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Anotherslap to the face of the Windom Minnesota Fire Dept
Below is a Letter to the editor written by a Windom firefighter. Please read and try not to become enraged as I did. We( The Jackson Fire Dept) support our brothers up there in Windom FULLY ! and I feel this needed to be shared on here.
"The city of Windom recently suffered the loss of one of it's oldest> citizens, John Moede Sr., one that had served on the Windom Fire> Department for 50 plus years. Because of his dedication on the fire> department, the usual practice is an escort by a fire truck to the final> resting place. Once again, Windom's leadership has proven that> dedication means very little as it first denied the families request to> have a fire truck escort. Upon further discussion, Dan Ortman was able> to> convince the city administrator and mayor to allow it, but the family> would be charged a fee of $50. Windom has now had another first...the> first time in 124 years it has charged a family of a retired volunteer> fire fighter a fee to show it's final appreciation of years of service.> The current Windom Fire Fighters paid the $50 fee in respect to the> family> and recognizing the dedication of this retired fireman."
"The city of Windom recently suffered the loss of one of it's oldest> citizens, John Moede Sr., one that had served on the Windom Fire> Department for 50 plus years. Because of his dedication on the fire> department, the usual practice is an escort by a fire truck to the final> resting place. Once again, Windom's leadership has proven that> dedication means very little as it first denied the families request to> have a fire truck escort. Upon further discussion, Dan Ortman was able> to> convince the city administrator and mayor to allow it, but the family> would be charged a fee of $50. Windom has now had another first...the> first time in 124 years it has charged a family of a retired volunteer> fire fighter a fee to show it's final appreciation of years of service.> The current Windom Fire Fighters paid the $50 fee in respect to the> family> and recognizing the dedication of this retired fireman."
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by blair4630 on
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IF that's the whole story, as their are almost always 2 sides...then that's absolutely absurd and disgusting.
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Permalink Reply by Smoke Eater on
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As previously stated, we don't know if this is the whole story. I would really hope not. This is rediculous to say the least. This man dedicated 50+ yrs. of his life to this dept. and the leadership wants to charge the family a dollar for every year of service? (That's the way it seems.) Hell, we retired a unit number for a man who dedicated 46 yrs. on our dept. and passed away in 2005. Plus he was given the firefighter's funeral.
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Permalink Reply by Galen McCarthy "CURBY" on
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I can assure all of you this is the only side to this. The Windom city councel has not shown any support for their fire dept. I earlier had put up the story about how the city councel wanted their fire chief to be fire for allowing a fire dept member to take pictures of his wedding day on a truck. That ened up pnly with a short suspension. What is also enraging to me is the fact that there are two firefighters on Windoms dept that did not stand up for their chief. We had a group of firefighters that went up to the city meeting the night they were going to try to remove their chief. There were several depts that should up in support.
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Permalink Reply by Rich Garrett on
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This is a sad example of what we all deal with on a regular basis. Especially those of us that are associated with a municipality. The sad truth of the matter is that if this is like my department, the city veiws them as an afterthought. They expect us to be there when they call, but they refuse to help out with budgeting or staffing concerns because unlike the police the fire department does not make the city money. I am very pleased to see that our brothers did the right and honorable thing and took care of the fee for the family. I wouldhope that if any of us were placed into this situation we could hold our heads high and do the same.
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Oh, I remember that thread. This is the same city council and dept.? God, they suck.
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Permalink Reply by Joe Stoltz on
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At least the city "fathers" were able to be convinced to allow the escort. The $50 was probably to cover the cost of fuel for the truck. You wouldn't want the city to give anything away for free, would you?
Another thought - in these days of increasing political correctness, the city administration might not want to establish a precedent. For example, FF Moede had 50 years of service, but is there a minimum length of service that entitles a retiree a last escort with a piece? Is 25 years enough? How about this member, or that member? How much dedication is required, and who decides it?
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