Add a Comment

Comment by Coach on October 7, 2009 at 5:22pm

Point taken. The comment about not wanting out of the spotlight since 911 brings up a whole new ugly topic....are public safety personnel "heroes" for doing their jobs. I'll save that arguement, and pushing peoples buttons, for another day.

Comment by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on October 7, 2009 at 2:45pm

You know; this phenomenon that has swept our nation since 9/11 has also caused its share of problems.
Before 9/11, nobody wanted to be in the spotlight. We were all content with quietly going about our business, keeping to ourselves, honoring our lost brothers and sisters and making a difference every day without fanfare.
Since 9/11, nobody wants to be OUT of the spotlight. We get upset if a particular fire department or police department garners too much attention. We started believing what we were seeing on the TV and reading about us in the papers.
But the fact is that our society has become a nation of very short attention spans. We get our stuff in small bursts, we are easily distracted and we are almost numb to the killing that goes on with guns or in our cars, because we now practice "distracted driving" as well.
Tomorrow, it will be business as usual and we will be worried about a poor Christmas retail season.
I am content with my blog and staying in touch that way.
I don't want to connect because we lost multiple firefighters to a furniture store or a supermarket or wildfire.
I can deal with the "quiet".
TCSS.
Art

Comment by jared m snyder on October 6, 2009 at 10:52am

I did see one tidbit about the National Memorial this past weekend on our local news here in Utah. In 2007, Saratoga Springs, Utah Fire Chief Mike Penovich was killed in a car accident when he was returning from a state chief's mtg. He was honored this weekend at the National memorial. One of our Salt Lake City stations was gracious enough to do a tidbit on him and his honoring.... Kudos to KSL 5.... I was fortunate to know Chief Penovich when he was chief of the neighboring town of Cedar Fort. I was a member of the Saratoga Springs Fire Dept at the time. Mike was the head of our roads dept in Saratoga Springs... I had the opportunity to work with Mike on several calls throughout my stint there in Utah County. Chief, you keep a watch on us from up there and keep us safe. You are missed, brother.

Comment by Coach on October 5, 2009 at 10:02pm

Said my piece and moving on

Comment by WestPhilly on October 5, 2009 at 2:48pm

Fellas,
I don't know about the situation in Pittsburgh with respect to how firefighters are viewed compared to the police department, but I don't see even a little bit of a problem with the fans being asked to show support for the three police officers who were murdered three months ago this sunday.

What's going on around the nation to honor fallen firefighters is still happening. What's going on in Pittsburgh is specific to them and it just happens to involve police officers. There's a lot of injustice in the world, that's for sure, but marking the deaths of these officers - on our weekend! - doesn't even remotely qualify as such.

Comment by Coach on October 4, 2009 at 11:01pm

No arguement from me. Heard rumor that the expo may expand next year to include Police, and make it more of a Public Safety Expo event, as opposed to just Fire/Rescue/EMS. As a vendor, I have a hard time justifying the cost, given the low number (or so it appeared) of attendees. ALOT of talk among the vendors of how the show was so much better when it was held outside the City.

Comment by Fred Eppinger on October 4, 2009 at 10:48pm

Jeff, I do also that was a feeble attempt at being lighthearted. Police get the attention because their job is considered more dangerous than Firefighters. People see them with guns and batons and think their life is in peril 24 hrs a day. They think of Firefighters in a different manner. We know our job is just as dangerous, but to the average citizen it is not.
Fred

Comment by Coach on October 4, 2009 at 10:27pm

The Pittsburgh Fire Rescue EMS Expo was held in the City this weekend. I have not seen one news story covering the event, nor the National Firefighter Memorial, nor the local names added to the memorial. But the web sites for each of the local news media has prominately displayed the police memorial t-shirts. I disagree with it, but it is what it is.

Having said that, as I go to bed this evening, I shall say a prayer for the surviving families (and departments) of all of those from public safety, who have lost their lives in the Line of Duty. God Speed.

Comment by Fred Eppinger on October 4, 2009 at 8:58pm

Hey guys always remember 2 things, 10 more points on the test and they dould have been firefighters and we were created so they could have heroes. Straight from the pages of Facebook.

Comment by WestPhilly on October 3, 2009 at 12:07pm

Coach,
I mean no disrespect, but you can't be serious.