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| Letter to the Editor | April 28, 2001 |
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http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=1741755&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=32266&rfi=8
| Volunteers due thanks, not low blow | ||||||||
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| I am upset by Michael Patrick Urbonas’ letter. Let me start by saying I hope his brother is doing fine. |
| If the tree was way out of Urbonas’ league, why did he start in the first place? Did it ever dawn on Urbonas that maybe the Orange Volunteer Fire Department had not received the proper training for “high angle rescue”? I am sure the Milford Fire Department, eventually called, did. Maybe that is why Milford has an ISO Class 1 department, meaning it has one of the best fire departments in the United States. Did it ever dawn on Urbonas that volunteers work full-time jobs, and then risk their lives without asking for a dime? Why doesn’t Urbonas ask the residents of Orange, or any small town that supports a volunteer fire department, if they want their taxes to double or maybe triple to support a full-time paid fire department. I understand Urbonas was very upset because his brother was in peril, but that is no way to treat a group of individuals who unselfishly dropped what they were doing to try and help their neighbors. Maybe all of the equipment they brought to the scene couldn’t be used because of access problems. Would Urbonas want a 15-ton piece of machinery ripping up his lawn? In regard to the word “professional” Urbonas kept using, volunteers are unpaid professionals. I am one of the volunteer firefighters who make up two-thirds of our nation’s firefighting forces. Jeff Spencer East Haven |
| İNew Haven Register 2001 |