Friday, March 11, 2005

District 8, Local 3711 President Jeff Wainright objects to posting of 3-1-05...

Good Morning Brother,

This morning when I got to work the shift getting off of my engine company (E81) let me know you had posted a note on the L-29 site that they took as a "Bash" on District 8 and in particular my engine company. The quote that made them a little hot under the collar was posted on 3-1-05 and goes something to the effect...

"An engine arrived and then called for Spokane to help and then the Valley. Amazing video and print coverage. But the recent multiple fires in the city were not worth stories in the Spokesman-Review because we do our job and put fires out before they become great videos"

Now I should probably take this as a "Bash" to as I was the Lieutenant on that engine company that called for the help right off the bat that afternoon. The part you are missing from this story to your members is that the fire started in the basement and from the time of the first 9-1-1 call until I was taking a line off the rig to the front door was less then six minutes, oh and did I mention that my size-up consisted of "we have heavy fire out of the basement, the main floor is almost fully involved and we have fire from the windows on the second floor A-side". Try to keep in mind that I gave this size-up about 5 to 5 1/2 minutes after the first 9-1-1 call was received. How many times have you been on a fire 2 in the afternoon on a sunday, with 3 people at home and working smoke detectors that are monitored by ADT in the house and you arrive to find this scenario. Does something sound a little fishy to you. My point is this house was gone before we ever got the call and my 3 person engine company as well as every other responding company did everything they could to make the out come as good as possible.

I read your posting and I understand that you are probably trying to make a point about that rag of a news paper and all that slow news day for the local TV news stuff that goes on but I would contend that your brothers to the south actually "do their job" everyday and do it the same way that you do. We also have house fires that are "good stops" you never hear about because they are stopped in the first room and the news never even shows up. In a day in which we (all of the professional IAFF Fire Departments and Districts) are trying to work more closely together and foster new camaraderie between our neighboring brothers and sisters my members find it a bit disheartening when they read postings and other printed material that use them as the county whipping boys.

My hope is that you where just "bashing" the news media and did not mean to down grade my guys dedication to the fire service and to the image we try to portray of ALL professional firefighters across the county. If your intent was to "Bash" my guys then we probably need to sit down and have a discussion. Hope to hear from you soon.


Fraternally,


Jeffrey P wainwright, President
International Association of Fire Fighters 3711
State Representative for Washington
International Association of Fire Fighters AFO-CIO-CLC

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