The Importance of Professional Firefighters

A Reminder as to Why Professional Firefighters Should Be Retained to Protect a Municipality

With the slowing economy and increasing operational costs, many towns are contemplating eliminating services such as paid fire departments. We have municipal administrators who tell their constituents that they will save X amount of dollars and taxpayers are on board. In these smaller towns, where firefighters have plenty of time for fire prevention education, people that should be happy that houses aren't burning are upset that firefighters are getting paid when they aren't fighting fires.

Most people don't know that most professional firefighters are also certified first responders, EMTs or paramedics. A number of firefighters are also trained in various rescue technicalities such as collapse rescue, vehicle rescue and rope rescue.

Many people also don't realize that having a certain amount of firefighters available for a certain quantity of time is something that's acknowledged by the ISO (Insurance Safety Organization.) This is an organization that assesses a municipality's preparedness for a house fire and provides a rating of 1-10, 10 being the worst. These ratings are then in turn used to assess insurance rates for homeowners. Where property owners may save money in taxes, they will pay in homeowner's insurance to ensure adequate protection.

Not only that but, with this receding economy, many people are taking on second jobs or, at least, proving extreme dedication to their primary one in order to preempt a dismissal. People can't afford to volunteer like they used to. If a town regresses to a volunteer department, one cannot be certain that firefighters will be able to respond to any emergency in a timely fashion. That's when property is lost and people die. That definitely costs more than what might be saved by the elimination of a paid department.

Is it worth it?