Montana labor news., 1936-09-24
The Forgotten Servant

about So,OOU, and by the use of its
equipment and the efficiency of the
fire department confines the fire to
the place where it had originated,
and the loss is held to a minimum of
$50, the fire department on this
alarm has earned $4,950 in about Is
minutes time. So for every alarm
that the fire department responds
to, it is safe to say that it earns at
least $1,000.
If the aforementioned fire de-
partment responded to rs alarms for
the year, it has earned the amount
of its appropriation for that year
If the above facts are in~telligently
explained to any broad-minded pub
lie town official and the Importance
of fire protection and its fire depart
ment are shown, it would probably
| get the recognition it deserves; and
| then the firemen and the fire de-
| partments would not be known as
the forgotten public servants.
We now find by the above solu-
ton that every dollar that is appro-
priation for fire protection in the
community is returned more than
twofold to its citizens and the prop
erty owners.
Just recently the board of under
writers have granted a reduction on
the insurance premiums from about
4 per cent to 20 per cent on various
types of buildings and their con-
tents in many communities, which
must also be considered as revenue
produced by the fire department by
its efficiency and the Fire Proven
ton Bureaus.
Just recently / read a newspaper
publication of a town having a pop
u~lation of $4,000 inhabitants, and in
it they showed the publication of
their appropriations, which were as
follows:
Police department ..... $4,000
Fire department ........ 5000
The above is a wonderful example
of fire protection for this commu-
nifty, with a possibility of saving the
post holes where the building once
stood.
This also proves how much
thought is given to the revenue pro-
ducers in many communities
throughout the country and their
many fire departments that are OPP
Grating On luck only, thinking or
hoping that nothing will over hap
pen. Then along comes a conflag-
ration, and we find u fire depart
ment short of man power and poorly
equipped, and the result is that we
are credited with a large fire loss.
And the amount of this loss would
probably have operated the fire de-
partment for that year.
In our past experience only about
so per cent of the property is pro-
tected by insurance, and this is all
the more reason that we must have
the best fire protection for our COM
munities. There r many towns
that must rely on their neighboring
communities for assistance in fire
protection, because they fail to ap-
propriate enough money to protect
their community, and in many cases
make large appropriations to the de-
partments of the municipalities that
are not as essential as the fire de-
partment. There r large amounts
of money being spent for the build
ing of parks and recreation centers
and the creation of park districts.
All these things r good, but they
do not help to counterfeit the vicious
attacks of fire.
There are many towns that do not
have civil service for their fire de-
partments, and every two or four
years there is a change of the adj
ministration, and along with this
change there is often a change in
the personnel of the fire department.
When this is done, the experienced
members of the department are
thrown out of employment and new
members are appointed for the jobs
who have nc experience whatever,
and in their hands is placed from
$4,000 to 100000 worth of equip
ment, and very often this equip
ment is neglected and ruined at the
cost to the citizens of the commu-
nifty.
The sooner all fire departments
are put under civil service and all
promotions are made by competitive
examinations, that much sooner bet
ter protection will be enjoyed by all
the communities that adopt it. This
in turn will create more interest
among the fire fighters in their jobs,
who will have something to look for
ward to in the promotional exami-
nations to the higher ranks. Thus
their interests and hard efforts that
they have put into the fire service
will be rewarded and their jobs will
be protected from the political axe
which falls at every change of ad-
ministration.
, The appointment of the chief ex-
ecutive officer of the fire depart
. ment should be made from among
the highest ranking officer of the
| danartment and he chn1,Id hn1ra tha