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Posted on 05/28/2014 9:50:19 PM PDT by chrisinoc
Firefighters had everything they needed for a Memorial Day BBQ assembled at the checkout line at a California Costco.
That is, until they had to leave it all behind to rush out on an emergency fire call.
When the firefighters returned to the store an hour later, wearing camouflage-patterned shirts with the American flag and determined to still have their steak, corn and watermelon, they were surprised, according to KOVR-TV.
Someone had paid their $125.25 bill.
(Excerpt) Read more at toprightnews.com ...
I totally thought the same thing, that there was TMI on that receipt... and by the way, what good is a receipt with a handwritten note if it isn’t calling someone a “nigger”?
Have you ever run into a burning building? How about doing it every three months.
I don’t do it.
These guys actually save lives. They don’t hassle you for driving through town. They send paramedics to save life’s.
I say, dedicate all of the money generated by the cops to the local fire department.
You cannot pay them enough.
You're an asshole! My father was a captain in Jersey City. He watched two of his men die. He still walked into engulfed buildings pulling people out.
I somewhat followed in his footsteps becoming a volunteer in South NJ. I attended four funerals of brothers caught in a woods fire. I had people die in my arms. I walked into fully involved structures, also pulling people out. Like my father, I was was scared most of the time.
We did what we had to do, because some one had to.
I used to be a volunteer firefighter. If the department is run correctly, there is very little risk. Every call/situation is thought out in advance, and practised. High risk for high returns, little risk for little rewards, no risk for no rewards. That means one only risks himself to rescue a person. If only the building is at risk, then no risk to personnel is undertaken.
That's not a job I'd want no matter how much I got paid........
Who pays for firehouse meals? This bill of $125, (if it wasn’t picked up by someone else) would this had been divided up among those on duty or is this part of the public’s money? Anyone know how that works?
What's more dangerous is responding to a rescue call on the freeway (with an entrapment). That happens much more frequently.
It would have been divided by the firemen. The department does not pay for the meals. (At least where I worked).
We always paid for our food. We ate well. As a volunteer, Township paid for our equipment. But we also paid for our house.
Also as a paid guy, my Dad’s crew also paid their own way for food. No gub’mint handouts.
That's good. Let the market determine wages, not politics and public unions. There are far more dangerous jobs than fireman.
If all that's true, then let the market determine their wages. I see openings for police officer all the time, but not fireman, at least where I live.
Well drama queen, too bad your emotional appeal doesn’t change the facts, and it doesn’t change the facts that the appearance of danger is part of what makes it appealing to so many many men, that and the money, benefits, and work conditions, because if it wasn’t for those then they would just become roofers or taxi drivers, or loggers, or construction workers like the rest of us, there are many routine jobs that we and our sons and dads do which are more dangerous.
Yes I've run into burning buildings, don't you realize that many, if not most guys love that stuff, firemen have about the best job around, and that is why there is so much competition for the job, too bad that since the government can unionize against us now, they have become overpaid and too powerful in running our cities.
WORKPLACE DEATHS NATIONALLY (Average 3.5)
Over the past 35 years, the number of fires in the United States has fallen by more than 40% while the number of career firefighters has increased by more than 40%
he decline of demand has created a problem for firefighters. What Fred McChesney wrote some 10 years ago is even more true today:
Taxpayers are unlikely to support budget increases for fire departments if they see firemen lolling about the firehouse. So cities have created new, highly visible jobs for their firemen. The Wall Street Journal reported recently, “In Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami, for example, 90% of the emergency calls to firehouses are to accompany ambulances to the scene of auto accidents and other medical emergencies. Elsewhere, to keep their employees busy, fire departments have expanded into neighborhood beautification, gang intervention, substitute-teaching and other downtime pursuits.” In the Illinois township where I live, the fire department drives its trucks to accompany all medical emergency vehicles, then directs traffic around the ambulance—a task which, however valuable, seemingly does not require a hook-and-ladder.
Here’s some data. Note that medical calls dwarf fire calls. Twenty five years ago false alarms were half the number of fires, today false alarms significantly exceed the number of fires.
According to Nightline it costs $3,500 every time a fire truck pulls out of a fire station in Washington, DC (25 calls in a 24 hour shift is not uncommon so this adds up quickly). Moreover, most of the time the call is not for a fire but for a minor medical problem. In many cities, both fire trucks and ambulances respond to the same calls. The paramedics do a great job but it is hard to believe that this is an efficient way to deliver medical care and transportation.
In our district, paramedics don't often have the strength to deal with patients in their various positions--trapped in vehicles, on floors, etc. Firemen are called to those same calls because
I lived around the corner from an alcoholic diabetic (or something) who was always being picked up by an ambulance, once I went over to the firetruck and asked about why all these various vehicles and departments had to show up, he said that this guy was a routine that was costing about $30,000.00 dollars a year, just for his run of the mill pickups.
I've been on a few of those calls myself.
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