I was just thinking this just again today as for the fourth time I was out that day-- I live right down the street from FDNY Eng 76 L 22-- they were rushing out on another run.
In other words, EVERY TIME just about I leave the house and go on West 100th Street, I see these guys going out YET again ( to say nothing of seeing them even pop up on other streets and in one instance they had been called way out of their primary area).
I went in and asked a Fireman there, named Rocco, if they didn't have an unusually busy shop there.
He said" Unusually busy? No. Very busy, yes."
In other words, there are still FDNY Firehouses that are setting new records all the times for responses to every kind of emergency situation, from a simple pot boil over to an uncomfortably weird gas leak ...
Well, that's my two cents.
You will likely hate this, but you should read it anyway
Follow @STATter911
(Thanks to Eric Scruggs for sending this to STATter911.com.)
Many of you have heard this before. It will not be a surprise that yet another column has been written telling us that career firefighters are underworked and overpaid. This time it’s in a Toronto newspaper. But this writer picks on the very same issues we’ve seen from many others here in the U.S: the numbers of fires are down, pay and benefits are up, firefighters only work seven shifts a month and they get to sleep on the job. The only complaint we’ve heard more often than these is the usual bitching about your grocery store visits.
It’s easy to be defensive and to go on the attack against those saying these things about firefighters. But look at the comments section with Margaret Wente’s column. It isn’t just Wente’s opinion. As I write this, 460 people have voiced their thoughts, and my observation is the large majority seem to agree with Wente.
If you haven’t dealt with any of this in your community, at some point you probably will. Smart leaders, both in labor and management, should be working together and be proactive in trying to counteract the notion that firefighters are no longer providing a valuable service. Don’t wait until your local Margaret Wente goes on the attack. Every day you should find ways to help the community understand the realities of the job and the value of what firefighters provide.
Below is the IAFF response to Ms. Wente’s column:
IAFF May 19, 2015 letter to the Globe and Mail (as submitted by IAFF)To the editor:Margaret Wente is simply wrong on both assertions in her column Firefighters are underworked
and overpaid (May 19).She portrays firefighters’24-hour shifts as a “part-time job,” despite the fact that the 24-hour
shift amounts to a 42-hour workweek, which is 234 hours annually more than the typical
salaried worker. By the same token, firefighters’ hourly wages are lower than people tend to
think due to their longer workweek.The arbitration system has become a favourite target of some municipal leaders. Yet analysis in
Ontario and Saskatchewan for example shows arbitrated wage settlements closely mirror those
that are freely negotiated.Wente quotes the lamentations of Thorold, Ont. Mayor Ted Luciani, but neither mentions that
the recent Thorold firefighters’ arbitration award was a “consent award,” which means the city
freely agreed to its terms, including wages. It would seem a relevant fact in this case, wouldn’t
it?The recent Fraser Institute report on municipal fire departments that Wente relies on for many
of her conclusions is dubious to say the least; in 14 pages it cites no fewer than 10 disclaimers
about data limitations. The national statistics it relies on for the number of fires is missing data
from four provinces, and its conclusions on the number of municipal firefighters in Canada
cannot possibly be correct. It claims there are 14,000 full-time firefighters in Ontario, but the
Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal will confirm the number is just over 11,000.Like the Fraser Institute, Wente also ignores the fact that firefighters do a lot more than fight
fires, and that fires in today’s homes burn many times hotter and faster than they used to. This
is not an idea dreamed up by firefighters to scare people, it’s the conclusion of an independent
scientific analysis by Underwriter Laboratories titled Analysis of Changing Residential Fire
Dynamics.Ms. Wente falls into the trap of writing about the cost of fire protection and not the value of it.
Full-time firefighters are skilled professionals who are certified in numerous technical
disciplines including medical response, Haz-Mat and technical rescue. They respond to virtually
any emergency in minutes for less than $1 a day per household in most cities, based on an
average property assessment, and in the past 20 years, most cities’ fire department budgets
have not increased significantly as an overall percentage of municipal budgets.In Thorold, the average household pays 94 cents a day for fire protection, based on the city’s
own budget documents for 2015.If there’s one thing taxpayers expect their tax dollars to do, it’s protect their family and their
property. If municipal leaders like Thorold’s Ted Luciani don’t think 94 cents a day for lifesaving
emergency response is sustainable, it’s not firefighters who should be facing the tough
questions.This is the third time since 2013 that the Globe and Mail, through Wente, has used misleading
arguments and questionable data to try to impugn firefighters; never has anyone from the
paper attempted to contact us for our views on these matters let alone to clarify the many
misconceptions the paper obviously has about our profession.It is not befitting of a newspaper that strives to deliver “world-class opinion and debate.”Scott Marks
Assistant to the General President for Canadian Operations
International Association of Fire Fighters
(613) 567-8988
smarks@iaff.organdCarmen Santoro, President
Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association
(905) 681-7111
csantoro@opffa.org
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