Judy,
What a sad and distorted picture you paint of your local firefighters.
For the record I am proud to say I am a career firefighter with the
GCFD and the Vice President of Local 51 of the FMBA . There are
several issues that you are attempting to bring light to that really
need to be clarified.
First yes we do only work 8 days a month. That
works out to be 24 hour shifts every four days. Those three days off
that we have are usually spent working 1 or more part time jobs. I
don\’t claim that the money we make from this job is in any way bad but
it won\’t be making any of us rich anytime soon. I myself work parttime
as a Paramedic and I also teach several classes for various
organizations. This leaves very little time for my wife and three
children. This is the same situation for everyone of my brother
firefighters. So if our family or friends stop by in the evening I
think it is ok. The statement that people are there all night is
COMPLETELY FALSE!
Second your fire department has a block inspection and
smoke detector inspection program that is run in the warmer months. So
again you seem to be mistaken that we are not performing this task.
Third several hours of each shift is dedicated to training. The winter
months usually have us indoors performing MANDATORY updates for fire
and EMS certifications. The warmer months find us at the fire academy
and performing MANDATORY training evolutions in fire suppression,
rescue, and Haz Mat.
As to the comments made by Mark the boy under the car was in fact saved only
by the GCFD not Camden. That rescue that I was personally on was one
of the best operations I have ever been involved in. The FACT is that
boy was extricated in under 10 minutes from the time of dispatch.
Camden arrived after that boy was removed and being transported. They
never touched that boy! The mutual aid putting the fires out is
another mistake Mark made. EVERY town in ANY county works with
mutual aid and TOGETHER WE put the fire out. GCFD has a mutal aid
agrement with several area fire departments. They may come to our aid
and we often go to their aid. We happen to be one of three departments
in Camden County to operate a fully equiped Haz Mat unit and Specialized
Rescue unit. Not to mention there is no way GCFD would be able to
handle any serious fire without mutual aid we simply do not have the
manpower to do all that is required.
So let me close by asking a
question to you and Mark. Is your memory so short that you don\’t remember 7/04/02 and
the three firefighters that died trying to save three little girls? Is
your view of our station only of the bench that is out front or can you
also see that statue remembering that horrible day?
In closing allow me to invite both of you to visit the firehouse and work a 24 hour shift with
us. I bet we can change your opinion!!!
Signed Steve
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