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You don't understand the training necessary and the stress involved in preforming that job. As far as how many people respond to an emergency there is a national standard which must be met and many times a Fire Unit can be there faster than a Med Unit. The same quality of care is provided by an Engine Co. but with no means of transport.

Many times people think Fire Personal just sit around the firehouse waiting on the next call and with a good fire service such as in Gwinnett County nothing could be further from the truth. Training is ongoing and evolving, many of the personal have BS degrees or Master degrees and could make much better pay in the private sector but this was their calling, to help others.

In an emergency situation minutes may seem like hours when in reality most calls have a response time of seven minutes or less.

First off, this was nothing but suicide by cop. Nothing more.

BS Degrees, Masters Degrees......AND........ they only work about 9-11 days a month.

And yes, they do spend a fair amount of time laying around the firehouse. As I remember, shift starts around 7 or 8am - you have to be doing something related to work until around 5pm - then from 5-9pm you have your free time - after 9pm you can go to bed and shift is over in the morning. Then you get 2 days off.

Free time is when all the firemen go to their vehicles, get their laptops, etc and start scheduling what they’ll be doing on their off-days, IE plumbers, carpenters, electricians, landscaping, pressure washing, moonlight as firemen/emt’s at other fire departments. That’s the joy of being a firemen, you can have another full time job.

As for the pensions you speak of, yes they contribute but the municipality contributes the majority of the money.

So, do I feel bad for the firemen that were taken hostage.

But right about now, all those firemen that used to think the cops don’t do s**t, have a different perspective on their fellow civil servants up there in Gwinnett County.