Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Engine 32 Capt. on July 1, 2008 at 9:15pm

I guess I misinterpreted your comment. My Bad.

Yes it is scary that politicians can dictate how people's lives are managed. You can bet your a** that if their house caught fire and you stood in the front yard 5-10 minutes or more waiting for the next truck things would get changed.

Beauracracy at it's finest.

Permalink Reply by Spanner 122 on July 1, 2008 at 9:44pm

haha... always. They live and dictate by their own experiences and pocketbooks, heaven forbid the many who live outside their perametres. That's why all we can do is Lobby and talk to whomever will listen. I'm a letter writer, I encourage everyone who cares about the state of their department to do the same.

Permalink Reply by Patrick on September 23, 2008 at 12:22am

I am kind of spoiled being in the Air Force. Our minimum manning is 4 per engine and 3 per crash truck,and 3 for our heavy rescue truck.

Permalink Reply by Kyle D. Hill on February 2, 2009 at 8:27pm

This is a great topic. It has recently become very important to my department. About 10 years ago we increased our staffing from 3 person engines to 4 person engines. Our truck companies have always been at least four persons. Today, we have 4 firefighters on all frontline suppression apparatus, but that could change. Currently, our city administrators, in their infinite wisdom, have decided that by dropping our engine companies back to 3 persons, they can save money. Fortunately for us, our contract has a minimum staffing agreement which would keep us at a specific number each day. However, if an arbitrator decided he knew more about firefighting than we do and decided to change our labor agreement, we could find ourselves taking a giant step backward.

Firefighters are an interesting breed where as we don't take no for an answer. We get the job done, even when it means risking our lives or worse, paying the ultimate price. We, like many in today's workforce, are continually being asked to do more with less. As firefighters, we get it done, but at what cost? Our line of duty deaths remains consistent over the years. Our equipment is better, shouldn't our duty deaths be getting fewer? Is it because we are being asked to do more than sometimes physically possible, or is it because we are willing to do more than is physically possible? When people depend on us, we get it done! City officials should not have the right to make our job MORE dangerous than it already is. It has taken the fire service over 100 years to come up with what we feel is a minimum standard. This has been done through YEARS of experience and through thousands of firefighter deaths. Now, a politician thinks that they can decide how many firefighters are enough. This is unacceptable!

It costs money to protect lives and property. I'm sure that no tax payer wants a firefighter to loose his life trying to save a home, but every taxpayer wants the firefighters to risk their lives to save a family member, and we will continue to do so, 24 hours a day. So when we tell our city administrators that we need certain resources, such as firefighters, the public needs to hear our requests as well. They also need to hear why their elected officials think that they can risk not having enough firefighters to effectively protect their constituents. Every fire company in the world should have no less than 4 firefighters on board when they roll up to a structure fire, paid or volunteer. It just makes good common sense. If one firefighter suffers a heart attack, or God forbid worse, due staff reductions, it is too many!

If there is anyone out there listening who has been through this scenario, please speak up! Post your comments. I want to hear your story. Honestely, I think the public is on our side, it's the city hall dwellers that feel cutting firefighters is worth the risk. I'll keep this group informed about how our situation develops. We need to band together and share information to keep our proud professionals safe. Lets not take "No" for an answer!

Permalink Reply by matt-man24 on March 1, 2009 at 1:33pm

NFPA 1710 recommends 4 man engine companies and 5 man truck crews with 4 to 5 min responses, some departments have been successful by tossing it on the table during contract negotiations

Permalink Reply by matt graves on August 23, 2010 at 10:36pm

I know this is a lil late since this post was in march lol but any way... My dept has fought the same thing for years now our min manning is now 16 per shift , thats 3 per company (5 stations) and 1 AC. five years ago min manning was 22 for us... PAC fund PAC fund PAC fund has helped us keep what we have now. Get politically active. Our dept, 5 years ago started our PAC and got two commisioners out of office that was anti fire and recently helped get our city manager out too. we are about to raise ours sooon we hope, back to 17 for starters... DIversify your dept, meaning HAZMAT and trench rescue and confined space... try to broadin your responce to justify you needing man power. We now have water rescue as well.... maybe this will help if its not too late and if you wanna know more then email me.

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