Isn’t it strange that if you are late paying your electric, gas, oil or phone bill you will usually receive a grace period due to the potential problems the lack of service might present. Obviously one can freeze to death and the amount of money owed would never compensate for that death. Local government and the utility provider would look pretty foolish if a citizen couldn’t afford to pay a bill and suffered the ultimate price.
So to put things in perspective, if you owe say $500 on an outstanding electric bill but you didn’t pay $75 to protect your house from burning down, the lights can stay on while the home burns to the ground.
I’m going to a Firematic Service for a deceased honorary member tonight. We’ll gather at the firehouse in our Class A uniforms and proceed to the Funeral Home. I know a large number of members will attend, they always do. Those in attendance will line up single file on both sides of the parlor room, remove cover, listen to the brief service and then in groups of two, proceed to the coffin for a final salute.
A few months back my department reinforced a standing policy that overnight Company duty crews need to be in place to provide a first due engine or truck. Each Company, on a rotating basis, provides one month of overnight service a few times a year.
We have all know for some time that in many surveys firefighting rates at the top of the chart in “most stressful” jobs. This fact again proved to be true in a recent survey held by CareerCast.com. where firefighters ranked as number one.
I just received an outrageous e-mail about a new political candidate in our congressional district whose campaign rep requested the pleasure of our company at an event taking place sometime at a restaurant in our community. I say sometime because no date or time was listed on the e-mail invite, just the restaurant. A rather small oversight don’t you think.
We held our 102nd Installation of Officers this past Saturday night. I wrote a post on public perception of installations a few days ago. Contrary to popular belief we did not have to tap the nuclear arsenal to quell any disturbances in the community from rampaging firefighters.
Talk about timing. Just yesterday morning I posted about the three quick decisions I have to make as a firefighter/PIO when I arrive at a scene. They were, perform the duties of a firefighter if manpower is lacking, perform my normal duties as the PIO, or watch to see the scene unfold to determine where I can best serve. I also mentioned that I occasionally go behind the lines to interact with bystanders. Little did I know that just a few hours later I would have to use all three options when we were toned out to a fully involved house fire.
I always thought OnStar walked a fine line in their radio commercials when it comes to their first responder interaction.
As a volunteer fire department PIO, and not in house based, I have to be prepared to respond from wherever I am in the community when an alarm is toned out. Since my main PIO “toolbox” is located at the main house, I need a fully redundant system that can duplicate some of the items I keep in the firehouse.
I’ve posted before about the fine line of balancing responsibilities as a PIO and firefighter. A recent automatic alarm call was a case in point.
The Las Vegas Fire Department is catching the ire of many residents who are upset at seeing fire apparatus parked in front of health clubs while entire crews workout during shift hours. This is a potential full community mega ton public relations bomb that can be diffused with some communications finesse.
I always love going to the firehouse on an early Sunday morning and having a cup of coffee while shooting the breeze with those congregating before Church or gearing up for a day with the family. I didn’t expect to drink my coffee today while getting hammered for not holding the lofty position of Czar of all Media.
I’m trying to get my arms around this whole subject of “citizen journalism.” Where at one time our biggest dilemma was trying to figure out if a local stringer was the real deal, we are now confronted with any private person with a camera phone being able to call themselves a journalist. This is not some cottage industry. CNN, Fox and a host of newspapers like the Washington Times all encourage citizen journalism.
