City Council is taking city in wrong direction
To the editor:
I am writing this letter in regard to all the changes City Council and the City Manager want to make to the city of Presque Isle. I have never in the past attended City Council meetings but I recently found I needed to.
I attended the Dec. 12 meeting in regard to the reduction of positions the city wants to reduce our Fire Department to. In 2010 our fire department which was run by five full-time firemen was reduced to four. Now in 2011 the council wants to reduce our fire station down to three full-time firemen with on-call staff to pick up the slack with a beginning date of 2013.
Our fire department individuals who now man and protect the citizens of Presque Isle are outstanding and continually strive to better themselves in protecting our community. Listening to the firemen at this meeting only increased by concern for the type of fire protection we, the citizens of Presque Isle, will receive should this change take place. Should the reduction of firemen be changed from a four- to a three-man crew with on-call responding to cover for the fourth man these are the changes we as citizens will encounter. Response time for the fourth man to get to the PIFD could be as much as 10 minutes or longer depending on time of day, road conditions and the distance those that are responding have to travel from their homes. Should only three firemen show up to the fire and the need is to enter the building by OSHA standards they have to wait for the fourth man to get there as it is a two in and two out policy — two men outside with the equipment and two men to enter the building. I asked the question at this recent meeting should you get to a fire and you only have three men, you cannot enter the building if someone is in there and needs help.
The fireman who was at this time speaking said they are not supposed to, but at that time it becomes a judgment call, I have no doubt our firemen would enter the building. I asked myself why they should have to put their lives in danger, when code states two in and two out. I don’t understand why the City Council feels they have the right to put these men’s lives as well as the lives of citizens in danger. To have one of these men make the choice to enter the building alone to save a life and risk their own is unfair and very selfish on the part of the council. Do they not realize these men are fathers, sons, brothers, cousins, in-law and friend to people who care and love them?
This past week our fire department was asked to respond to a fire in Easton. Our fire department was unable to respond immediately because they were waiting for on-call to respond. From the time they heard the first request until the time the truck was able to leave PI station was over 10 minutes. We later heard three on-call firemen responded and were on their way.
Just like our full-time firemen, our on-call fire fighters are outstanding. But considerations need to be taken that these men have other full-time jobs they have an obligation to. Depending on what kind of work they do and time of day, they are not always able to respond.
I have to wonder should a few of these council people have family and friends at the fire department, would they be so quick to make this decision. I pray to God those who now sit on the council themselves or someone they care about are never a victim of fire. And should something tragic be the outcome due to response time or not enough firemen to do the job the way it should be done, they will be the ones to live with the decision they made due to nonsense and not having the backbone to standup for what is right.
In closing I want to say to the council, those of us who choose to speak during council meetings — it’s our right, we are not there to be humored. Obviously regardless of what we citizens are telling you it’s falling on deaf ears. You all state you want families and businesses to relocate to Presque Isle, my suggestion is take care of the families and businesses that are here now this is what will make others want to settle in Presque Isle. It is obvious at this time what you are doing is not working.
Eva Kirk
Presque Isle
