What are your priorities?
Melissa N. Riley
Kittrell (TN) Volunteer Fire Department
As communities grow rapidly today, so do the number of volunteer fire departments. All of a sudden what were once clear-cut boundary lines between volunteer districts become distorted and dangerous. They are dangerous because as new districts and second stations are added throughout departments, lines of response no longer remain relative. It is common for newer stations to be less than two blocks from an adjoining district`s line. This becomes conflicting when the adjoining district has an average response time of 10 minutes compared with what could be a 30-second response. The problem lies not so much with the boundaries but with the priorities of the firefighters who work them. Districts may work hand-in-hand, responding automatic mutual aid for fire calls, or they may work in anger and resentment toward a newer department. This is where the problem lies.
As emergency responders, the overriding drive that calls us to this service should be the desire to help our neighbor. The priority on each call should be to protect lives and property. Instead, what often happens is that a district refuses to call for mutual aid from a neighboring district that is less than a mile from the scene. The farther district makes the victims wait extra minutes for help to arrive, while the closer district sits ready to respond in its engine. These few minutes can mean the difference in a life. Even a routine fire alarm can turn out to be the real one; we do not know when that will occur. If it were our residence or business, we would not want to wait extra minutes while lives or property are risked because firefighters do not call for mutual aid. We can readily think of countless situations in which just a few minutes could make the difference in a life or a tremendous loss of property.
We work in a profession in which it is expected that we will be courageous and professional when called on. Volunteer firefighters sometimes are looked on as second-hand firefighters who are more trouble than aid. It is time for us to evaluate the reasons we are in this line of service. Saving lives and property should override any selfish attitudes or jealousies between districts. We are only hurting our own image by not immediately requesting help when it is readily available. The people who live in the incident area know where the fire stations are. They know when a station is down the street, and they question why it does not respond as they watch their house or car burning. What answer can we offer? Putting the lives of those in our community ahead of our own gain can only benefit our department and help it grow. If this letter could be about your department or one in your area, don`t point fingers. Instead, try to unite all departments and work together in mutual aid. We are here for the purpose of protecting each other. We should think of that house on the far edge of our district as our own. We would want the best response time. We would not settle for a department`s coming from across town when one is right down the street. We should not ask our neighbor to do it either.
