We will never have our Fire Dept volunteer (capish)
Yawwnn…
LOL.
She’s pining for the fjords.
[quote=“drummerboy”]
I meant actually working. There are always planes coming and going. There are always sick people being taken care of. There are few fires and accidents and, thus, a lot of time spent idle, collecting good coin. And, hey, guess what? Volunteer fire departments work just fine.[/quote]
The taxes paid for having a full time dept doesn’t bother me; when I call 911, I know that there is a crew of firemen ready and equipped to put out the occasional fire, or assist paramedics, or whatever it is they have to do. If in the past 30 years, there has been 5 fires, and they helped save one house, or the people in it, or the houses next door, or the dog, or the little stuffed teddy bear your daughter sleeps with, the money invested in them over the years is money well spent in my mind.
Volunteer departments do in fact work fine… once they get on scene that is. They have to respond to the volunteer hall from wherever they’re at, then hop in the truck, and head to the scene… you often hear that seconds count, and sure, they do, but what about minutes? If it takes an average of about 6 minutes to respond with a crew at the ready, imagine that time if the commute was twice as much, (to the hall, then to the scene). Volunteer firemen also aren’t trained nearly as well, and there are no standards for a volunteer. You can have a 400 pound, overweight chain smoking alcoholic as a volunteer, and how well do you think he will do the job of a fireman?
Since you brought up commercial pilots, what do you think they do when they’re not taking off or landing? Either reading the newspaper in the captains chair, or sleeping in the back on their shift change.
Speaking of beating a dead horse: How would you rather Prince Rupert municipal taxes be spent? On Fire & Police, and other municipal services… or on subsidizing Citywest?
How many of you out there know the difference between a VOLUNTEER fire dept and an AUXILLARY fire dept?Not many from the posts I see here.Nice to see the local fire dept patting themselves on the back!
You’re still cheap regardless, saltybear.
What are you talking about???
A volunteer fire dept. Would not be able to put that fire out at the storage facility! End of Story!!
Since you seem to be an expert on the subject why don’t you educate the rest of us on what the difference is? I’ve been BOTH (see I can use caps too!) an auxillary fire fighter and a volunteer fire fighter. Let’s see how close your definition is.
On what info do you base this statement on? Blind assunption?
Unbelievable how ignorant some of you are when it comes to the make-up of fire depts in BC…do your own research!
Umm… rinkster asked you the question.
Well boys and girls, I’ve lurked on this forum for a few years. I thought it was time to chime in and put my opinion forward.
The Prince Rupert Fire Department? It’s a joke. Sure there are a couple of guys who can run a flight of stairs with having their heart explode. But what about the other 80% of the group? Fat old guys with no hope of climbing 2 stories without having to take a break. Forget about it in times of stress.
I lived in that town for 3 decades and the FD was always a waste of money. Those guys are as useful at a fire as any other city worker. Now that times are even tougher financially, it is way overdue to demobilize those them.
Quesnel has a volunteer department. Chilliwack is almost all volunteer. Both those towns are significantly greater in are than ole PR and greater in population. Yet surprisingly, they aren’t burning to the ground every 6 months. Why is that? Because you have a group of keeners who love doing the volunteer FD gig.
In PR? Old broken down men who have had hip replacements, can’t haul their ass to the top of the training tower with a hose reel non-stop but they sure as hell can show up at every car accident & pedestrian tip over in order to justify their cushy jobs by loading up their statistics with meaningless numbers.
Lose them. Keep 2 guys full time (use the competent ones, not the ones with seniority) in order to oversee and train the volunteers. The volunteers get training and experience that they can choose to take with them to other communities or even jobs as full time fire fighters in towns that can afford it.
[quote=“JackAnderson”]Well boys and girls, I’ve lurked on this forum for a few years. I thought it was time to chime in and put my opinion forward.
The Prince Rupert Fire Department? It’s a joke. Sure there are a couple of guys who can run a flight of stairs with having their heart explode. But what about the other 80% of the group? Fat old guys with no hope of climbing 2 stories without having to take a break. Forget about it in times of stress.
I lived in that town for 3 decades and the FD was always a waste of money. Those guys are as useful at a fire as any other city worker. Now that times are even tougher financially, it is way overdue to demobilize those them.
Quesnel has a volunteer department. Chilliwack is almost all volunteer. Both those towns are significantly greater in are than ole PR and greater in population. Yet surprisingly, they aren’t burning to the ground every 6 months. Why is that? Because you have a group of keeners who love doing the volunteer FD gig.
In PR? Old broken down men who have had hip replacements, can’t haul their ass to the top of the training tower with a hose reel non-stop but they sure as hell can show up at every car accident & pedestrian tip over in order to justify their cushy jobs by loading up their statistics with meaningless numbers.
Lose them. Keep 2 guys full time (use the competent ones, not the ones with seniority) in order to oversee and train the volunteers. The volunteers get training and experience that they can choose to take with them to other communities or even jobs as full time fire fighters in towns that can afford it.[/quote]
You’ve been lurking all these years and this is the gem you choose to offer us as your introduction?
-
You LIVED in this town for three decades? You don’t even live here? Does anything you say relate to the present?
-
I really dislike statements like “Sure there are a couple of guys who can run a flight of stairs with having their heart explode. But what about the other 80% of the group? Fat old guys with no hope of climbing 2 stories without having to take a break.” Have you ever witnessed one of these men climb a set of stairs? How can you make such a bold statement? What do you know about any of them?
-
Regardless of your thoughts on their physical appearance and how you think they may or may not be able to do their job, they are valuable members of our community who deserve our respect. Even if they aren’t Olympic athletes or marathon runners they put themselves in harms way on a fairly regular basis from what I can tell. A cushy job doesn’t mean much if you’re dead.
-
On that note, the health concerns you raise, don’t you think it’s selfless if they are pushing themselves past their limits to protect someone else? You should give that some thought.
[quote=“Crazy Train”]
You’ve been lurking all these years and this is the gem you choose to offer us as your introduction?
-
You LIVED in this town for three decades? You don’t even live here? Does anything you say relate to the present?
-
I really dislike statements like “Sure there are a couple of guys who can run a flight of stairs with having their heart explode. But what about the other 80% of the group? Fat old guys with no hope of climbing 2 stories without having to take a break.” Have you ever witnessed one of these men climb a set of stairs? How can you make such a bold statement? What do you know about any of them?
-
Regardless of your thoughts on their physical appearance and how you think they may or may not be able to do their job, they are valuable members of our community who deserve our respect. Even if they aren’t Olympic athletes or marathon runners they put themselves in harms way on a fairly regular basis from what I can tell. A cushy job doesn’t mean much if you’re dead.
-
On that note, the health concerns you raise, don’t you think it’s selfless if they are pushing themselves past their limits to protect someone else? You should give that some thought.[/quote]
Sorry if my introduction seemed abrupt to you. If you were looking for wine, roses and a long walk on the beach; try Plenty of Fish.
-
Yes, I happily LIVED there for three decades. If the rules of this site require PR residency I must have missed that section. I’ll happily check out a link to the applicable page. If not, chirp somewhere else.
-
I’ve seen some of them attempt to walk into Timmies. It was painful. If they are so broken down then pension them off. And living in PR all those years, you learn quite a bit about them, it is a small town after all.
-
I agree with providing respect to people. That’s something my parents taught me. However failing to see the faults in both the system and the individual solely because they are firefighters? Time for you to take off those rose coloured glasses. They are putting themselves and the public they serve in harms way by not being physically capable any longer. And not only because of the dangers of the job, but also because of the danger of being unfit for the workplace.
-
So I should respect them because they are pushing themselves past their limits? Everybody does that in their jobs everyday. The only problem with that is if I end up with fried eggs instead of scrambled because my waitress is stressed out; well it’s not as bad as if I’m trapped in a building/car/ditch and the people who are supposed to rescue me are in such bad physical shape that they are incapable of doing so. It’s downright dangerous.
And as an aside, I’ve read how on here the PRFD is paid less than other fire departments. Maybe less than some, but according to my source their wage and raises are tied directly to NYC firefighters. So the guys in Lil ole PR are being paid at the same rate as the guys in the Big Apple. Now c’mon, do you think the day in the life of a NYC firefighter and a day in the life of a PR firefighter are really equal?
[quote=“JackAnderson”]
[quote=“Crazy Train”]
You’ve been lurking all these years and this is the gem you choose to offer us as your introduction?
-
You LIVED in this town for three decades? You don’t even live here? Does anything you say relate to the present?
-
I really dislike statements like “Sure there are a couple of guys who can run a flight of stairs with having their heart explode. But what about the other 80% of the group? Fat old guys with no hope of climbing 2 stories without having to take a break.” Have you ever witnessed one of these men climb a set of stairs? How can you make such a bold statement? What do you know about any of them?
-
Regardless of your thoughts on their physical appearance and how you think they may or may not be able to do their job, they are valuable members of our community who deserve our respect. Even if they aren’t Olympic athletes or marathon runners they put themselves in harms way on a fairly regular basis from what I can tell. A cushy job doesn’t mean much if you’re dead.
-
On that note, the health concerns you raise, don’t you think it’s selfless if they are pushing themselves past their limits to protect someone else? You should give that some thought.[/quote]
Sorry if my introduction seemed abrupt to you. If you were looking for wine, roses and a long walk on the beach; try Plenty of Fish.
-
Yes, I happily LIVED there for three decades. If the rules of this site require PR residency I must have missed that section. I’ll happily check out a link to the applicable page. If not, chirp somewhere else.
-
I’ve seen some of them attempt to walk into Timmies. It was painful. If they are so broken down then pension them off. And living in PR all those years, you learn quite a bit about them, it is a small town after all.
-
I agree with providing respect to people. That’s something my parents taught me. However failing to see the faults in both the system and the individual solely because they are firefighters? Time for you to take off those rose coloured glasses. They are putting themselves and the public they serve in harms way by not being physically capable any longer. And not only because of the dangers of the job, but also because of the danger of being unfit for the workplace.
-
So I should respect them because they are pushing themselves past their limits? Everybody does that in their jobs everyday. The only problem with that is if I end up with fried eggs instead of scrambled because my waitress is stressed out; well it’s not as bad as if I’m trapped in a building/car/ditch and the people who are supposed to rescue me are in such bad physical shape that they are incapable of doing so. It’s downright dangerous.
And as an aside, I’ve read how on here the PRFD is paid less than other fire departments. Maybe less than some, but according to my source their wage and raises are tied directly to NYC firefighters. So the guys in Lil ole PR are being paid at the same rate as the guys in the Big Apple. Now c’mon, do you think the day in the life of a NYC firefighter and a day in the life of a PR firefighter are really equal?[/quote]
Of course residency is not a requirement but if you’re talking about the past as if its the present then perhaps your not being here doesn’t give you a realistic view of how things actually are.
We all get old, even those in positions that we depend on to act in our times of need. Insulting these people who have dedicated their lives for the safety and betterment of others is out of line. I don’t care what line of work a person is in or from what walk of life you come from, how many 50 year olds are in greats shape? Especially those who have exposed their bodies to extreme physical and mental stress? As far as I know, in the fire department, people do move into different roles as they get older where their experience is maximized rather than their physical ability. The younger firefighters are more often required to perform the more physically demanding tasks.
What makes you say they’re not physically capable anyways? Did you see something on YouTube from your home far, far away? When is the last time you heard of a fireman in PR getting killed or hurt on the job, or better yet a resident being hurt or killed because a fireman wasn’t able to do his job? How about never. Why, because its a non-issue. These men are more than capable despite whatever limitations you perceive them to have.
Same pay rate as the Big Apple? You had better check your sources because their salaries are tied into Vancouver firemens salaries.
Your parents taught you respect? It really doesn’t show, honestly.
[quote=“PLA”]
Umm… rinkster asked you the question.[/quote]
I’ll be happy to answer it if saltybear can’t.
[quote=“Crazy Train”]
Of course residency is not a requirement but if you’re talking about the past as if its the present then perhaps your not being here doesn’t give you a realistic view of how things actually are.
We all get old, even those in positions that we depend on to act in our times of need. Insulting these people who have dedicated their lives for the safety and betterment of others is out of line. I don’t care what line of work a person is in or from what walk of life you come from, how many 50 year olds are in greats shape? Especially those who have exposed their bodies to extreme physical and mental stress? As far as I know, in the fire department, people do move into different roles as they get older where their experience is maximized rather than their physical ability. The younger firefighters are more often required to perform the more physically demanding tasks.
What makes you say they’re not physically capable anyways? Did you see something on YouTube from your home far, far away? When is the last time you heard of a fireman in PR getting killed or hurt on the job, or better yet a resident being hurt or killed because a fireman wasn’t able to do his job? How about never. Why, because its a non-issue. These men are more than capable despite whatever limitations you perceive them to have.
Same pay rate as the Big Apple? You had better check your sources because their salaries are tied into Vancouver firemens salaries.
Your parents taught you respect? It really doesn’t show, honestly.[/quote]
How things actually are in PR? I’m pretty sure that things have not changed so greatly in the 3 years since I left. However, if the age of enlightenment has arrived, I’d love to see some examples.
The extreme mental and physical stress of being a PR firefighter? C’mon. Talk serious here. The biggest stress they face is who is gonna grab the groceries at Safeway that day. Pop out for a few wino-down calls which the ambulance guys take care of and that is 99% of their year. And there are plenty of 50 and 60 year olds that stay in shape. There are a good number of firefighters down here of a comparable age and they are healthy, in-shape individuals. Along with paramedics and police officers. It’s a personal choice that each one makes …,“I’ll stay in shape to be capable in my job or I won’t.” It appears you are a little cheerleader for the boys, good for you. Everyone needs apple polishers around. But your bleating about the hazards and stresses they face is ridiculous.
And what is there for different roles for them to move into? Chief and assistant chief … what else?
As for why do I think they are incapable? Because I have two good eyes and would see them at work and at play. The majority are not close to being physically fit and show no desire to get themselves in shape. I won’t mention names, that is going down a path that ends up all wrong.
PR wants to have a fit and eager FD? PR wants to save tax dollars? PR wants to have a well equipped FD? Lose what you have, keep two competent and experienced members as full time and recruit eager volunteers that need to pass rigorous physical and mental training. Problem solved. Maybe you could put some of them into that street sweeper which seems to driving around 6 days a week, they already know the streets.
But hey, it’s your tax dollars. You want to fund those guys at over $100K per man, fly at 'er. I’ve done my penance up there. That fire department and the well paid city workers were why my 45 year old $225K house up there had a tax bill of almost $3000/yr and my new build $650K house here has a tax bill of $2500/yr.