11/23/25 Bronx Mutual Aide Box 6300

lfdlt31 said:
My question about unions and OT still stands. My question is why would a union care if FDNY is called for mutual aid RATHER then a further away company that is not mutual aid. I am not saying instead of calling in the OT guys. I am saying call the closer dept for mutual aid rather then a farther away one. If mutual aid is being called then the union shouldn't really have any opinion on where it comes from.

Yes I said closest units, and you raise a good point about calling across the border companies that are closer then a company from the "home" department. I feel like that is a caveat to the argument. If it is the same department that has some validity. If calling mutual aid the preference should be given to the closest depts. The chiefs in Nassau, and Westchester, and Jersey should also know that asking for one piece of apparatus doesn't work, they should know the fdny policy about if you ask for one you get "this"

One of the biggest questions in the NTSB inquiry into the LODD deaths in Newark on the ship was why it took so long to call the FDNY, and there was no good answer given that I heard.

I completely understand MV calling New Rochelle or Yonkers for help first, there is merit to calling the depts that have radio capabilities and similar SOP and all that. But when it starts getting farther and farther away like this incident calling the FDNY should be earlier on the list.

That's my opinion. I am not FDNY, or even close to NYC and honestly the region I do live in needs to be better at mutual aid, I understand "there is more to it" but that should be ironed out when its not "go time" through meetings with chiefs and admins.
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It's not just OT that the unions would have an issue with, it's safety and manning. In Westchester, just about every career firefighter has all of the county fireground frequencies in their portables. Every IC has access to the trunked system and just about any other channel they would need. The fact remains that the FDNY does not have that capability at this time. Westchester has been running mutual aid drills regularly ever since the FDNY drills ceased with every department that responded Sunday participating in them.

Additionally, many jobs have leveraged mutual aid and automatic aid to help keep their manpower up. My job fought for an additional FF's position per shift through mediation years ago. The basis was an increase in runs outside of our district. Some also have manpower tied to SAFER grants, which are expected to be available for mutual aid.

Your point about calling the closest department's is debatable. I get your point, but spreading the impact beyond neighboring departments helps minimize the impact to a degree. It's the same reason why the FDNY moves companies from other boroughs to relocate.

The only place I'm familiar with that seems to do it right is the Northern Virginia region (Fairfax/Arlington/Alexandria/Loudon etc) and they did it through joint SOP's and years of training and planning. We're a long way from that ever happening around here unfortunately.
 
The FDNY does have a Marine Battalion in service 24/7. They are most certainly going to put the brakes on any attempt to attack a serious ship fire with handlines and personnel.
 
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