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Saturday, January 28, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012, our neighbor, Tappan Zee High School hosted the Rockland County Wrestling Tournament. Three of our members are involved with this sport. Seniors Dan Wanamaker, Pete Byrne and Junior Sergei Meyer. Danny and Sergei competed and finished respectfully. Pete Byrne assisted with the clock as his injury prevented him from competing . And our life member and true fan of all TZ sports, Joey Craft, was there cheering on our members and all the TZ wrestlers. TZ as a team finished second and had four county champions. Congratulations to Danny, Sergei, Pete and Joey. We applaud your service to our community along with your commitment and dedication.
Friday, January 27, 2012
An Ex-chief of the Orangeburg Volunteer Fire Department, Owen Duffy, has been recognized as "Firefighter of the Year" for his new fire department upstate. Owen comes from a family that truly believes in giving back to the community. Every member of Owen's immediate family Thursday, January 26, 2012
On Wednesday evening, January 25, 2012, the volunteers were summoned to Lowes on Route 303. When 11-2,
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Just past 11PM on Saturday evening, January 21st, the volunteers were dispatched for a car fire at the Getty Station at the corner of Route 303 and South Greenbush Road. While en-route Control advised 11-3 Pete Byrne that the vehicle was in the stations parking lot with smoke coming from the dashboard area. Control also advised 11-3 that they were getting multiple calls for this incident. Once on the scene Asst. Chief Byrne directed the 11-2000, driven by Ex-Chief Ken Gordon, to approach the scene by South Greenbush Road, thus keeping apparatus off Route 303. The 11-EQ, driven by Lt Brett Wolowitz, was directed into the stations parking lot to stage.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
The volunteers were summoned to the Palisades Interstate Parkway for a vehicle leaking fuel. After establishing Command 11-1 Chris Jackson directed the first due engine, the 11-2000, driven by Ex-chief Hugh Duffy, to get on the PIP at Exit 5 and head northbound. The Chief gave a size up indicating two vehicles involved in the accident with one experiencing a fuel leak. Once on the scene Captain John Ahlf directed his crew to first contain the fluids in the roadway, stabilize the vehicle and then disconnect the battery.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Photo's are of Stephen and Carl receiving their certificates from Mike Healy (Training Coordinator for Rockland County Fire Training Center), Frank Bifulco (Instructor), Les Greenwood (State Fire), Orangeburg's 1st Assistant Chief Neil Lynady, and Orangeburg's Captain John Ahlf. Captain Ahlf is an Ex-chief of Orangeburg and a proud father of Carl Ahlf. Carl is the third generation of firefighters from the Ahlf family. Saturday, November 26, 2011
Thank you to our friends and Neighbors for coming out and supporting your parade. It looked like everyone had a great time and we appreciate your support as we do this for you and your families. We had some special guests again this year: Santa, Mrs. Clause and their elves showed up to the amazement of the children. We thank them for taking the time out of their busy schedule for the Orangeburg Volunteer Fire Department. We look forward to having you all at next year’s parade. A special thanks to all the fire companies that come out to share in this great event. Congratulations to the 1st Annual Orangeburg Fire District Parade winners. 1st Place Apparatus Sparkill (Dept 16), 2nd Place Apparatus Congers (Dept. 3), Non Fire truck Tappan & Pearl River (excelsior), Presidents Trophy Sloatsburg (Dept 15), Chiefs Trophy Mahwah (Company 3)
Friday, November 11, 2011
On Thursday morning, November 10, 2011, 44 Control recevied a call from Chromalloy Research that an"industrial machine" was burning inside their plant. While en-route 11-1 Chris Jackson was advised by Control that the caller stated there was working fire and the plant was being evacuated. A Chromalloy supervisor would meet the Chief on the Southside of the building.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
A Noreaster hit Rockland on Saturday afternoon, October 29th. At the beginning of the storm our volunteers were sent to Orangeburg Road and Old Orangeburg Road intersection for a head on collision. First on the scene 11-3, Pete Byrne, advised incoming units that it was a two car collision with one seriously injured. Byrne also requested EMS to expedite their response as well intentioned civilians were handing the patient.
The volunteers assisted our friends from EMS in removing the patient from his car to a waiting ambulance. Both drivers were taken to the hospital. The storm ended with the volunteers responding to a report of an explosion at Tappan Zee High School. In between the volunteers went out many times for wires and tress down. The explosion was a utility pole splitting in half on Dutch Hill road by Parkway Drive South. This knocked out power to the Orangetown Police, the Orangeburg Firehouse, and Tappan Zee High School along with many residences. Throughout the storm all three chiefs responded along with all of our apparatus. Wednesday, October 19, 2011
11-3 Pete Byrne Friday, October 14, 2011
The Orangeburg Volunteers were called to Aluf Plastics a little after 11 PM on Thursday, September 22, 2011. An eighteen wheeler making a delivery misjudged a guardrail and sliced open the fuel tank. Unfortunately the
11-1 Chief Chris jackson Friday, September 09, 2011
 On Friday evening, September 9, 2011, the Rockland County Volunteer Firemen's Association held their 99th Annual Convention. At the convention two of our volunteers were honored. Joe Craft, Life Member, received a plaque and several certificates marking his 50 years of membership in the RCVFA. These awards were presented to Joe by President Frank Voce and County Legislator Connie Cocker. Good job Joe and thank you for the many years of service to your community and to your neighbors!
A second recognition was for Brendan Fridhandler. Brendan along with fellow dispatcher Troy Spong were instrumental in saving the lives of several people in a New City house fire earlier this year. Brendan had taken the initial 911 call at 44 Control from a young lady who was trapped with her entire family. Realizing time was going to be a huge factor Brendan had fellow dispatcher Troy Spong start communicating with the young lady while Brendan started communicating with the responding fire department. Working as a team the dispatchers were able to communicate timely and efficient facts to the trapped family and the responding firefighters. In the end all trapped people were rescued by the New City firefighters. Brendan and Troy had previously been recognized for their efforts by the New City Fire Department and the Rockland County Fire Chiefs Association. Good job guys!!! Sunday, July 31, 2011
Friday, July 08, 2011
Early Friday afternoon on July 8, 2001, the volunteers were called to the Holiday Inn on Kings Highway. The buildings automatic alarm had signaled that there was a problem. First on the scene was the Orangetown Fire Inspector (Ex-chief from Pearl River) Doug Sampath. Doug entered the building and noticed a heavy smoke condition on the second floor.
Inspector Sampath passed this information to Captain John Ahlf the officer of the to the first due apparatus on the 11-1750. Captain Ahlf immediately called mutual aid from Sparkill for their RIT and Tappan for an Engine. Our crew from the 1750 entered the building and proceeded to the second floor while our crew from the 11-Tower went to the roof. The Roof Division found a work area above the area where the smoke was entering the 2nd floor. The crew on the roof located an area that was burning underneath the roof membrane. This is a very dangerous situation as the fire can literally run underneath the roofing material. Our crews were aware of this situation as we have encountered this type of fire previously at Aluf Plastics several years ago. A cut of the roof material prevented the fire from extending beyond its point of origin. The cooperation of Holiday Inn's management helped keep this fire relatively small and limited any future potential problem. A complete search of the wing was conducted and all visitors were evacuated. No injuries were reported even though the temperatures were around 90. Units on the scene
11-3 Pete Byrne
11-1750
11-Tower
Sparkill VFD (RIT)
Tappan VFD (Engine)
Blauvelt VFD (AMA for any additional alarms in Orangeburg's District)
South Orangetown Ambulance Corps
Orangetown Police Department
Deputy Fire Coordinator 44-5 George Drescher
Sunday, July 03, 2011
 On Wednesday morning, June 29, 2011, passerby's started calling in to 911 a heavy black smoke coming from the building located at 573 Western Highway in Tappan. First on the scene and the Incident Commander was Tappan's Assistant Chief Mike Healey. Chief Healey immediately called for Orangeburg's Tower and Sparkill's Fire Department's RIT - also known as a FAST.
Orangeburg went to the south side of the huge complex which became known as Division 3 during the event. One team of volunteers laddered the roof and performed roof operations while our second team entered the structure searching for victims and the fire. Our roof team performed vertical ventilation by removing skylights and extinguished the fire extension above the actual fire in the northeast corner, or the 1-2 corner. The interior crew assisted with the extinguishment of the main body of fire and then performed a secondary search of the office area. This call was extremely dangerous for the volunteers as we were dealing with various amounts of unknown chemicals. At first, Command kept everyone back from the building as the main electrical lines feeding the complex had been compromised. 21 Command, Mike Healey, did an excellent job on controlling a serious situation. The fire is under investigation with Orangetown's Fire Inspectors and the Rockland County BCI unit. Orangeburg Units at the scene - Assistant Chiefs 11-2 Neil Lynady, 11-3 Pete Byrne. The 11-Tower w/Captain Jonh Ahlf. Other departments at the scene - Tappan, Sparkill, Piermont, Blauvelt (RIT), Pearl River (RIT) and the Rockland County Hazardous Materials Team. The South Orangetown Ambulance Corp was joined by many different ambulance corps. These crews were available for any injuries and performed rehab for our volunteers Friday, June 24, 2011
Fire in the wall causes evacuation of local pizzeria.Around 2:30 in the afternoon our volunteers were dispatched to Town Plaza 2 at the corner of Mountainview and Rte 303. The original call was for smoke in the wall. The volunteers quickly located and extinguished a small fire in an interior wall. The 11-2000 crew stretched a 1 3/4 handline into the store and the 11-Tower had a crew on the roof . As a precautionary measure Chief Chris Jackson had the Sparkill Fire Department respond to the scene with an engine and the Tappan volunteers came as a FAST. Blauvelt was put on AMA for all other calls in the Orangeburg Fire District. Thursday, June 23, 2011
On Wednesday evening, June 8th, the Orangeburg Fire District sponsored five members that graduated from the New York State Firefighter 1program. This program totaled 78 hours of combined live fire and classroom training. Robert Arroyo, Megan Bogosian, Emily Gunning, Jim Dickson, Dennis Samuel and MaryKate Albin joined 150 other graduates at the Theater at Rockland Community College for the ceremony. Dennis Samuel and Jim Dickson were graduates of the Fire Fighter II program. The graduates and their guests heard keynote speaker George Zayas, We congratulate and thank our graduates for stepping up and Wednesday, June 22, 2011
The parade started at the German Masonic Grounds located on Western Highway and proceeded down Washington Ave. to the Town Green by the Tappan Fire House. As always, the volunteers appreciate the invitation and we always receive a warm welcome from our friends in Tappan. We all feel that this small town community event is truly an American experience. Wednesday, June 22, 2011
 We could not have done the carnival this year without the cooperation of Dominican College and the Convent. These two entities have proven once again they are true partners with the volunteers and that they are a great asset to our community.
This year's carnival was successful and the families that attended had a great time. The weather was great, the rides were fantastic and the most important thing is the children were laughing and smiling. It was great to see all of our neighbors and friends.
Thank you for your support.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
On Monday evening May 23rd our volunteers headed once again to the Fire Training Center in Pomona. During the first heat wave of the year the volunteers trained on the techniques they would use in the event of a building collapse. While breathing air via their SCBAs the volunteers crawled over and under many obstacles to eventually reach the "trapped" firefighter. The "Collapse Simulator" is designed to replicate a residential collapse. Refrigerators and washing machines are just some the hazards the volunteers needed to overcome. Our friends from SOAC were on hand in the event of a true medical emergency and to perform "rehab" for the firefighters. The volunteers were back in Orangeburg around 11 PM - just in time to get some sleep and then to go to their "paying" job.
Monday, March 07, 2011
Once on the scene we realized there were two cars stranded on the east side, or the northbound lanes, of Route 303. The team on the 11-EQ, driven by Chief Engineer Ken Gordon, retrieved the stranded woman out of the first car from the Orangeburg Road side. Captain Ahlf, who entered the water with firefighter Brian Leonard, proceeded to the second car and confirmed a second person needing our assistance. The crew from the Tower, driven by Lt Brett Wolowitz, coming from the Mountainview Avenue side, rescued the woman trapped in this vehicle. Firefighters Anthony Puglia and Dan Albin entered the water from this end. As a precautionary measure Assistant Lynady, who was the Incident Commander, requested Piermont's Fire Departments' Dive Team to the scene. This team would act as a FAST Team to our members and then perform a secondary and more detailed search of the area. Pierrmont's divers were also able to assist in the removal of both vehicles from the water. South Orangetown Ambulance Corps was called to the scene to check both patients before releasing them. Units on scene 11-2 Neil Lynady 11-3 Pete Byrne 11-EQ 11-Tower OPD SOAC FD 13 Dive Team Sunday, March 06, 2011
The vendor provided the volunteers with an interactive class room presentation on the RIT system which included some real life experiences. The volunteers, officers and chiefs all asked key questions on the tactical usage of the system. At the conclusion of the presentation the volunteers were directed to line up behind the building to practice different "slides" on a custom built prop that was provided by the presenters.This four hour exercise ended with the volunteers coming away with a better understanding of the RIT system and with field knowledge and experience. Saturday, March 05, 2011
Quoted from the Chief of the Orangeburg Volunteer Fire Department, "Our first crew entered the warehouse and immediately encountered zero visibility with heavy smoke from floor to ceiling. As this crew went further into the warehouse to find the fire, the overhead door had shorted out and began to close, cutting off this crews escape route. As Assistant Chief Neil Lynady began to shout that the door was closing, Sgt Russo, along with two members of the fire service, ran to the door and held the heavy, chain driven door, open long enough for the four members to crawl under the door and to safety. I, along with the other members of the fire service, feel that without the quick actions and assistance of Sgt Russo the outcome would have been drastically different. We, the members of the Orangeburg Volunteer Fire Department, would like to at this time to formally recognize Sgt Russo and to present him this plaque of appreciation." Chris Jackson Thursday, January 13, 2011
 On Wednesday morning, January 12th, 2011 at 11:03 AM the volunteers from Orangeburg were summoned to 125 South Greenbush Road for an Automatic Alarm. While enroute, 11-2 Neil Lynady, was told by Orangetown Police that they were getting phone calls confirming a fire at this location.
125 South Greenbush Road is the old Volkswagon warehouse - approximately 340,000 square feet. The warehouse is now occupied by NicPak which manufacturer's alcohol based products such as handiwipes and baby wipes. |
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Neil Lynady, told 44 Control he was responding Control advised him that they had received a call from the store manager that a breaker box in the store was smoking. Asst Chief Lynady met the manager at the front door and proceeded into the store advising 11-3, Pete Byrne, to go around back. Asst. Chief Lynady advised Byrne that there was a working fire in the high voltage breaker panels in the loading dock area of the store and the store was filling with smoke. Asst. Chief Lynady directed Interior Operations while Asst. Chief Byrne handled Command. 
On Wednesday, October 19th, our volunteers were called to New City to assist in finding a women who had been missing since the day before. Upon dispatch we were told to report to the FD staging area which was located on Little Tor Road in the parking lot of the closed Pasta Cucina Restaurant. The volunteers were briefed on the situation and then were given specific areas or "grids" to search. In all over 90 volunteer fire fighters from 8 different departments came cut to help. Fortunately the missing woman was located and reunited with her very grateful family. Orangeburg had eleven volunteers respond to this call for help. 
driver had just filled the tank in Connecticut. First fire apparatus on the scene was the 11-2000 and it's crew applied speedy dry and adsorbent pads to prevent the diesel fuel from entering the storm drains. While the crew was handling this function Chief Chris Jackson called for the County's Hazardous Material Team to the scene. Approximately two hours later the scene was secured and turned over to the Orangetown Police who waited for the Spill Contractor to clean the site. 
The Volunteers from Orangeburg participated in neighboring Tappan's Memorial Day Parade and services. As in years past the volunteers provided the 11-Tower to display our large American Flag as a back drop to the ceremonies.
On two recent Sunday morning's the volunteers headed to the Fire Training Center in Pomona to sharpen their extrication skills. On both days the volunteers practiced on the JAWS. Two scenarios were established. Both involved a passenger vehicle underneath a tractor trailer. With the amount of trucks traveling Route 303 and Orangeburg Road this is a real possibility. Due to the dedication of the volunteers if the need ever does arise we will be prepared. Hopefullythough we will never need to prove it.
