We are all doing the best we can
Dwight B. Van Zanen
Chief
King County Fire Protection District #43
Maple Valley, Washington
The May issue contained many letters in which firefighters and officers criticized the practices of other firefighters and officers, and I don`t want to join in with this letter. I would like to ask all in the fire service to consider the very real possibility that your organizational practices and personal experience may not be typical or directly applicable to the needs of the communities throughout the United States or the world. What works for you may not work for everyone.
I am not advocating that any organization operate unsafely or without proper safety equipment. I am calling attention to the fact that the communities we serve, the services we provide, and the workload that results are often very dissimilar. We should not take the attitude that, “I am doing it right, and you are doing it wrong.” A better approach would be, “We are doing the best we can with the available resources, but we will consider any suggestions that may improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our organization and improve service to the community.”
Some specifics may help to make my point. Some fire organizations respond to so many fires that they don`t have the time to respond to EMS calls or maintain the training to provide that service. In those cases, it makes sense to separate the activities, although they could still operate within the same organization. In other areas, the fire service may respond to a working fire rarely, and EMS incidents may outnumber fires by 10 to 1. The circumstances and workload are very different, and local communities need the freedom to organize to meet their local service requirements.
Crews of two or three are not inherently unsafe. Crews of five or six are not inherently safe. The activity attempted must be adequately staffed. It may take two or three crews to initiate an interior fire attack. It may take 10 or more crews to support a fire attack on an upper floor of a high-rise. It may take one crew of two or three to safely deal with nearly all of the EMS and service calls that may account for 95 percent of all calls for service in a community.
Some communities find they need four fire stations to service a four-square-mile area. In other areas, you may not have four fire stations to serve a 400-square-mile area. An aggressive interior fire attack makes sense if you arrive early enough to have something to save. If your average response time is 30 minutes or more, your most common fire operation may be exposure protection.
I believe most organizations are doing the best they can with the resources and knowledge they have. They may need advice and options, but they can do without the hostility and criticism. One size does not fit everyone. One standard of operation will not fit all areas. The controversy and comments submitted on the draft NFPA 1200 standard are a clear indication that local communities need to address local service needs and determine what level of service is acceptable and affordable.
