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IAFF President Rebukes Florida Representative Over "Junk" Comment
Business Wire
WASHINGTON - The International Association of Fire Fighters this week sent the following letter to U.S. Rep. John Mica (R-FL):
March 1, 2010
The Honorable John MicaRanking MemberCommittee on Transportation and InfrastructureU.S. House of RepresentativesWashington, DC 20515
Dear Representative Mica:
You were recently quoted as referring to a proposal to improve aircraft fire fighting standards as "junk." On behalf of the nation's nearly 300,000 professional fire fighters and emergency medical personnel, I am writing to express profound offense at your comments.
Airport fire fighters are committed to protecting the flying public, and are ready to put their lives on the line at a moment's notice. Current aircraft fire fighting standards make it impossible for fire fighters to conduct a timely, safe and effective response to an incident. Updating these antiquated safety standards to reflect the many changes in aircraft design and fire fighting protocols that have occurred over the past generation is necessary to adequately protect both the flying public and emergency responders.
Your dismissive comment referring to the courageous acts of the nation's fire fighters as "junk" is deeply offensive to the men and women who risk their lives in service to their community. While you have every right to disagree about the need to update an antiquated standard, you have no right to denigrate the work of true American heroes.
You owe them an apology.
Sincerely,
Harold A. SchaitbergerGeneral President
The International Association of Fire Fighters, headquartered in Washington, DC, is the leading advocate in North America for the safety and training of fire fighters and paramedics. The IAFF represents more than 297,000 full-time professional fire fighters and paramedics who protect communities in every state in the United States and throughout Canada. More information is available at www.iaff.org
Copyright 2010 Business Wire, Inc
March 4, 2010
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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I would love to read exactly what he said. The Honorable Congressman uses the word "junk" quite often about many subjects, so I would love to see in what context he was making this remark.
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Permalink Reply by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on
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I thought it was a great letter right up until the last three words.
Again; firefighters calling themselves "heroes" is self worshipping.
We need to quit that.
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Permalink Reply by Brian Mackie on
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Art, I heard the major manufacturers of SCBA are introducing their latest innovation in the near future. The new feature, still in it's testing stages, will have two (automatic and manual) methods, which will allow the wearer to pat themselves on the back by simply pushing the big red "hero" button. In the automatic mode, if the wearer does not press the button themselves, it gets activated automatically. This way, everyone can be a hero and won't have to proclaim it themselves. lol All kidding aside, I agree with you. The self worship (great term) should stop. It really does take away the significance of the REAL DEAL. It might sound like I am a little bit jealous because I am not a hero, nor do I ever want to be considered one. I would be grateful just to be able to be back at work. Nothing heroic about that either.
But I absolutely HATE hearing, or reading about the "big wigs" shitting on the services in any way shape or form. These over paid SOB's should be ashamed of themselves. Thinking that fire, ems, or law enforcement agencies are not important, ( by closing them down or not funding their needs appropriately etc) is disgusting.
More letters like the above need to be sent, more often. (just leave out the hero biscuit stuff lol)
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Honestly Brian?
I would rather be called a good son, a good brother, a good husband, a good father, a good firefighter,chief, trustee and a good friend.
THAT means more to me.
Schaitberger was making the point that a mere mortal man has no right to choose his words carelessly at the alter of America's true heroes.
Hey; but good letter otherwise for the other 300,000 "professionals".
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Art, firstly, in my mind.. you ARE a good man! I follow your comments (and those of a few other good guys and gals here) regularly and enjoy reading the stuff that really makes sense. I totally agree with you that I would also rather be considered good at something important that being called a hero for simply doing the job that I chose to do. It seriously does take away from the few times that a person really does deserve to be referred to as a hero, bein in the emergency services or otherwise.
In my opinion, being considered a "good firefighter" by your peers, is the ultimate compliment.
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Cole on
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AGREED 100% The "Hero" crap HAS to stop.
We know who we are and what we are
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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I agree somewhat with the term "hero" being self indulging, but the term is overused across the board, from the fire service to the military. Let's face it, this is a lobbying organization looking at securing funding for an important job and wishes to portray the firefighters in a positive light rather than "just another job" as many of us refer it to. Same thing can be said about the military, it is a job, but downplaying the actuality doesn't secure the funding controlled by politicians who really only understand sensationalism.
The media also loves to throw the term around quite loosely and may have contributed to a "wear factor" of the word. Firefighters battling the blaze are heroic.....until they take a rig shopping.
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