I just received this in an email that is circulating. It is a reminder that no matter what we do, people and cameras are watching and asking the questions that we will be expected to answer.
It is just another reminder that every department must be prepared to handle the fire problems within their coverage area or be able to explain why they can't to the pubic when the stuff hits the fan.
It is also another reminder of the importance of every fire department preparing a Standards of Response Coverage that is signed off on by the elected officials of their community so that everyone understands the strenghts and the weaknesses of the agency service delivery capabilities before the press broadcasts them to the world.
Where the elected officials in this jurisdiction, or the senior managers of the airport in this case, been made aware of the need for the proper equipment to do this job? Can the department document those requests and the response to them?
Stay safe and be smart

The lead for the story is below as is the tag for the website so you can see the story first hand:
How prepared is the airport fire department?
How prepared is the Airport Fire Department?
Firefighters stood around watching a fire burn cars at an airport parking ramp for 33 minutes.
As a result of our investigation, airport staff is reviewing what happened.

The link to the news story is below. You can copy and paste it to your browser
http://kstp.com/article/stories/S393248.shtml?cat=5