Raise the Hammer

If you would like to argue semantics over the term suburb by all means go ahead. Whether any of the former municipalities asked to be almalgamated is irrelevant. The City of Hamilton and the administration of the Fire Department still have a responsibility to provide a proper fire service. That's not being done in my opinion, and yes previous administrations at HFD bear a degree of responsibility in that, but that doesn't give the current Chief a free pass.

I pursued proper channels when trying to obtain a detailed answer to a reasonable question as a tax payer. I got a muddled answer that would have satisfied a lay person which I'm not in this subject. When I pressed for more information I got the brush off. That tells me there are things the Fire Department administration and the city don't want people to know. That's bull shit.

With respect to Toronto Fire, we haven't faired particularly better than Hamilton. The only difference may be that we don't have the administrative and operational headache of having to deal with part timers showing up or not. Of the three emergency services in TO, Fire is the only one who has not added to its complement, despite consultants reports indicating there are as manys as 8 new fire stations needed. I personally work in a station where the exact same situation as Station 6 has just gone through is about to happen. The relocation of an apparatus from an area predominated by the lower socio/economic level to one of affluence. But the article I wrote was about Hamilton not Toronto.

It's Chief Simonds who seems to want to suck and blow at the same time, not me. (I'm sure he's a nice guy, I've been told by more than one person that he is a chief who supports firefighters, but that's irrelevant in this context.) The term operational gaps certainly would cover re-distributing the 3 heavy rescues. To try and use it to cover up the fact that staffing is inadequate and resources spread too thinly is misleading and disingenuous to the tax payers of this community.
Finally two hatting specifically refers to members working for two fire departments. If you know anything about the IAFF then you would know that. But I see as you have not had the integrity to supply a name with your post, it would seem that you just like to take pot shots at people when it suits you. My working for myself on the side has never interfered with my job as a firefighter, and my association has never threatened me or anyone else with pulling their union card for part timing that is not related to firefighting. Nor in my knowledge has the IAFF in general. But that fact would have gotten in the way of your insult wouldn't it?

Comment edited by Shempatolla on 2012-08-23 10:33:15