one fouth as much and when you don't use it, you lose it. I've been trained in hazmat operations, but that was years ago. Hate to say this but,I wouldn't remember much if there was a call today.
It is my opinion that Salisbury should be the leader in this area for hazmat. It is something that is real, and more and more of the things we use on a daily basis are carrying hazmat. Our light bulbs, batteries, test equipment, oil tanks, manufacturing plants, our farm and poultry facilities, fuel stations, our transportation system, it is all around us. I want the ability to contain and clean up this type of exposure as close to home as possible, by the nearest full time staffed department. I don't want to have to call Sharptown only to find out everyone is at work and it will be three hours until they respond.
Let's all take off the blinders and see the truth.
The fire boat? Now that's a joke. That will only be used during the boat parade in December.
Looks like more wasteful use of tax dollars to me. This fire department is going to break the City and probably the country.This will never end until the current leaders are removed. They obviously dont know there are difficult economic times going on.
Why can't the police department get these kind of grants for equiptment? Somebody isn't doing their job.
Don't worry about Sharptown...they have 4 members that are trained in confined space, structual collapse, trench rescue, and 2 that are high angle trained...& all are active on a Special Operations team. As a matter of fact by listening to the scanner over the years, they have responded to alot more "Special Operation" calls then the Salisbury team. They also have 4 Hazmat Technicians & numerous members trained in Hazmat Operations. 2 of those will always be in town because they work for the town itself. All have permission from their employers to respond to the "Team" calls. They also house a Decon trailer with members trained in its operation. Oh & yeah they had the first Dive Rescue Team in Wicomico County which is still in operation. Don't worry, Mardela, you won't have to wait long for help from your neighbors. As a matter of fact, Cambridge Fire Dept. runs a Hazmat Operations Team that works very well in Wicomico County...try them out one time you may find Cambridge will bring more trained people then equipment that is not needed unlike Salisbury that responds with a PAID engine crew, PAID chief officer, PAID EMS crew, & the Hazmat truck. Talking about a waste of money & resources that should be protecting the taxpayers of the City of Salisbury!!
Sounds like somebody from Sharptown is upset cause Pasonsburg got mentioned and they did'nt....Talk about a waste of money...How many calls does Sharptown run in Wicomico county Of the 75 calls you run a year? Not very many of them. Usually cant get an ambulance out for a call in Sharptown, but can certanily get one out to go to Laurel. You guys crack me up....
i think the meaning of the issue brought up has been put to the wayside with grudges being fought in the field of anonymous. yes i myself post anonymous due to the controversy within the fire service you would have for using your name on this website. her are my points.
1. Yes parsonsburg does have a trailer and even they have a hard time picturing how to get it out. The spec ops cap is never in parsonsburg and is always at least and hour or two away. The repsonders that would get it out have no training with it. They would be great for a grain rescue but not a HazMat. They dont have enough qualified individual to run and mitigate a spec ops call.
2. Yes salisbury has a HazMat truck. it is a piece of junk. whether its replaced with a $170,000 piece is where the questions arise no doubt but the crews within salisbury can get it out and at least begin mitigation of the problem.
3.Joe you said the issue wasnt with the firefighters just with the chiefs. well word your issues to how you mean them.
4.Whether you feel paid fireman are useful or not theyt are there and ready to serve. the volunteers sometimes lack what is to be desired. that is not derogatory its true.
like it or not thats my opionion
Anonymous said...
For the most part, your point with this article is valid.
"There hasn't been a HAZMAT incident in 20 years..." Uh, I believe there was one just last week at SU?
For someone so smart, you can be so dumb.
12:42 AM
Yes Salisbury University had a little spill and guess who cleaned it up? The contractors. The SFD is just that a fire department. Why waste valuable resources dupicating what a contractor does. They are paid to clean up fuel spills so let them do it. Who cares if Salisburys current hazmat truck is a piece of junk. It never gets used and the few times it does it starts up. WHOOPEE!!
I believe the true firefighters would rather have better pay.
a good used dually pick-up from a local out of work contractor/landscaper,etc. would pull it easy both times its needed.
all that money for the command vehicle and it didnt come with a hitch? if there is a haz mat situation, both items will be going to the scene,correct?
i think the dept needs to use the breathing apparatus more often as the fumes must be really starting to cook the brain cells
Joe,
I fully agree a new truck/trailer hazmat rig is a waste of money. However I disagree with the fact that salisbury hasn't had a hazmat incident in twenty years. Remember the overturned fuel oil truck on pemberton drive a couple years ago. Then the spill here at SU. You need to understand that by federal guidelines anything greater than a 25 gallon fuel spill is considered a hazmat incident. So potentially , a lot of mvcs could become hazmat spills. I'm currently a hazmat op's level responder here in salisbury and as soon as the class is offered in this area again, I will obtain tech level. Now before you get started, no we don't need any more than the pepsi truck to mitigate these incidents. But to say that we don't need a hazmat team at all shows your ignorance of the subject all together. The most dangerous trucks riding the road today as far as hazmat materials are concerned are UPS, Fedex, and DHL style companies. These vehicles carry hazardous materials everyday, but don't carry quantities that require a placard to let us know what's inside. Not to mention some chemicals are relatively safe until you introduce other chemicals, heat, and even water. Now lets look at our obvious hazmat hot spots in and around the city. The tank farms down on the wicomico river, the perdue grain plant on zion church rd, the number of businesses in the industrial park up north. Now I know that the grain plant is technically in Parsonsburg, but station 2 is the second due company. There are chemicals housed there in large enough quantities to devastate over a one mile diameter. Then just take a look at the placards on some of the tractor trailers that roll through salisbury everyday. Yes most of the rigs will display a placard letting you know it's a petroleum product I.E. gasoline, fuel oil or diesel. But I have seen cryogenic trailers, as well as some placards that when I looked them up in my erg, (emergency response guide) it made me quite nervous to see what the were. Everyone keeps saying let the contractors handle it. Good luck. The contractors you speak of will only come in for clean up. That's once the spill/leak have been contained and the danger level is almost 0. MDE doesn't mitigate hazardous incidents, they come in and investigate environmental impacts, as well as whether or not gross negligence lead to the said incident. Then they hand out the fines. So just to reiterate, I don't believe we need these new "toys", because essentially that's all they are. But as a firefighter in Salisbury the need to have up to date equipment and properly trained personnel is imperative.
Wildcat shows his true ignorance about all of this. The SFD is well aware that it has a shortage of people to handle calls; ALL calls. Hazmat or whatever. They know that help from the vols in the county would be a blessing and it would also be welcomed. HOWEVER, get your facts straight. The county has argued for a long time over the REQUIRED hazmant physicals. They are expensive and sorry bout your luck, but if you dont have one, your not spose to be doing this stuff. That's law, not Salisbury.
Also, where are your supporting facts about Pburg going ANYWHERE? You say they go all over the county but yet I cant remember ANY call they've been called out on to go and assist. That's not any dig toward the Pburg brothers, but please name where they've been "all over the county".
The anon person with no guts said that said the boys from SFD werent needed at any of all those incidents that the other guy mentioned is full of crap himself! Go ask the mayor of Slidell (that was the town they ended up helping) if he "needed" them. they worked for a number of DAYs before ANY FEMA team ever showed up. Like them or not, they earned their stripes there. And as for the other calls, they went as requested/dispatched and did the things they were supposed to do. How in the hell do you determine that an incident isnt an "emergency" or "real" unless you do what it takes to determine it isnt. The Vienna incident was a great example of how that team worked. I was there w/ Mardela and those guys came in and did like they shouldve. They staged, went to command, and worked within the scope of ICS. And the Rat was the ONLY guy there that had the training to HAZCAT the samples in order to prove the stuff wasnt dangerous. The only issue the entire incident was with that butthead Hitch, who showed his backside a time or two while there.
Times are tight and the amount of money here is certainly a lot and not sure I'd support that myself because of the times. But you fools dont know much about Hazmat/spec ops if you think that ANY pickup or command SUV is going to haul that trailer. Especially after its equipped. You have no clue.
I've talked with some of the higher ups on the team several times. Those guys would LOVE to have the county help and in truth, would be tickled if the county would take it over completely and then handle the logistics and the headaches such as personnel, training, money for equipment and so on, that go with it.
I am a county vol and cant think of to many chiefs that would really want it and the crap that goes along with it. Those that think they would will more than likely be begging someone else to handle it after they get it and have to deal with it long term.
Oh come on man I think the fire department needs a plane hehhhee
Come on man I want a plane!
Anonymous said...
a good used dually pick-up from a local out of work contractor/landscaper,etc. would pull it easy both times its needed.
all that money for the command vehicle and it didnt come with a hitch? if there is a haz mat situation, both items will be going to the scene,correct?
i think the dept needs to use the breathing apparatus more often as the fumes must be really starting to cook the brain cells
1:00 PM
The Salisbury Fire Department already has an F350 dually that can tow anything you put behind it. They also purchased 2 heavy duty F250 pickup trucks that they never ever drive. Why do the tax payer have to keep buying new toys for the Salisbury Fire Department? When will it ever end. Mr. Ireton are you paying attention?
Hey Anonymous 12:49, fire departments DON'T CLEAN UP HAZMAT INCIDENTS. DUH! They CONTAIN them and stop them from becoming worse until the contractor you're so fond of comes and cleans it up. Clean up contractors aren't available on a moments notice, and there isn't the option of just leaving a HAZMAT incident alone for extended periods of time because they have a tendency to GROW. If not contained immediately by EMERGENCY crews, a spill into a body of water will spread exponentially and contaminate a huge area. Yes, contractors clean up HAZMAT incidents but it is the emergency crews who contain and mitigate them!
Come on Joe, use your bandstand here and educate the masses on the truth and not the opinionated few. One idiot with a bullhorn is enough to overshadow the voice of reason. I'm very surprised the SFD doesn't have a trailer of this sort already?
I feel like I'd be more productive banging my head on a wall than trying to reason with people here.
Then the current hazmat vehicle should be located at the poo station WWTP and contain the poo before it gets to the river.
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