RACELAND, Ky. - Volunteer firefighters in the eastern Kentucky city of Raceland are blazing angry about a curfew at their fire hall.

The Independent in Ashland reported a number of fire brigade members came to a Tuesday night City Council meeting in Raceland, but council members took no action to lift the curfew they imposed a week ago.

The curfew prohibits anyone from being at the fire station after 11 p.m.

Councilman Tom Cumpton said council members were concerned there was "too much loafing" going on late at night and there were reports young people hung out there well beyond when they should be in bed.

Deputy Fire Chief Chuck Burks said the curfew hurts the department's morale.

Lt. Chris Wages said it interferes with equipment maintenance.
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Information from: The Independent, http://www.dailyindependent.com

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Daily Independent: Curfew angers firefighters

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Sorry to piss a few off....BUT, its none of the councils business what does and doesn't happen there...that's what Officers are for....and that's what we have SOP/SOG's for......For the amount of time many spend in both training and pulling calls a little time to chew the fat or shoot the shit doesn't hurt anyone at any damn time....Maybe a case of "Oh crap, there's the alarm...oops can't go its after 2300hours" would cure it (Not that anyone would go that far)...Or... sorry Chief can't train at 1900 hours...My family set a curfew for Fire Department activities...Lets get real folks....Paul
I have had to equipment maintenance from the time I got off of my day job till 7am the next morning. If there are members at the station that late at night it is because the equipment that needs to be fixed is NEEDED due to the lack of quality equipment. When people have a normal day job, that is usually the only time equipment can be fixed and fixed right. I dont think what they do at there firehouse is anybodys business as long as they are not doing anything illegal or is detrimental to the department.
If we are at the station that late at night and someone comes by they will usually stop and ask if we need anything. I have had people bring me food because I haven't been home to eat. They see that we are working on equipment and offer to help weld something or help change a flat on a truck . If you think that "Nothing good is going on after midnight" then I would seriously look at your members.Because it sounds like you have some members that cant be trusted .
amen brother
I know a lot of guys who do equipment maintenance at 1am, 2am, 3am or later. We have firefighters who are second shift workers and come to the fire station after 11pm to contribute the time they have available, because they're often not available when everyone else is there (7-11pm on weeknights).

When I was Chief of Training, I would often meet our chief at the firehouse after he got off work at 11pm or midnight. I work regular days (theoretically) and it was the only time we had to meet, work on plans and SOGs and conduct business. One advantage was that the station was either empty or very lightly populated at those hours, minimizing the disruption.
We as junior firefighters have a curfew in the firehouse on school nights (9 pm) but i kinda see it as an insult to impose one on adults... i mean if there were paid people who needed sleep that would be understood (and at my firehouse we wouldn't need a curfew for people to have basic respect for others) but as an entirely volunteer place where people do not sleep at the station its kinda silly... On weekends when the firefighters are there its just a place to hang out and get a little work done.. plus if we were to have a call everyone is right there ready to go.
Who said anything about Juniors?

They referred to them as "young people."

At my age, that's anyone under 30.

Stay safe. Train often.
Growing up in the fire "community" I used to hear words like 2nd home, 2nd family, brotherhood. These concepts are the very backbone of the fire service. Well at least the volunteer service. To many of these "young people" this is their home. A safe place for them to be a dedicated member of their community. Perhaps the city council would prefer them to hang out at the local 7-11 or somewhere more devious. It saddens me that these kids have found a constructive outlet and are now being turned away from it.
I too remember being at the house late at night hanging out.....learning important things like loyality, brotherhood, fire tactics, the big one stories. Yes there were times that we did something that the Chiefs may have frowned upon but in the end we learned something.
I am sure that there may have been complaints that spurred this action. We had disiplinary actions brought against us when we got too far out of hand. I don't think that a curfew is the answer. You never want to discourage kids from a positive outlet.
Be safe
Mike
Obviously a problem there with curfew issues. Makes sense to me. Jack, a Chief and officers should be handling this rather then the council.
It doesn't surprise me that things like this happen in Kentucky. I am wondering whether the department in question is a chapter 75 or a chapter 95 KRS department. I would seriously engourage all of the members to do a little research and educate themselves on KRS (Kentucky Revised Statutes) and which catergory they fall into. I fell really sorry for those dedicated firefighters that have to put up with this kind of thing. I had to deal with some of the same issues when I lived in Louisville. I got so fed up with it that I moved to florida. Good luck to this group of firefighters. Maybe we could all flood their city with letters and emails to help out.
Unless you have first-hand knowledge of the situation, I caution you on using words like "sure," "positive," and "guarantee."

They're words that are surely, positively, guaranteed to have the ability to come back to bite you.

Stay safe. Train often.
Where is the real story here.... loafing after hours? Come on, council makes policy because there must have been some claims or allegations from a victim(s) about something bad. Now I am not saying specifically here in this case but what I have seen in other departments who have the social club mentality... there has been alcohol in a firehouse, minors with access, or adults or minors with easy access to privacy with others??? All of which are unprofessional acts.

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