Meeting Report - Feb. 2019

LIEVT had the regular meeting West Islip Fire West Islip Fire Department on February 28, 2019. More than fifty members were in attendance. They enjoyed an excellent Italian dinner and dessert. At 8:04 PM the president, John Manetta opened the meeting with a pledge to the flag and a moment of silence for our departed members and the troops overseas.

Click read more here or below for the minutes, or click on the picture to see pictures from the meeting.

John asked Kit to read the minutes of the last meeting in Copiague on January 30. The minutes were read and approved. She read the letter of thanks to the Board of Fire Commissioners of the Copiague Fire District.

The president introduced our webmaster, Nate Berry of Fire Research. He told the members about how he added a link to the video from FDSOA about our departed vice-president, Danny Peluso to the January minutes report. He distributed information on a free horse handling and safety class for first responders. The classes will be held in March and April. He talked about the upgrades to the LIEVT website.

Our treasurer, Barbara Connelly and our Vice President, Tarren Kerns were not able to attend.

The president, John Manetta introduced Carl Haar of Liquid Spring Suspension. He talked about his personal history and the history of the company which started in the mining industry. Liquid Spring is an electronically controlled silicone based liquid medium shock absorption system which eliminates traditional shocks, springs and leaf springs. He mentioned that their biggest service issue is that fire chiefs hide the driver interface panel. They are concerned that the crew will mess with it. He explained the functions of the ON/OFF button which might be important if you want to shut the system off or if there was a problem with the system. Many times the height adjustment can be important. The system remains on for up to four hours after use to compensate for temperature changes. Carl did a system overview, reviewed calibration procedure, depressurizing the system, service intervals and some troubleshooting. They have just opened a location where they can do training at the factory in Lafayette, IN.

The president presented Lenny Marano with a chef’s hat and Commissioner Mike Mercurio with a certificate of appreciation. See the Gallery for images.

A raffle was held with generous donations from four companies. FRC donated a Crestlight, RVI gave a Cabernet Sauvignon, an Aerialscope tee shirt and three calendars, Hendrickson donated two winter caps and Liz from Coastal Fire Systems brought a pair of extrication gloves.

The next meeting will be on March 21 at the Holtsville Fire Department.