Well here we go again!!!The post about fire fighters is right on!Insurance rates are cheaper in Terrace than in Prince Rupert, with an auxillary department,and Prince Rupert is the only city in BC with a full time fire dept at a huge expense , we cannot afford.They are NO better than any other fire department in BC.Why do they take a ladder truck to a fender bender?And where was the ladder truck when we have had a large fire in PR?Out of town!!!Get real and quit patting your selves on the back!
Bullshit.
So MIIG you have checked this out?Before you make statements like this do what I did,and talk to an insurance broker!
We’ve gone through this before. Yes, I’ve checked it out (I’ve had house insurance in both Rupert & Terrace).
I’ve also posted the guidelines in an earlier thread for how insurance companies assess the fire risk. I’m sure someone can find that old thread.
Any less than 3 full-time firefighters on duty means an increase in rates.
You were wrong last time, and you’re still wrong. Here’s a link to the old thread.
Terrace has a better rating than PR,will post the quote on here next week ins co that has offices in both places(and I am not talking about Thornhill)
Rupert has a DPG of 1, which is the highest. So does Terrace.
Last time we discussed this: Fire dept
And the time before that (almost 3 years ago) when you brought up the same thing: Fire department in prince rupert
In the words of Earl Landgrebe, “Don’t confuse me with the facts. I have a closed mind.”
saltybear wrote:
And where was the ladder truck when we have had a large fire in PR?Out of town!!!
What fire are you talking about ?
Would fire services fall under your city property tax? What is the property tax rate in Prince Rupert? I found 14.37877 %. Is water metered in Rupert, and if not, could you consider it to be included in what you’re paying for?
I would be grateful for having a full-time fire department with nice equipment, rather than bashing it to save a few bucks. How much do you figure you would save a year on insurance if you had it your way? May I ask what you’re paying for insurance that is making you so upset?
For comparisons sake, I’ll pay $3696 in property tax this year unless they do a mid-year tax increase, which is common. Insurance wise, I think I’m at about 780 / yr after our 3 vehicle combined insurance discount. The reason I ask if water is included, is because my minimum bill a moth for water where I live is ~$90 bucks, but it’s commonly ~$120-260 a month with curbside recycling, garbage and waste water fees included.
If fire services and water has nothing to do with your property tax, than sorry for the input! You have an insurance rate to compare with though.
I just finished reading the blog/whatever of the initial post of this thread and had a good laugh. For the record, seconds do count… I’m not sure what that guys argument is, accidents happen, fires and vehicle accidents happen, and in my opinion, yes you should have fire suppression available at motor vehicle accidents when there is a risk of fire.
If the argument on this thread is that a ladder truck was used improperly, I fail to see the relevance. Would the ladder truck not be able to extinguish a vehicle fire? What if the other equipment was currently being used, maintained, blocked in by traffic, etc? Maybe they took a ladder truck to become familiar with it, practice, drills, equipment testing, whatever, it’s their job to save your lives and property and it sounds like they’re doing their jobs.
It sounded like the OP and Salty had a beef with insurance/tax prices, but there must be a deeper, biased hate towards fire fighters for one reason or another, especially if either of them agrees with that Toronto blog, which clearly has a negative view of fire fighters in any district. Am I wrong?
Obviously kispiox has never been on the receiving end of emergency care. I can tell you from first hand experience, not because I received medical care but because I’m a police officer and have been on numerous calls where a person was in desperate need of emergency care and guess who was first on scene, That’s right the firefighters ! If the Ambulance’s first car gets called out to a location where a person may have a broken arm, they tend to that person first even if another call comes in and the second car gets called out. The only problem is the second car isn’t manned, the attendants have to come from home whereas the firefighters are at the hall and on scene in no time. If the firefighters only go to one fire in ten years but on that call they save a persons life then they have paid for themselves a hundred times over. To all the people that whine about the fire department, stop being jealous and stop by and thank them for the job they do and always being there to help us.
Something occurred to me when reading your post. What if, while at a car accident, there is a fire in somebody’s home? It seems like a wise thing to bring their equipment with them so theyre prepared to react quickly.
The problem tax payers have here, is not what they do or how they do it but more with how many are paid to do it.
For example , in cities like Colwood or Langford there are 36-60 volunteers that are members of the first
responders working with a very small core of life long union firefighters.
[quote=“seaweed”]The problem tax payers have here, is not what they do or how they do it but more with how many are paid to do it.
For example , in cities like Colwood or Langford there are 36-60 volunteers that are members of the first
responders working with a very small core of life long union firefighters.[/quote]
Your question may have been answered in one of the previous discussions that was hyperlinked above.
"I haven’t looked at the numbers in a while but Rupert’s fire service costs roughly 2.1 million/ year while Terrace is about 1.5million / year. It’s a difference of about $600K / year but also a different level if service. There are really no guarantees with a volunteer based system as you may get 20 members showing up to one call and two or three to the next. Firefighting is labour intensive and time sensitive so in order to achieve desirable results you need to get firefighters to the scene quickly. One other difference between terrace and Rupert is that they have the ability to call Thornhill who can get 20+ volunteers there quickly. We don’t have that luxury here. "
“As for going volunteers, the city have been trying to get volunteers for years.”
" You know back when our Fire Dept. had auxiliary members, they’d start off with 5 at the beginning at year. At the end, they’d have maybe 1 left. Not enough “excitement” for them. The thing is, people aren’t willing to work for free, under the circumstances any more."
[quote=“Crazy Train”]
[quote=“seaweed”]The problem tax payers have here, is not what they do or how they do it but more with how many are paid to do it.
For example , in cities like Colwood or Langford there are 36-60 volunteers that are members of the first
responders working with a very small core of life long union firefighters.[/quote]
“As for going volunteers, the city have been trying to get volunteers for years.”
" You know back when our Fire Dept. had auxiliary members, they’d start off with 5 at the beginning at year. At the end, they’d have maybe 1 left. Not enough “excitement” for them. The thing is, people aren’t willing to work for free, under the circumstances any more."[/quote]
I find that hard to believe, given most other similar sized cities find volunteers, even tiny Port Edward.
I made my opinions known last time this topic was debated and I am not going to rehash them. But the tax payers of Prince Rupert should compare their tax loads and city payrolls to those of other small cities and decide if they are getting good value.
[quote=“crazy Horse”]
“As for going volunteers, the city have been trying to get volunteers for years.”
" You know back when our Fire Dept. had auxiliary members, they’d start off with 5 at the beginning at year. At the end, they’d have maybe 1 left. Not enough “excitement” for them. The thing is, people aren’t willing to work for free, under the circumstances any more."
I find that hard to believe, given most other similar sized cities find volunteers, even tiny Port Edward.
I made my opinions known last time this topic was debated and I am not going to rehash them. But the tax payers of Prince Rupert should compare their tax loads and city payrolls to those of other small cities and decide if they are getting good value.[/quote]
You reminded me of a recent local news item. It’s worth a look.
Even a turnout of 6 for a village of less than 600 isn’t bad. PR should be able to come up with 30-40, like other similar sized cities. If recruitment is really a big issue, then maybe they have to look at a pay per call for volunteers or auxiliaries. And there seems to be a misconception that volunteers are somehow less qualified or less abled than a full time paid service. But look at the North Shore Rescue team. All volunteers, and I bet they save more lives and risk themselves more often than anybody.
to be honest…I don’t think the shrinking tax base can be construed to be significant enough to employ a FULL time FD…maybe 2 guys on each team with the emphasize based on volunteers…it would be a considerable savings to the tax payer…
I am thankful for our fire department. I like things just the way they are.