Walking past a neighborhood fire station can be one of the most deeply reassuring experiences of city life—a reminder that there are people in our midst ready to pull on their helmets and stride into danger whenever and where something goes wrong.
But as a recent Globe story reported, city records show that major fires are becoming vanishingly rare. In 1975, there were 417 of them. Last year, there were 40. That’s a decline of more than 90 percent. A city that was once a tinderbox of wooden houses has become—thanks to better building codes, automatic sprinkler systems, and more careful behavior—a much less vulnerable place.
As this has happened, however, the number of professional firefighters in Boston has dropped only slightly, from around 1,600 in the 1980s to just over 1,400 today. The cost of running the department, meanwhile, has increased by almost $43 million over the past decade, and currently stands at $185 million, or around 7.5 percent of the city’s total budget.
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Opps, truth hurts! Very good article.
ReplyDeleteDamn joe ease up on the FF, I hope there not looking over you one day.
ReplyDeleteSo, give them an ambulance to drive that has a jaws of life and a bag of speedy-dry! Oh, toss in a few road flares, and you have the whole magilla!
ReplyDeleteMaybe one has to do with the other(reduction in major fires due to significant FF presence?)
ReplyDeleteFire prevention is Firefighters job #1.
ReplyDeleteThere is no need for paid fire fighters in Salisbury. Just a waste of tax dollars just like the homo mayor and city council do. No leadership.
ReplyDeleteYou fooll this is not about Salisbury read the article it's about major cities in America
DeleteProof positive why Salisbury firemen chase ambulances. It's called job security and the city council and mayor are to stupid to realize it.
ReplyDeleteSalisbury is not Boston and fires still happen. The difference is the very large fires because of early detection and protective fire prevention devices like sprinklers. Its the fool that thinks that fires are extinct. Read the news from around the country and you'll see the Big Ones still happen everyday. Today an entire modern apartment building burned up in Frederick Maryland. Try telling the owner and multiple residents that fires are a thing of the past.
ReplyDelete"But while McChesney imagines firefighters “sitting around playing cards and brushing the dalmatian,” the truth is more complicated. Over the past several decades, firefighters have become all-purpose emergency service providers who respond to a wide range of situations that have nothing to do with fire. They deliver oxygen masks to people who are experiencing shortness of breath, revive people in cardiac arrest using automatic defibrillators, and administer CPR. They extricate people from car wrecks, deal with spills involving hazardous materials, and serve as a reassuring presence at accidents and crime scenes until an ambulance arrives and takes victims to the hospital."
ReplyDeleteThis entire excerpt is trying to justify why firefighters exist, but it is really defining why they are not needed. What it is say for a fact that if a citizen has to wait for an ambulance to arrive then the funding is directed to the wrong providers. Firefighters should be responding to fires and EMS should be responding to medical emergencies. If a fire crew has time to respond to ambulance calls then there really isn't a need for that many paid firemen. Invest that money wisely in more EMS personnel and ambulances. Focus your "fire" priorities more on a volunteer system.
This is almost right on the money. We need to reduce the number of paid firemen and increase the number of paid paramedics. That "cross trained" crap they come up with doesn't cut it with me.
ReplyDeletemaybe salisbury will takealesson. thanks sjd
ReplyDeleteTooooo many over paid heroes
ReplyDeleteA study was done in Salisbury around 10 years ago and stated that less than 5% of the fire department responses were actual fires.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteSalisbury is not Boston and fires still happen. The difference is the very large fires because of early detection and protective fire prevention devices like sprinklers. Its the fool that thinks that fires are extinct. Read the news from around the country and you'll see the Big Ones still happen everyday. Today an entire modern apartment building burned up in Frederick Maryland. Try telling the owner and multiple residents that fires are a thing of the past.
September 9, 2013 at 9:36 PM
This has nothing to do with fires being extinct. What it is saying is that only 5 percent of fire engine response is for fire so reduce the paid fire staffing and increase the EMS staffing. Better yet do away with all paid firemen in Salisbury and replace them with volunteers.
How blind is the city council , point the finger that way.
ReplyDeleteHead in the sand again , our representation in government is very bad from federal to the towns , an explosion of pissed people will is coming soon.
Let's "cross train" them over to the police department where they are needed, and park the fire engines until a fire happens.
ReplyDeleteIf an entire modern building burned up in Frederick, then the paid firemen didn't put it out any better than a volunteer fire company could have.
ReplyDeleteJim Ireton and Jake Day have you read this? Get a clue!
ReplyDeleteIf there are paid fire fighters and EMP with tax payer dollars, why did I get a bill for an ambulance ride?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteLet's "cross train" them over to the police department where they are needed, and park the fire engines until a fire happens.
September 10, 2013 at 6:10 AM
That is not a bad idea. Most if all homeowners insurance covers fire damage anyway.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteIf an entire modern building burned up in Frederick, then the paid firemen didn't put it out any better than a volunteer fire company could have.
September 10, 2013 at 6:42 AM
Huh??
Oh, God, nobody gets it. We are doomed.
ReplyDelete