Jeff,
Let me deconstruct the sentence in question: "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."
Focusing upon the phrase "our job" - I used it in the very literal sense. Like you and some in your district, city firefighters are professional firefighters, that is we are paid because it is "our job" to be firefighters. The big difference is that in the city, we are all paid (professional) firefighters - it is all of our "job." And as dedicated, proficient and experienced as your volunteers may be, firefighting is not their "job." I say this not to denigrate their volunteerism in the community, but to point out that your volunteers make their living in other ways than being firefighters for District 8.
And I would assume that as, Local 3711 President, you would agree that a fire department that is fully staffed by professionals is preferable to one staffed by a combination of professional and volunteer firefighters, or all volunteers.
I applaud your efforts at the house fire, and it sure sounds like all that was done could be done. I'm certainly not in a position to Monday-morning-quarterback you or your crew's efforts. But let me ask you this: Have there been any other fires that you've been on where the outcome would have been better, had you responded immediately with multiple apparatus staffed fully by firefighters whose only "job" that day was to be a professional firefighter?
When I wrote this blog entry, I had just come home after a 48 hour shift with three working structure fires. They were all (to varying degrees) saves. No story in the paper. In the wake of our layoffs, I found it frustrating that our citizens are shielded (via the Spokesman) from knowing what their tax dollars provide, in terms of fire protection.
Yesterday, we were first-in on a garage that was fully involved, in a tightly packed neighborhood with countless exposures. Again, today - no story. I know that, if we were a lone engine company (professional or not) responding to this fire, it could have been a lot worse. And the S-R would have had some great copy.
In closing, let me apologize if I offended any of your members. That was not my intent. In a nutshell, what I was trying to say was: 1. Fire departments that are fully staffed by professionals will make more stops than those staffed with volunteers, 2. The Spokesman-Review is not interested in stops, but in the fires that aren't stopped.
As a professional firefighter, IAFF Local President and reader of the Spokesman-Review, would you disagree? If you would like to meet to talk more about this issue, I would be more than happy to oblige.
Fraternally,
John Griffith (AKA Bill Foss)
Local 29 E-Board Member
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