Let's stop hero-worshipping firemen please

Big city firemen are good - my friend's husband is one and was stabbed by a crackhead. Some get shot at by jerks. I don't mind.

Can't wait for you to die in a fire in a county where you voted to cut the budget of the EMT/Fire.

Let's not forget that firemen are famous among other responders for being first-class thieves. They are known for stealing while inside structures they are working to put out fires within. This is something that is not normally discussed with outsiders, but among those who engage in response activities firemen are often given the stink eye because they are considered dishonest and untrustworthy because of their stealing while on the job.

I agree. Anyone who can't handle seeing a watermelon is no hero.

I know OP is probably a troll but a couple months ago there was a very young girl stuck high up in a tree and I counted at least 8 large firetrucks surrounding the park. I am glad they rescued the girl but it must have been a really slow day for fires.

A buddy of mine trains for ultras while at the firehouse. He does 20+ mile runs on the treadmill (boring, I know) because he has so much downtime.

Donnie T cost's taxpayers millions for his personal endeavours. Firemen are needed and risk their lives. End of!

They also have a very high incidence of pretty severe back injuries. Sure they have great insurance and benefits the rest of their lives, but that doesn't make your back good again.

911 obviously played a huge part in the elevation of "first responders" to living saint status. But before that, the hero worship actually grew out of how municipalities made deals with unions to avoid giving out pay raises. Municipalities that did not have money for pay raises would make deals with the unions to give fire fighters and police free funerals if they were killed on the job. This was back in the day when gang mayhem would lead to clashes with police and fires would rage out of control killing dozens of police and fireman. So, getting a free funeral was a significant benefit because there was a pretty good chance you would get killed on the job. Then, with each subsequent labor negotiation, the funeral benefit would get pumped up. Municipalities added parades and huge masses at the biggest Catholic church in town. The tail wagged the dog and now we have giant processions where law enforcement and fire fighters come in from out of state whenever someone dies on the job. While I can certainly appreciate the bravery and selflessness of first responders, you are actually far more likely to die or get injured trawling for shrimp, cutting down trees or putting a new roof on a house. The pay and benefits for many of the more dangerous jobs are a pittance compared to what first responders get. Yet, when someone dies falling off a roof, it may not even make the evening news.

Nobody should hero worship anyone, I agree. That said, I believe law enforcement, military, fire fighters, first responders and such deserve a level of respect and honor.

I think the deal with fire fighters is that it's 99% nothing/easy and then 1% terror and extreme risk. Somebody has to step up when the 1% comes knocking. On top of that, these guys have to know what to do and then execute in extreme situations. Fires in various structures and proper responses = fairly complex / sophisticated stuff.

I prefer to hero-worship men and women who at some point may risk their life to save others rather than hero-worshiping professional athletes.

Can you suggest something productive they can do to maximize their down time and not hurt response times?

john utah wrote:

Nobody should hero worship anyone, I agree. That said, I believe law enforcement, military, fire fighters, first responders and such deserve a level of respect and honor.

I think the deal with fire fighters is that it's 99% nothing/easy and then 1% terror and extreme risk. Somebody has to step up when the 1% comes knocking. On top of that, these guys have to know what to do and then execute in extreme situations. Fires in various structures and proper responses = fairly complex / sophisticated stuff.

I live in California...

Anybody watch the news?

Any of you guys (yes, you OP) want to go out there to the raging brush fires?

They are worth every penny.

Kurt Vonnegut had a dual view of firemen. In Hocus Pocus, he writes:

"Every so often, in the midst of chaos, you come across an amazing, inexplicable instance of civic responsibility. Maybe the last shred of faith people have is in their firemen."

In Timequake, he shares a slightly less generous view of them:

“Hooray for firemen! Scum of the Earth as some men may be in their daily lives, they can all be saints in emergencies. Hooray for firemen.”

Well dude, I don't want to do construction on a thousand foot building without a safety harness, nor do I want to be a maintaining the sewage pipes in my city, but those guys aren't being worshiped like heroes. In fact, some of the dirtiest jobs are looked down on upon society. That's the whole point of this post.

Freeky Neat wrote:

They also have a very high incidence of pretty severe back injuries. Sure they have great insurance and benefits the rest of their lives, but that doesn't make your back good again.

So do Pro golfers , we don't honor pro golfers.

Karl Hungus wrote:

Big city firemen are good - my friend's husband is one and was stabbed by a crackhead. Some get shot at by jerks. I don't mind.

yah, they work TWO DAYS a week, live in Pennsylvania, often have second jobs and many-- not all-- are chronic drunks. NYFD has been egregiously-- and blatantly-- racist for decades also.

They've done some good work at times but "The Rubber Men" as they are known have also gotten a million blowskis in extra compensation.

Seems fair compensation but veneration? No way.

Hilarious when, drunk, they turn on their own tho'.

FireSale wrote:

Can't wait for you to die in a fire in a county where you voted to cut the budget of the EMT/Fire.

/thread

LannyW wrote:

Freeky Neat wrote:

They also have a very high incidence of pretty severe back injuries. Sure they have great insurance and benefits the rest of their lives, but that doesn't make your back good again.

So do Pro golfers , we don't honor pro golfers.

When's the last time a pro golfer died on the job trying to help someone they've never met?