From: rlt@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (R.L.Taylor KB2OOA)
Subject: Re: Fire fighters and whatifs  (Was Re: Sanity arrives ...)
Organization: AT&T
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 17:09:01 GMT

In article <1992Apr7.031848.5817@matilda.vut.edu.au> db@matilda.vut.edu.au (David Bowman ) writes:
>In article <1992Apr6.104946.15968@cbnewsl.cb.att.com> rlt@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (R.L.Taylor KB2OOA) writes:

>>Gee, we have a fire department in my town, too.  But I still have smoke
>>detectors in my house, and fire extinguishers in my kitchen and my car.
>>To do otherwise would be pretty stupid, IMO.  Fire department response

>You must have a miserable life, worrying all the
>time about what can go wrong. I would get such equipment if
>I lived in the bush, but in the inner city, no way!

Yep, lemme tell ya, it's the pits!  Why, that fire extinguisher takes up
a whole 3 or 4 square inches on my kitchen counter.  Dammitall, I have to
dust the thing, too.  And I must have spent a whole 3 or 4 minutes out of
my life deciding to buy it.  Yep, yep, worrying all the time, I am!  Oh,
the suffering, the misery!!!!

But ya know, once I had a teeny little grease fire.  Gave it a squirt
from the fire extinguisher, and presto!  All gone.  Took a couple minutes
to wipe up, then I was back to cooking dinner...all in less time than
it would have taken to get the fire department out.  And without anybody
tracking mud on my nice clean rug. :-)  Amazifying, the benefits of being
paranoid, now isn't it?  Good thing I spent all that time worrying about
my kitchen getting dirty, so I had a sponge and some dish soap to clean
it up with, now isn't it?

>>time (like police response time) can be several minutes...longer if they're
>>already busy with another fire (crime).  Guess I should just let my house
>>burn down while I wait?

>No. I suggest you do something about the services your
>country provides.

Actually, in every town I've lived in, they're excellent.  And almost
entirely volunteer.  (Except for the police.)  I've even spent many years
volunteering my time on first aid squads.  Average response time for both
fire and ambulance crew has been somewhere between 3-6 minutes in every
town where I've volunteered.  But a fire can spread from insignificant to
major, in that time.  You know, if it's necessary, I'm more than willing
to get up any time of the night, drive in any kind of weather, and lose a
night's sleep to help somebody.  I might get a tad annoyed if somebody
called me at 3am if they weren't sick, and just wanted a free taxi, though.
Likewise, why should I call out the fire department if it's not necessary?
They're my friends and neighbors, I appreciate the sacrifices they make,
I'm not about to cause them extra work.

Tell me, David, are you opposed to civilians knowing first aid, as well?
Guess what - it's taught in the public schools here!!  Ooh, the paranoia,
the misery, the suffering!!!  Bet you don't even keep a box of band-aids
around, do you?  You're really getting ridiculous lately.  But thanks for
the laughs!

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