How Long Did It Take Until Cranford's Ladder Responded to Ferraro's Fire?
For those who have been straddling the fence on the subject of the propriety of the Council's use of its prerogative to lower the number of firemen, allow me to throw a little ice water on you. At the last Council meeting, I again asked the Council what standard was being used by them in lowering the number of firemen. The Council, maintaining its sphinx-like silence, responded through the Administrator. He deflected an answer by heaping laudatory comments on the heads of the police and firemen who did such a good job.
There is no doubt these men acted above and beyond ,but that wasn't the question posed. The result, which Mr. Gildea did not mention was, that the men he properly called heroes,had to fight the Ferraro's fire by themselves for twenty [20] minutes until the first town responded to Westfield's call for help. Cranford was the first town to respond and their apparatus arrived twenty minutes after the call.
For those who say we should think about an all volunteer department, do you wish to add more time to the response on this fire? For those who think we can get along with six or maybe five firemen on a squad, keep in mind what happened in this fire. The buildings are destroyed. We handcuff the responders with limited numbers.Why not send them to the fire with garden hoses on the ground that it saves on the water bill?
For those who still straddle the fence, no one is criticizing Cranford. They did what they could do.The fault lies in the Council allowing its prerogative to be exercised without knowing what results will ensue.It comes from politicians assuring the public they are safe when that politician has no factual basis to make such a statement.
In the area of Public Safety, don't you think we need some INDEPENDENT expert who can explain to the public what is needed in Westfield to properly fight fires. After all of us have had the opportunity to listen and ask questions, we will have the opportunity to find out the cost.
For Mr.Gildea, and the Council, to continue to lead us to believe that we have not suffered a serious impact to Public Safety, in light of facts known to them and now becoming public, is wrong.Think of Public Safety and then think of six men facing the Ferraro fire by themselves for twenty minutes.Think of the problems of the old construction of the roof and the inability of those six men to do anything about the roof because their ladder truck didn't have enough men to leave the firehouse 100 feet away. Better yet think about standing out in front of your own house for twenty minutes waiting for a neighboring town to respond so that there will be sufficient men to properly fight the fire ravaging your house.
I have been accused of fear mongering. If the facts can be called fear mongering, then I am guilty but it is better than the Administrator's fairy tale that he has your safety in his hands and you need not worry about the details
A.John Blake
NCTwohig
10:41 am on Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Thanks Mr. Blake for your commentary. As someone who grew up in Westfield and now lives out of state (but returns home to visit family) I was very disturbed to hear about the ladder truck sitting across the street while Ferraro's burned to the ground (this on top of the other more recent fire a month ago on Mountain Ave). This is obviously becoming a risk to public safety and the Council can no longer claim the town and its residents are safe. Hopefully, current residents are horrified enough by these fires that they will demand a change before the next fire occurs and lives are lost. We should never have a ladder truck that cannot be utilized. It's a disgrace and a disservice to both the residents of Westfield and the brave firefighters that serve our town.
Richard Meier
3:22 pm on Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Mr Blake, while I praise you for your support of the Westfield Fire Dept, Your last post is a little in accurate. There is NO way it took Cranford's ladder truck 20 minutes to get to the fire.It may have taken 20 minutes from the time the fire was first called in. You need to check how long it took from the time mutual aid first called Cranford, and then determine how long it took. I heartly agree that Westfield should have enough manning to have at least gotten there own truck there, But mutual aid was still required. You need to take into account the time it took after fire command requested mutual aid, the time it took Westfield dispatchers to process it, the time it took mutual aid to process it and the time it took Cranford dispatchers to hand it off to the fire dept. THEN you can start counting how long it took Cranford to arrive. But yes I agree it is a disgrace they way the Westfield town council treats the fire dept, and eventually someone will die as a result
A.John Blake
6:36 pm on Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Mr.Meier,
I do not fault Cranford in any way. Your various comments may be correct however it does not change the fact that Westfield had only six firemen at Ferraro's for twenty minutes before the first mutual ait arrived.Everyone should appreciate Cranford's help. Everyone should hold the Town Council responsible for pitting us in the position of making six firemen face a fire all by themselves until aid came and supplied enough men to be effective.
The Council must adopt some restriction on its administrator that he may not act in any way to affect the safety of the town or its employees without publicly announcing that he is acting pursuant to a recognized standard. I don't care if it is a fireman, a policeman or a public works employee, the Town cannot endanger them without a reasonable standard to support the Town's desired position.
A.John Blake
Not N. Ignoramus
11:34 pm on Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Hmmmm - let's see, an Italian restaurant burns down and the fire department doesn't do anything about it. What do you think happened? How was business going? Jesus, are you people in third grade?
A.John Blake
10:52 am on Thursday, May 19, 2011
To N.N.I.
Having read your comment, I wonder at your "pen name". It is so inappropriate.
A.John Blake