There’s a new trend in the media I find pretty disturbing, attacks on the fire service.
In September, the Boston Globe, a respectable publication wrote an article discussing the risings costs of a fire department while fires themselves decline.
They quote Fred McChesney, a professor of law and economics at the University of Miami School of Law who describes firemen as; “sitting around playing cards and brushing the dalmatian,” The Globe does do a nice job however, of noting the more diverse roles that fire departments have assumed, EMS, HAZMAT, tech rescue. Overall the Globe presented a reasonably balanced article. The article does point toward more firefighters being involved more extensively in EMS which, like it or not, is probably where alot of departments are headed. Fewer suppression apparatus, more ambulances and first response vehicles. Springfield MA recently started sending half of an engine company to some EMS runs in SUVs, I haven’t seen any assessments of this experiment, but I look forward to seeing how it works out over a period of a few years.
So then I saw this article, and I got made (Rant starts now)
This article is out of Michigan, written by Jeffrey Polet, a political science professor, and it approaches Witch-hunt quality. He argues that the “firemen first principle:” negatively effects municipal budgets. He may have a point, I’m a reasonable guy, I understand that in tough budget times everyone has to take a hit, and in reality no line item in a municipal budget should be immune. I can’t dispute that, especially when other things, such as policing and education need funding just as badly as the fire department. However, this guy is absolutely off base in his thoughts on the function of firefighters, his assessment of the job can be described only as ludicrous.
“Public myths are necessary to the sustenance of political order, but bad myths can undermine democratic decision-making. The worst are those which single out groups for special praise or vilification. I can think of no group in our society more affirmatively mythologized than firemen. They are lauded as heroes, their sacrifices valorized, and their sites of failure taken as sacred ground.”
A myth? I’m sorry, what is the myth exactly, that we’re in the business of mitigating emergencies?
“Events such as the Boston Marathon bombing and the World Trade Center attack demonstrate that the police and fire personnel are typically the last persons on the scene. Most of the hard work is done by those already there. If your house is on fire, you best get yourself and your family out. The main function of firemen (and it’s a valuable one) is to contain fires, not to prevent or end them.”
Actually, you’re wrong Mr Polet. Yes, many bystanders do amazing things at many emergencies, no doubt, and they deserve all the praise in the world and then some. however to say that most of the hard work is done by those already there is well, stupid. Also to say that prevention is not a task a firefighters (not firemen you sexist bastard) is extremely ignorant and proves a lack of knowledge in regards to the fire service. In many communities, rank and file firefighters participate extensively in prevention efforts, maybe the reason there are fewer fires today is because firefighters are working hard at prevention?
“No person becomes virtuous by dint of wearing a uniform…We do well to remember that rescue persons can be heroic, but are not always so. Indeed, they are typically no more so than the general population.”
And that Mr Polet is where you’re wrong.
Statistically, myself and my brother and sister firefighters (career, call, volunteer) will die younger. We’re more likely to get cancer, or have a heart attack. More likely to get divorced, and suffer from substance abuse problems. And yet we unwaveringly answer the bell every-time we’re called.
“In the end what is most admirable about firefighters is their reliability. When they are called, they come.–Dennis Smith Report from Engine Co. 82”
That, Mr Polet, is virtuous.
So what is it, why is the media after the fire service? I wish I knew. I worry though, very much that as shoddy writing like this continues to show up, it might just gain traction in the mind of the public. It’s up to us, the fire service to make sure it does not, our future just might depend on it.
–Pelty
The views and opinions expressed in this blog are my own. They do not represent the opinions or views of any organization I am or have ever been employed by or a part of.
Pelty's Providence 