We drove by Monrovia Fire Department Station 1 this afternoon and were pleased to see an engine, ladder truck and battalion chief vehicle sitting at the ready. We snapped this (really lousy and shaky) photo by cell phone camera on the way past.
With this weekend's fire disaster, many cities are calling for mutual aid. Earlier this year, an MFD crew spent nearly three weeks on the road, fighting fires in Northern California.
But, while some MFD fire fighters are no doubt away on the front lines in Santa Barbara, Sylmar or Yorba Linda (note that this is Engine 701, a reserve engine, so the primary, Engine 101, is probably near the hot spots), MFD has a full complement of troops to respond to our needs.
Hopefully, we will never need fire fighters from Sylmar, Santa Barbara or Yorba Linda to come to Monrovia. But, merely knowing they are available is the return on Monrovia's mutual aid investment.
I would rather see those trucks patrolling the foothill interface areas for dangerous fire conditions and activities. The firefighters waste to much time at the stations.
Bad Management at best.
Posted by: ghstrydr164 | November 20, 2008 at 07:29 AM