Give Kenosha firefighters a break

Recently, the Kenosha News ran a story on the Kenosha Fire Department and the Kenosha Professional Firefighters Union citing their failure to reach an agreement to send firefighters to the hurricane Katrina recovery efforts.  On Sunday, the News threw their editorial dart at both the union and the department.  A little more investigation into this story would have been appropriate.

I know the reason given for this lack of initiative was the way overtime would have been handled for the firefighters who traveled to the gulf, but the issue is larger than that.  Not only was the pay for those volunteers an issue, their absence from the workforce here would have stressed the overtime budget as well.  Six firefighters on temporary duty in New Orleans would have meant increased overtime to cover their absence.

Moreover, FEMA has canceled its call for volunteers.  They have all the help they need right now.

It would have been interesting to know what kind of work our firefighters would have been doing, that they gone down there.  Some volunteer firefighters returned to their homes after they were asked to pass out pamphlets at shelters, rather than the jobs they were trained to do.

Before condemning the News for throwing their dart at the department, I would have to ask how many reporters the News sent to the gulf to cover the story?  How many pressmen and layout people went to help at the Times Picayune in New Orleans?  How may rolls of paper were sent to the Sun Herald in Biloxi?  Knowing that you helped assure the continued operation of your sister newspapers in that devastated area would give me good reason to support your dart at the fire department.

Absent any grand gestures of aid from the News, I would ask that you stop throwing your darts at the fire department.  They do a good job for the city of Kenosha.  They respond every time they are called.  They put out every single fire.  They transport all the sick and injured to are hospitals and they are considerate and compassionate when victims are beyond their help.  That is their mission.  It’s time you give them a break.

John Celebre

Taken in its entirety from the Voice of the People in the September 25, 2005 edition of the Kenosha News