"And downtown will keep historic Station No. 1 in operation, too. The one built in 1906 for horse-drawn fire equipment. The one too small to accommodate a modern pumper truck. The one, consequently, that holds only a ladder truck -- which would come in handy, to be sure, for rescuing people should an office building catch on fire, but which could not put water on the blaze."
Hey, whose got the brains over there that you can't understand the value of having a Ladder be the first responding truck in a high rise fire?
Water won't evacuate people from the upper floors. Which in the panic and chaos of a high-rise fire is a helpful thing.
But way to go RT, another poorly thought out editorial to fuel my morning.
Thanks!
2 comments:
I could be wrong, but my understanding is that #1 (not related) can hold a pumper and did until it was moved to #14 in the 90's. Hopefully if Rhett reads this he can clear this up.
How very true you are. I have commented on it a couple of times over at www.roanokefirefighters.blogspot.com. The City approved Station 14 being built and 12 positions 4 firefighters each on 3 shifts. When it came down to opening the station the Police department needed to grow so City Council decided to give the Police our 12 positions and simply move the 12 on Engine #1 to Engine #14. Ending an era of Firefighting tradition at Station #1 possibly forever. The basis of the problem is that Firefighters aren't bitching just to bitch. We just think that the money should be better used somewhere else like apparatus, equipment, benefits, salary. Fire Stations do not put out fires. If you talk to just about any firefighter in one of the old stations they will tell you that they enjoy working there, like the tradition and history it possesses, and that the stations could easily be physically up to snuff if the City spent a little more money on them. Station 9 went a long time needing a new roof, finally the City was able to do that. However if they took care of some of the other issues they would be top notch fire stations. For the most part we are talking about solid masonry construction head to toe. 12-18 inches of solid concrete or brick and morter. These stations are just about bomb proof. I ramble on... Check out some of the other stuff I have on the site it might shed a little light on what the true problem is.
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