Excellent article with an awesome graphic illustrating high-rise firefighting in the Journal News today (Thursday, October 19th 2006) And a fire service front page story.
Here's a link to the great graphic, a MUST view "Fighting High Rise Fires" drawn by Bill Beccera with input from fire officials:
http://www.lohud.com/assets/swf/BH456411019.SWF
And here's a link to the article itself:
As cities add skyscrapers, fire officials say planning is key to safety
I was glad to see that all the cities involved were at least considering adding staffing. According to Doc Kiernan, New Rochelle's even planning on going full time with Rescue 4, and re-opening a downtown company disbanded in 1976 and doing a strategic study. This comes a long way from a few years ago, when Engine 24 faced a shutdown and members faced layoffs. Very progressive.
Which brings me to thinking, New Rochelle, Yonkers, or White Plains don't have any "High Rise Units" like FDNY, that carry special equipment just for high rise firefighting to my knowledge. I wonder if things like these exist or are in the works, and if it would be reasonable for the developers to "donate" this apparatus or equipment.
