TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT
EDITOR’S OPINION
David Long of Twin Falls, Idaho, former chief of the New Castle (CO) Fire Department and now president of American Fire Trucks and Equipment, Inc., which deals used equipment to the rural fire service, has some horror stories to tell about the equipment and personal protection levels of rural American firefighters. Although much of his study focuses on Idaho specifically, the problems are by no means confined within that state’s borders. From my own narrow perspective, Long’s information is startling. Here are some bits and pieces:
One-half of Idaho’s nearly 500 fire departments have four or less SCBA. Many of those departments have no SCBA at all.
Seven fire departments in the state do not have their first pumper. A large number of rural pumpers are vintage models.
Many firefighters have no turnout gear. Firefighters wearing raincoats, construction helmets, dungarees, and work boots on the fireground are not an unusual sight.
Long says that few departments comply with national standards to any significant degree. He says that many rural Idaho departments have “never heard” of an ISO rating and the ones that are rated generally fare quite poorly—9’s and 10 s.
Seventy-five percent of the hundreds of fire departments that call Long each month have less than S30,000 to spend for an apparatus—and that’s with financing. Long tells a story about a small-town department that spent four years saving its pennies from car washes and cake bakes to make a down payment on its first (used) pumper. On delivery day the whole town, including the high school marching band, was on hand to celebrate. The firefighters couldn’t tear themselves away from the truck—three of them slept on it that night.
I didn’t confirm Long’s data on an official level, but the point is clear: A number of American firefighters are responding to emergencies equipped with less than a basic level of protection that many other departments across the country—and certainly our minimum national standardsmaking bodies—have come to expect. Fart of the American fire service has. part has not. While every department struggles to one degree or another in these economically troubled times, the financial cross carried by some rural departments seems more than anyone should bear.
The federal government has addressed the problems. Largely through the efforts of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus and such legislation as the National Fire Forces Mobilization Act and the Community Facility Loan Program, money is available for rural departments. But the rural communities must be aware of what’s available and take steps toward it. I asked Long what he thought was the primary reason personal protection is so lacking in the rural fire service. He answered, “They [the firefighters] don’t ask for it.”
Federal programs do not and should not provide a total solution. State and local governments and the taxpaying public must be made to share the burden of health and safety for the firefighters who protect them. As budget deficits sweep through the nation like a bad virus, it’s difficult to ask for and receive a larger slice of the pie. But a larger slice you must get. No community has the right to expect service without providing the most basic level of firefighter protection.
While everyone will agree that greater personal protection and better equipment are necessary, there are differences of opinion with regard to code compliance. Some wince when they hear about a department drilling holes in its old air bottles; at the same time it’s difficult to advance the position that life safety codes shouldn’t apply to all firefighters regardless of the situation. Some say that anything is better than nothing; others say that noncornpliant equipment will place firefighters in more dangerous situations with a greater likelihood of equipment failure, thereby increasing the chance of death and injury. Clearly some balanced risk assessment is called for. While standards paint the ideal picture, real life rarely achieves that level, and that should be taken into account. It is ultimately the department’s choice. A noncompliant SCBA shoulder harness has much greater implications than an unenclosed cab.
Often the difference between having and not having is reaching for it. The rural fire service must summon its energy, creativity, and strength; reach out for the things it must have; and in doing so achieve the level of community protection that it’s capable of providing.
