Fire Critic An Unadulterated View of the Fire Service
It took around 2 years for the Cape Coral Fire Department (Florida) to learn a very costly lesson about brownouts.
Last week, the brownouts are being blamed for a delayed response in a fatal heart attack call. The closest rescue truck was out of service due to a brownout.
Firefighters don’t need to look any further for proof that brownouts don’t make sense and are unfair and unsafe for citizens.
As a firefighter, I really want to say “We told you so”, but that isn’t professional. Indeed, firefighters have been pointing to brownouts being unfair and unsafe for citizens, but in this case it might have cost someone their life.
At this point, the family is not making an issue of the response time according to the report. However, we all know how that can change when lawyers get involved.
Trucks, even entire fire stations in some fire districts, go unmanned for a shift when there are not enough people on duty to cover them. These brownouts save money by eliminating the need to pay overtime to fully staff the service. source news-press.com
I must say that I hope Cape Coral has learned their lesson and that they don’t have to settle with a huge settlement with the family.
I also hope that other localities learn from Cape Coral’s lesson and they decide to brownout or cut other things before the fire department.
I sincerely commend Cape Coral’s Mayor John Sullivan for correcting this issue!
You can read the entire report here.
