The Advocate Staff Reports
Posted: 11/12/2008 02:40:48 AM EST
To the editor:
I would like to comment on the article "House fire ignites debate" (Oct. 17).
How can the Long Ridge Fire Department possibly cover 14 square miles of its district, relying on volunteers to respond with one truck and one person on it?
How can (Long Ridge Chief) Bob Bennett, who at the time of the Mill Spring Lane fire was in North Carolina, speculate on what was happening when he was not even on the scene? This has failed to be mentioned in any statement that he has made.
Without paid firefighters in the volunteer fire houses, the people of North Stamford are putting their lives and homes at risk. You cannot respond to a working fire with one man and a truck.
Bob Bennett stated he ended the agreement for automatic mutual aid with the Stamford Fire & Rescue Department because the city department does not have the training or equipment needed to cover his district, adding: "I don't need them in my way when we're at a fire." What "special equipment and training" does Long Ridge have that SFRD does not?
SFRD personnel are very qualified and trained to respond on automatic mutual aid. In a non-hydrant district, SFRD personnel know how to draft water from a pond or lake.
I hope the residents in North Stamford rethink when they contribute to the financial support of the volunteer districts and what they are actually getting for their donations. I am sure the Molen family will agree that the city of Stamford needs one unified Fire Department.
Time for the volunteer districts to wave the white flag.
Marlene A. Springer
Stamford
The writer is an executive secretary in the city fire marshal's office.