🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1kc9jaINNrra@skeena.ucs.ubc.ca> buckland@ucs.ubc.ca (Tony Buckland) writes:
> A news item yesterday reported that Smithers fire fighters
> attended a fire at a trailer park, but then had to stand by
> and do nothing, as a trailer burned to the ground, because
> the park was just outside the town line.
> 
> Does this imply that there is no fire protection in B.C. 
> except in communities with fire fighting services?  Well,
> obviously not, forest fires are fought.  But what about
> homes, farms, ranches?  It seems reasonable to me for
> the nearest fire fighters to turn up, even if after a
> considerable time if they're based in a town 50 km away,
> and possibly with a bill for services rendered afterwards
> except in compassionate cases.  But that's obviously not
> the case in the countryside around Smithers.  How about
> the rest - read practically all - of the province's area
> that is rural?

The case you quote sounds tragic, but you have to understand all the
implications of responding to a call outside the 'limit'.  The cost is one
part of it, as coverage is provided for people who support the department
through taxes.  Imagine a case where the dept. responds to a call that is 10
or 15 km outside the limit.  As they are fighting that fire, a call comes in
for a house fire in the middle of the city.  The time to pack up equipment and
drive to the other fire would be the difference between having a chance at
saving the structure, and getting there in time to see the fire burning out of
control.  This situation is made even worse if there is loss of life in the
second fire but not the first.  At some point a limit has to be put on how far
the dept. can go to respond to a call, and if that limit is the town line,
then that has to be respected.


-- 
#     Brent Kennedy	      | The disease of "Trauma" is responsible for   #
#                             | more years of potential life lost than any   #
# brent@mikejag.wimsey.bc.ca  | other disease, yet it's also the most        #
#		              | preventable, does that make any sense??      #