Good morning!!!!

[txdon]

Reading this morning where California FD is looking into charging for services.
California fire department feeling the squeeze; decides to charge hundreds per hour for services | TheBlaze

"As early as November, the ECCFPD will require payment for aid rendered in the instance of vehicle accidents, hazardous material releases, illegal (intentionally set) fires and water emergencies. The fees range from $448 an hour (per engine) to $6,608 per three hours for handling complex hazmat situations.
Additional charges will be tacked on for the use of other services, such as extra crews, equipment or ambulance services.

“When we didn’t pass measures before, the community really challenged the district for not exploring and going after every other ways to find alternative revenue in lieu of asking for property taxes,” Fire Chief Brian Helmick said in explaining the decision"

Being with the rural VFD 90% of the fire calls were from brush/trash fires getting out of control by the wind picking up or not being attended. I remember one that was still piling on the brush as we were putting his grass fire out that had spread to his neighbors. A charge for fire services deemed preventable (a fire that was intentionally started) would either make people more safety conscious or would there be a delay in calling the FD?

Please keep this non-political and only discuss safety and economic issues.

 

[DABSGT]

Good morning all. We are now getting leftover rain from flo, predicted up to one inch an hour for a while. Because yesterday was a nice sunny day for the range I was told that they could not fit in the retired guys and gals so I had to return first thing this morning in the poring rain

 

[DABSGT]

Well qualification went well and good for another year, never fun in the rain glasses fog up and wet.

 

[DABSGT]

Txdon many fire Depts charge for non emergency services such as a business or home where several false alarms are received, and for inspections, police also charge for multiple false alarms when the property owner does nothing to fix the alarm problem.

 

[PJSprog]

68°F and light fog this morning, going up to 93° today.

Glad everyone here in Flo's path seems to be faring well.

Wife had a talk with the boy over the weekend, and let him know it's time for him to start looking for his own place to live. She said he got a little upset at first, but understood that he'd never grow while living in his parent's basement. She told him we'd find him the furniture and kitchen stuff he needs to get started, and now he's actually kind of looking forward to it. So are we. I'm not sure how well he's going to do on his own, as he's still entirely too irresponsible. But, it will be a valuable lesson and learning experience for him. Plus, he won't be encumbered by our stifling rules anymore (like closing and locking the door when he comes in at 2am).

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Reading this morning where California FD is looking into charging for services.

I have the same issue here in Butte County, California. The county has been struggling for several years to cover the Public Safety budget, which includes the county sheriff as well as fire protection services they purchase from CalFire (the state fire agency). You may recall that earlier this year they were considering the closure of my local fire station during the winter months to save money. Once it was pointed out that the majority of the calls to that station were for medical assistance, and citizens indicated that replacements for County Supervisors that would properly prioritize Public Safety in the county budget would be easy to vote for in the next election, the issue was resolved. But not before the Supervisors proposed founding a Fire Protection District that would be funded by extra property taxes. What's going on in Contra Costa shows how the Fire District isn't the solution and hasn't covered the costs. The whole idea of a Fire District is to isolate fire protection costs so that they can be more closely managed and distributed among those that benefit from the protection. But in a large geographical area that is thinly settled, it takes more fire stations to keep response times reasonable and there are fewer taxpayers to cover the costs. The end result is that rural taxpayers end up paying much more for the Public Safety services they currently enjoy. Another concern is that funding the Fire District wasn't also accompanied by a reduction in the property taxes by the amount that currently funds the county fire budget, and the Fire District as proposed would represent a new financial burden for the people living in the county.

As far as forcing the people that cause preventable fires to pay for putting them out, that's already being done at the state level. The problem is that people are getting billed even when they take all the recommended precautions and the fire still gets away. If you want people to clear their brush and make defensible space around their homes and outbuildings, there are going to be controlled burns to get rid of the downed trees and brush, otherwise the fuel is still around to cause problems later. I've asked the local fire crew if they could come out and monitor burning of some of my larger brush piles, and their response was for me to make the piles smaller and safer to burn. That would have required a bulldozer, which is how the piles were built in the first place, and which was no longer on site. So I waited for calm, rainy days, scraped the required 10' barrier around the fires to bare dirt, and burned them, one at a time, using a garden hose to moderate the rate of burn so that the flames didn't get too high. I still was very nervous doing it, as I knew I'd be liable for any damages if the fire got away from me, and all it would take would be an unexpected, unpredictable pick up in the wind for things to go terribly wrong. The fire crews weren't doing anything those days anyway, and it would have been cheap insurance and good practice for them to be there, not to mention a good public relations move.

But then there are still people that will go out on a 100F+ day in the middle of summer when the grass is so dry it's brown and brittle, and use a rotary lawn mower to cut 18" high fields full of rocks. And the steel blade will cause a spark and the wind will quickly fan it to cover tens if not thousands of acres. In those cases, it is reasonable that the person pushing the lawnmower be charged not only for the costs of putting out the fire, but for any damage to surrounding property. It is also not unreasonable for criminal charges to be brought as there are strict laws about when and how brush clearing should be done, and authorities spend a lot of time educating rural land owners about those laws.

And then there are the arsonists that deliberately to out and, for whatever twisted reason, go out and set wildland fires. There have been several instances here locally where these people have been caught, but we never hear about what punishment has been handed out. The only fitting punishment in my mind would not only be for those people to pay for the damage and fire fighting costs, but to also serve in some capacity to either fight fires or clear brush to prevent fires. And for a very, very long time, perhaps the rest of their lives, as they have shown an absolute disregard for the lives and welfare of their fellow citizens.

 

[sodamo]

68°F and .66 inches rain. Looks like another soggy day ahead as the wet remains of Paul close in. Oh well, another in door day. Tool drawers are looking pretty good.

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

 

[toppop52]

Besides idiots flipping cigarettes into dry grass from their cars, our biggest fire starter is freight trains. Not from coal sparks nowadays but from steel wheels on steel tracks. We have several brush fires every year from that during dry spells. About 5 years ago one train started over 20 fires between Cape Charles, VA and Salisbury, where they finally figured it out and stopped the train.

 

[Thomas]

Buppies
Thomas I see some chilly weather heading your way
.............................
:dance1: Thank you...Thank you.

 

[Bird]

Good luck at dentist Bird

69 high of 80 today showers this morning then clearing good bye Florence that storm bought us over 7.5in of rain

Prayers for those in need

Thanks, Randy, and I would say it did go well. Having my mouth blocked open for an hour and a half was certainly no fun, and of course it took awhile after I left the dentist's office for the anesthetic to wear off, but now it seems that I'm all back to normal (well, as normal as I get).