Abolish the fire department.
I’ve said this on the Barbell Logic podcast, but it bears repeating.
Abolish the fire department. They cost more than the property or life they save.
Firstly, if they save any lives, they are lives they imperil by the very existence of fire departments. No sane person would build a sky scraper or a high density metropolis if there were no fire departments. If insane persons did build and live in those areas, and they do, I say let them deal with the consequences.
More importantly, the fire department is too expensive. Look up the number of real fire calls your city fire department did last yea. Find the budget total for the fire department. Divide the budget by the number of calls. I wager your city could simply pay for any structures that burned and possibly have a surplus.
Nevermind that property damage is the problem of the owners and their insurers.
A story.
I know a small town former mayor and a number of city councilors from said small town. This small town is neatly bisected by a train track that is VERY busy. The long freight trains coming through town shut down all cross town traffic several times a day, for as much as 15 minutes at a time.
This small town has two fire stations, one on each side of town, just in case the train is running, they can get a cat out of Mrs. Jenkins tree as fast as possible.
My mayor and councilor friends proposed a series of overpasses be built in order maintain traffic flow while the trains pass through.
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AND IT’S UNION OPPOSED THIS PROPOSAL, STATING THE LOSS OF FIREMAN JOBS IT WOULD CAUSE.
Additionally, across the country fire departments have lobbied and have been deemed “First responders.” They roll out to most 911 calls first. Why? The union will tell you why. It requires more budget, more equipment, more union members to go roll out BEFORE any sort of triage is done on an emergency call. They’ll state the number of runs their station went on in a period as evidence of the need for them. Rubbish.
Their unions have made them a considerable political force with huge conflicts of interest.
I AM in favor of volunteer fire departments. My volunteer fire department is great. They operate on subscriptions. If they roll out to your fire and you aren’t a subscriber, they charge you. It’s perfect.
