Station did not answer fire call

[Geppetto 31]

fredericksburg.com

Jonas Beals

10/31/11

Some time early yesterday morning, a house in Spotsylvania County's Fawn Lake subdivision caught fire.

A call for help came in to the county at 12:58 a.m. Eighteen minutes later, a fire truck from Chancellor Volunteer Fire and Rescue station 5 arrived to find the roof and second floor engulfed in flames....

...But the fire might have caused less damage had there been any firefighters at the nearby Chancellor Volunteer Fire and Rescue station 7.

"There was no response from station 7," said Spotsylvania Fire and Rescue Deputy Chief Monty Willaford....

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2011/102011/10312011/661930

[PFDRes47cue 653]

This is similar to the reason why Rye Brook FD is a valuable asset to the Rye Brook community.

[Bnechis 3,961]

This is similar to the reason why Rye Brook FD is a valuable asset to the Rye Brook community.

Having a substandard response covers the politicians butt. This way they do not have to provide sufficient service and no one ever catches them.

This case may force an action.

[Geppetto 31]

Just the faces change.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

I was a member of Company 6 for a few years and Company 7 was established because it was a pretty good hike from Station 5 to get out to that section of Spotsylvania County. One of the problems with that station was that when it was constructed it was a more rural area and a few company 5 members lived out there and they did great at first. But as with many places, Spotsylvania and the entire Fredericksburg area population was exploding, which they added another 2 fire companies in Spotsy. When I was there the paid crews covered daytime hours monday thru friday and the volunteer ranks were fairly strong with intermittent response issues like a company not getting out. It was time then to expand career coverage then and now's the time to staff it entirely.

[SECTMB 612]

You know, these staffing issues, whether rural Pennsylvania or suburban Westchester, boil down to this. If you want to rely on a volunteer system, you will sometimes get an adequate response of dedicated, professional citizen firefighters who will bust their buts to save your life and property. Sometimes, Not. Thats not a negative criticism, its reality. In a volunteer system you can get a huge response or no response depending on time of day, time of year, whatever.

You want a guaranteed 24/7 response. You have to go paid and the taxpayers have to be willing to accept the increase in cost to offset the benefit.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

Having a substandard response covers the politicians butt. This way they do not have to provide sufficient service and no one ever catches them.

This case may force an action.

This case? Just a couple of years ago in the same county...they had a woman on the line with dispatch trapped inside her house and she died after a substandard response and the citizens cried and they convened a commission which led to the increase staffing they had. So they gave in to some pressure and left the weekends unstaffed after pressure from the volunteers....and well...we all see what happened now.

[gamewell45 258]

.

You want a guaranteed 24/7 response. You have to go paid and the taxpayers have to be willing to accept the increase in cost to offset the benefit.

Precisely; which then begs to ask, where is the money going to come from to support a fully paid or 24/7 staffed department; especially given the current economy? I think depending on a number of factors, either way you look at it, your taxes will go up and many people are not prepared to accept that at this point.

Edited November 2, 2011 by gamewell45

[helicopper 1,050]

Precisely; which then begs to ask, where is the money going to come from to support a fully paid or 24/7 staffed department; especially given the current economy? I think depending on a number of factors, either way you look at it, your taxes will go up and many people are not prepared to accept that at this point.

Why is it always an either or proposition? Why not establish minimum standards and if the standards are met by volunteers, great. If they're not, augment with career staff. This is more cost effective than 100% paid and more reliable than 100% volunteer. It seems to work in so many other places, why can't it work here in the Northeast?

[gamewell45 258]

Why is it always an either or proposition? Why not establish minimum standards and if the standards are met by volunteers, great. If they're not, augment with career staff. This is more cost effective than 100% paid and more reliable than 100% volunteer. It seems to work in so many other places, why can't it work here in the Northeast?

I believe most departments have some sort of standards in place; tho' they may vary from department to department. Are suggesting a state-wide standard for all firefigthers whether paid, on-call or volunteer?

[Bnechis 3,961]

I believe most departments have some sort of standards in place; tho' they may vary from department to department. Are suggesting a state-wide standard for all firefigthers whether paid, on-call or volunteer?

I have seen many "local" standards and most are "SUBSTANDARD" and in many cases were actually illegal.

NY is one of the few states that does not have a statewide standard.