In my previous articles I have discussed the changes in society, and that today we live in the “what have you done for me lately" (WIFM) generation; the flavor of the moment culture. While they appreciate us putting out their neighbor’s fire, today’s citizens who are watching their every dollar, demanding government efficiency, and with government expenditures readily available at just a click of the mouse, our citizens are asking “What have you done for me today?” Government leaders have capitalized on this attitude in their pursuit of reducing costs and taxes with follow on questions such as, “why do they need such big fire trucks?” “Why do we pay firefighters to sleep?” A decade ago the fire department was the sacred cow that no politician dared attack or question. Today we are fair game, and unless we are providing a daily value and can answer that question “What have you done for me today,” our future outlook is not a good one, and that erosion is starting.
Our volunteer fire service should serve as a cautionary tale here. These are true citizen heroes. Neighbors serving neighbors not only for the human good of helping another in need, but also for the good of the community, by volunteering their time for free (or little compensation) which in turn keeps taxes and community expenses down. It is true America at its core. An amazing public service by dedicated and caring people with no additional motivation other than to serve others, and yet what is happening to our volunteers? They are slowly withering away and fighting for survival. Values in this country are changing and we need to pay heed to this change, and in turn adjust the services we provide to meet this new value.
Let’s just address this up front. Will the fire service ever go out of business? No of course not. However could we ever get to a point where the public is only willing to fund a couple of small fire trucks with just a couple of firefighters to put out fires? Yes. It is happening right now. Why? Because that is where we have placed our value for decades – in response services only, and doing so in contrast to a changing society with vastly different values to which we haven’t taken the time to appreciate and have refused to acknowledge.
Where Is The Government Going?
For those students who have studied government (thus value for a college education in the fire service) you have without a doubt studied and researched privatization, where there are movements within our country to privatize government services on the basis that the marketplace will lower costs and enforce efficiency, or as those of us who have served in the Armed Forces know, “brought to you by the lowest bidder.”
Government managers are now seeking out private entities to provide government services at lower costs. Any person with exposure to budget sheets can see that the number one cost to provide a service is personnel and benefits. Thus our taxpayers are currently paying for personnel and their benefits to provide services, and they are now asking in relation to that expenditure, “What have you done for me today.” And they should. And we should be able to articulate an answer that they see a value in.
We cannot argue that NFPA standards will save us from privatization because that’s all they are; they are standards - not regulations or requirements, and they have no mandates requiring compliance, and no consequences from not complying. How many fire departments today meet the NFPA standard? Has this really compelled local governments to take action and spend more money to meet the standard? If a private entity stepped in they have no obligation to meet any standard unless it is required by contract, but what government would require more in a contract than they are able to provide themselves?
The American Red Cross Steps In
Privatization is encroaching on the fire service. The first proverbial red flag, the shot heard around the world, for this occurrence is right now flying high in the air as yet another entity has stepped in to fill the vacuum we have left on a national level, and has publically taken on a valued service that fire departments should be providing. The American Red Cross is now in the smoke detector installation business. What’s next?
In most cases the Red Cross is working with the local fire departments, but make no mistake, they are leading the charge. How can I say this? According to a recent release, in a matter of months, they have installed over 2,200 smoke detectors. Why were there 2,200 homes without smoke detectors in the first place and why did it take the Red Cross to come along to finally address this? According to these releases it is the Red Cross coming into these communities to partner with the fire service to get us out in the community to provide a life saving device in a time of fire.
Let me stress this first, upfront, and right away – this is not an attack on the American Red Cross! I appreciate and commend them for getting involved and providing a much needed service. They will save lives doing this and that is the bottom line and ultimate goal. This article is a proverbial mirror being held up to the face of the fire service to take a serious and honest look, and to ask ourselves why there was any vacuum in the field of fire protection that allows another outside entity to be able to step in and lead us in the first place? We’ve dropped the ball and someone else is picking it up.
We have to ask why? No doubt because it serves a public good and it’s in the interest of public safety. But there are a lot of public safety issues in our community that are not being addressed. Why has the American Red Cross stepped up to the plate on a fire protection issue in the fire prevention arena when the fire service is already funded to provide this? Because to put it simply we have sat idly by ignoring a public value and want until the Red Cross noticed it and jumped in. It’s obviously worth their limited time, money, and effort, on a national level.
What Are You Doing To Prevent It?
The first excuse I get as to why fire departments are not more active in fire prevention is funding and staffing. It is stated that fire departments today do not have the funding and staffing to provide this service. If that is your viewpoint then I need to remind you that the American Red Cross is a largely all volunteer agency that operates predominately from donated funds. We are paid by taxpayer dollars to staff fire stations and provide fire protection. We have absolutely no valid excuse here. The American Red Cross has been able to make aggressive strides in smoke detector installations nationally and their statistics are impressive.
We have not evolved, expanded, reinvented, to align with what our citizens value and want. This is how businesses have survived and flourished, while others have withered away. Kmart verses Wal-Mart (anyone remember the Mammoth Mart). Blockbuster verses Netflix. The fire service is in the fire protection business, the Red Cross has traditionally been disaster relief. They have evolved and expanded to meet a public value and need, we have not. Who will get the dollar? Who will grow?
The door for privatization of fire service operations is now open, and the Red Cross is proving it can be done, and the public loves them for it.
Will there one day be mini-pumpers operating in your community with “Joe’s Fire Protection, Inc” on the door, and responding to just small grass and trash fires, and handling the basic 1st Responder calls that many fire departments today are stepping away from, and providing door to door community fire prevention at a fraction of the cost, while we are reduced to one or two fire trucks with a handful of personnel just for “the big ones?” Could such a ridiculous and foolish thought ever really happen?
Gee I don’t know. But there was once a time IBM was for all intent and purposes the only recognized entity in the computing industry, they had the market cornered, they were the market. Yet these highly intelligent computer scientists laughed at the thought that one day Americans would ever want, or have a need for, even one single computer in their home. Look at the label on the computer you are using now, I am betting it does not say IBM. What did the firefighters of old say about the combustion engine? About responding to medical calls?
Will something like privatization ever happen to the fire service this year or this decade? Probably not. But we cannot just worry about what it going on in the fire service today, but we may leave for those tomorrow. We need to protect it, expand it, keep it healthy and strong, just as it was when it was given to us, or we will become just another historic folklore akin to the Knights of old.
For the volunteers out there, our citizen heroes, I realize this reading brings more gloom by providing more questions with no answers. Volunteers are already fighting to maintain the ability to respond and starting any new drive or program is just short of impossible. But this is one service. Volunteer, paid, combination; we are all the fire service and what is good for one is good for all.
In my last article I challenged you all to Google “American Red Cross and smoke detector installation.” Well that is here now. So with this article I will now challenge you to Google, “U.S. Navy and firefighting robots.”
We need to be able to answer that question “What have you done for me today?”
Just as you look at the label on your computer today and not see IBM, I now wonder what your grandchildren will find on their visit to the local fire station in the future, or who will come to their class to talk about fire safety.
Yep. I wonder. And so should you.
DANIEL BYRNE, a Firehouse.com contributing editor, is a firefighter/paramedic, with the Burton, S.C., Fire District. A 20-year veteran of the emergency services, he holds both an associate and bachelor’s degree in fire science, is a National Fire Academy Alumni, and a veteran of the Desert Shield/Storm war with the U.S. Marine Corps. Byrne is the recipient of local and state awards for public educations and relations. He is moderator of the Fire Prevention and Life Safety forums on Firehouse.com. You can reach him by e-mail at [email protected].
