LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
DEPARTMENTS
Concern over proposed bill allowing firefighters to operate on the fireground while intoxicated
The Iowa legislators have sent the state’s governor a bill that would allow volunteer firefighters to operate at a fire even though they would be considered legally drunk.
Representative Robert Skow, a cosponsor of the bill, said, “I think most people out there in the rural areas think they’d rather have them (the firefighters) respond in the middle of the night, even if they’ve been at the firemen’s ball, rather than let a house burn down.”
Admittedly, if my house is on fire, I want firefighters to respond and put it out, but we need to look at the longrange implications of this.
The measure would allow volunteer firefighters and their families to collect compensation for injuries or death suffered while legally drunk and fighting a fire. We do not allow driving while drunk since reflexes are slowed by the alcohol in a person’s system. How absurd can a law be?
We as firefighters are in an unpredictable environment where the preservation of life and the avoidance of death or injury is dependent on keen senses, quick reflexes, and teamwork. Now, we are legally going to allow our fellow team member, although so drunk that he might not be able to stand up, to enter a burning building to assist in search, rescue, venting, and/or extinguishment.
It seems to me that the true firefighters will then spend a great deal of their time making sure that the drunk firefighters are not getting hurt. The last thing an officer needs is drunk, inefficient firefighters who’d rather cause problems and question orders than fight the fire.
Has this wise governmental body ever considered how the workmen’s compensation insurance carriers are going to handle this? Where are these fire departments going to get their insurance after a few serious claims due to legally drunk firefighters?
Under current Iowa law, according to reports, worker’s compensation cannot be collected if a person’s blood alcohol level is found to be 0.10% or above at the time of the injury. Drivers are automatically convicted if their alcohol level is 0.13%. The new law would allow firefighters to collect compensation even if their level is 0.15% or greater!
The bill did state “if caught driving” and drunk, the apparatus operator could get a DWI (driving while intoxicated) conviction. How many good firefighters will be killed or injured by a drunk apparatus operator before this lush is caught?
We are not against firefighters having a few beers or a good time at a party. We do, however, feel that firefighting is a dangerous profession (for both volunteers and career). Being drunk will obviously lead to additional firefighter injuries and potential deaths.
Iowa firefighters should defeat this dangerous bill before their name and credibility as firefighters is seriously undermined by a few drunk firefighters. Being a firefighter is a serious job that requires skill, sharp reaction time, and a clear mind. Allowing drunk firefighters on the fireground is an insult to every dedicated firefighter in this country.
Dave E. Williams
Staff Correspondent
with FIRE ENGINEERING
Atlanta, GA
Valuable critiques
The April 1985 issue of FIRE ENGINEERING containing Chief Hank A. Howard’s “Bridge Collision Initiates Disaster Management” was extremely informative. Often fire service magazines just paint a picture of what happened without pointing out specific problems or offering recommendations to overcome these problems in the future.
Keep up the good work. The fire service benefits from such an informational exchange.
John R. Hawkins
Division Chief
California Department of Forestry/
Butte County Fire Department Oroville, CA
A note of appreciation
I received the April 1985 issue of FIRE ENGINEERING and wish to say that my article “Fire Following Earthquake” came out very well, thanks to the efforts of you and your staff.
However, as no man is an island, I do have a debt of gratitude to several people in connection with the information in the feature. I’d like to thank Captain John Donelan, Coalinga, CA, Fire Department; Captain Craig Jessup, Morgan Hill, CA, Fire Department; Chief Bob Delgado, San Jose, CA, Fire Department; and Mr. Gilles Bureau for their kind assistance.
Charles Scawthorn
Associate
Dames & Moore
San Francisco, CA
Lessons can be negative as well as positive
Regarding the two letters that appeared in your March 1985 issue (“Concerns for personal safety”), I have the following comments;
Unfortunately at every fire incident in every city and town in this country, someone is doing something unsafely. Very few of us are perfect in every way. To expect firefighters to adhere to the highest standards at all times is unreasonable and absurd. Who among us can say that we have never made a mistake, never let our guard down, never slipped up?
I am not condoning someone’s unsafe operations, carelessness, or the callous disregard for the safety of other firefighters. However, rather than criticize the use of a picture where someone is working in an unsafe manner, why not use the photo to illustrate bad technique, lack of expertise, carelessness, or incompetence? It can be a great teaching tool.
If every fire picture is subject to censorship, then the so-called “good fire picture” will soon dry up. Well-taken, dramatic fireground photos that will be rejected by editors because someone may not be wearing boots, gloves, mask, or possibly using a tool in an improper way will soon stop crossing editors’ desks. We will be left with the wellplanned shot made for the perfectionist but not showing firefighting as the dirty, dangerous, and nerve-wracking job that it is.
The fire photographer is attempting to show the public what firefighting is all about; not a sanitized version of what someone wants it to be. If a firefighter is partially dressed, operating in a careless manner or jeopardizing his or someone else’s life, then the picture is of more value as a teaching tool with the benefit of possibly preventing an injury or death.
Any firefighter who goes about his work in a slipshod manner needs to have his behavior pointed out. Maybe by showing more photos like this with a note as to what is wrong and what should be corrected would be enlightening to a lot of careless people and make them more responsible to their brothers in what has been described as the most hazardous job in the country.
Stop chastising the photographers and place the blame where it belongs—on the careless, inconsiderate, unthinking firefighter.
Patrick J. Smith
Firefighter
Dorchester, MA
