Sometimes you do not need text to get ones point across, a picture does the job. Here is a photograph posted last night as crews in Concord battled a structure fire.
Here is one from August 11
The point of these photographs is that $75 for parcel tax is pretty cheap considering the alternatives of 10 stations closing which is longer response times which put folks in danger. You can stay up to date with fire services by “Liking” the Facebook Group Protect Contra Costa Fire and Emergency Services
Via CONFIRES August 11 Blog:
Fire crews responded to several fires yesterday afternoon and evening:
At 4:46pm crews from Pleasant Hill, Pacheco, Martinez, Walnut Creek, and Concord responded to a reported structure fire at 615 Little Lane in Pleasant Hill. Arriving units found smoke and flames showing from the eaves of a two unit townhome. Crews made a coordinated attack from the interior, the exterior and rooftop to confine and extinguish the fire. Crews were successful in confining the fire to the walls and attic of one of the two units while simultaneously salvaging all of the home’s contents to prevent fire and water damage to the contents. Smoke alarms were working in the home and assisted in notification to the occupants. No citizen or firefighter injuries were reported. Fire crews were committed to this incident for 2 hours. The residents in the affected unit declined temporary housing from the Red Cross and the resident of the second unit was able to return to his home once fire crews and PG&E cleared it of all hazards. The cause of the fire is undetermined, but most likely accidental. Damage estimates were not available.
At just after 6pm, fire crews from El Sobrante and San Pablo responded to assist the Rodeo-Hercules Fire District with a residential structure fire in a home on Myrna Way in Rodeo. Our crews were committed until approximately 7:30pm on this incident.
A few minutes after 10pm, an exterior fire was reported in the 3600 block of Longview Road in Antioch. Fire crews from Pittsburg and Antioch responded to this fire and the first arriving crew found a vehicle on fire next to a home with power lines down in the area. Fire crews were able to get between the vehicle fire and the home and prevent any extension of the fire to the home. The fire was brought under control in 10 minutes, but crews were committed for about an hour for overhaul and mop-up of the fire. There were no injuries reported in this incident.
At 10:43 pm a structure fire was reported at 2756 Argyll Avenue in Concord. Fire crews from Concord, Pacheco, Pleasant Hill, and Walnut Creek arrived at an apartment complex to find a detached multi-garage structure, with seven of the ten garages fully involved. The fire was spreading to the remaining three garages, surrounding vegetation and a nearby apartment complex. First arriving crews were able to hold the fire off from spreading to the exposures until more firefighters arrived. Ultimately the fire was contained to the structure of origin and no other structures were damaged. Crews remained on scene for over 4 hours to completely extinguish the fire and assist the owners with salvaging their belongings. A fire investigator was called to the scene and the cause of the fire is under investigation. Damage was estimated at approximately $100,000. No citizen or firefighter injuries were reported. Fire crews were back out at the scene on Saturday morning with heavy equipment from the Fire District overhauling the structure and removing debris.
“The fires in the 10 o’clock hour demonstrate the current ability of the Fire District to respond to multiple fires at the same time over a geographically dispersed area. Last night we had twelve fire crews committed on two incidents for an extended period of time while still meeting the needs of providing emergency response in all of our communities with the remaining sixteen fire crews. This depth of resources is critical to meeting the ongoing needs of emergency services during larger incidents that occur frequently in the Fire District,” stated Fire Marshal Lewis Broschard. “Our commitment of resources in the West County areas earlier in the day is an example of the close working relationship we have with our automatic aid and mutual aid partners in West County,”
Source
http://confireblog.com/another-night-with-multiple-fire-incidents/
5 comments
They have my vote!
Seeing the 2011 payroll, many are making base plus 113-168K in overtime then you add benefits and their yearly is over 250-350K. Having taken an 11% pay cut this past year and knowing a few people that are still worried about losing their homes, it makes me open for discussion only. (I haven’t made my decision to vote yes or no)
Has the FF union done anything to help reduce the budget? It’s a well known fact that the budget problems are related to over generous retirement benefits for starters.
It may not seem like much but to many, $75 is all they have left. They are on pure survival mode and if the check book says you need gas, groceries, insurance, doctor visits, kids school clothing etc. Voting for another tax without any compromise by those that are asking for it is out of the question. That’s one reason why measure K (different budget reasons however) failed. The money train stopped a very long time ago.
While I appreciate the fact that people are struggling, the monthly cost in question here is less than the swing in gas prices most families are enduring. The monthly under discussion is a tick over $6
The union has made concessions. If that is your sole determining parameter for your vote. But I’m guessing it’s not.
Did you factor in your potential increase in your insurance? What is the value you put on public safety? While you may be well prepared and careful, what you will find if you study any significant fires is, when they aren’t tamped down immediately because response time is slow, the fire in your neighbor’s house ends up taking yours too.
Things to consider.
If the money train has stopped, so does the service. Just like if you don’t have money to shop for groceries, they generally don’t let you load up a basket and take them home anyways.
Poor in Martinez –
I don’t know if this will help, but just so you are aware – Con Fire employees pay 26% of their monthly paycheck into their retirement. So my husband got paid $9889/month in July which included 14 hours of OT. Of that $9889, here were the following deductions:
Medical/Dental – $227.37
Retirement – $2306
Union Dues – $216.25
Taxes – $1174.37
Which leaves us a monthly paycheck of $5965.01. As of our August Paycheck – we took the last of the 10% pay cuts that were agreed between the Union and Confire – which essentially dropped our monthly paycheck by another $600. (I think we took 5% in January and now 5% in July)
Grand total per month brought home – $5365.01. This is a yearly take home pay of $64,380.12.
Just like you, I struggle each month to make sure that all of our bills are covered – from the added school money, to our babysitter (because I have to work too), to PG&E, to our mortgage ($2350), to $900 gas per month, etc.
And I am sure that I will get some hater comments, but oh well.
You see that is what is not being publicly told. If the Fire Fighters and the department have been making concessions and that they are working to ease the budget. Let it out there or this will fail like it has in the past. I think the big issue as always in a Government agency is the inability to look at their bottom line, roll up their sleeves and make the tough decisions of what they can really provide. Many are political (votes in office) and many are basically stuck by mandate. Have they looked at reducing or removing duplicate services that other agencies are also providing at the same time? Now if I only had $3000 to repair my car. Looking at this bill do you think anyone would be really excited to vote in another tax? I’ve also had to stop “filling the boot” when they are out there. It hurts.
I think the public needs to be told what has been done, because the information is not being put out there.
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