04/01/12 512 W - + 2 - 2 Morning Reading - April 1, 2012
No fooling here. Busy with other things. Maybe can craft some satirical or spoofing postings tonight. Processing photos this morning from yesterday's airport drill. Maybe 350 keepers. Maybe more. Dreadful to think how many pictures would have resulted on a sunny day! Guess holding an umbrella didn't prove too hampering. Still another day need to get those posted.
-
Dial 919 not 911 - That's my headline for yesterday's News & Observer
story about mandatory 10-digit dialing in the Triangle and the increase in
accidental 911 calls. Makes sense that telephone systems ignore subsequent
digits after the second "1" follows the sequence "9" and "1". Believe at
least one local television station also covered that story.
-
Knightdale to change policy on volunteers for fire department -
FireNews.net posting of Eastern Wake News story, about the town's efforts to
craft a new personnel policy with regard to nepotism. Three volunteer
firefighters were fired on February 29, prohibiting employment of married
couples or kinfolk.
- Who was Bum Farto? - The infamous story of a Key West Fire Chief as
recounted by Tom Parquette as three-part series on Firegeezer.com. Read
part one, and
part two, and
part three. Then take a photo tour of the area with Yours Truly and
pictures of the
Key West fire museum, historic
Key West firehouses, and some old
missile towers in town.
- Speaking of the beach - Last weekend saw a short trip to Myrtle Beach
and with a return ride by way of Topsail Island. All photos were taken with
a iPhone 4S and posted in real-time to Facebook. Pretty good results, though
battery issues were an issue. And, um, forgot to share the photo album on
day one. So nobody saw anything until that evening. See for yourself:
photos from the road and the
Topsail towers.
-
How does $1,000 for house fires and $600 for car fires grab you? - CBS
New York story about a Passaic, NJ, proposal to charge for fire calls. Saw
this one as a headline on Drudge, and was also reader-submitted. Number of
interesting issues there. But what are the unintended consequences? Makes me
think of a discussion once had with a veteran responder, and his take on why
citizens regard 'medics (and EMS services) differently than firefighters
(and fire departments). Because, he noted, the former is the only one of the
two that sends you a bill after you call them. What say you?
-
When firefighters argue - That's my headline for a Statter911 posting
about a house fire in Glenn Dale, Maryland, and raw video from Tom Yeatman
of the Prince Georges County Fire Department. There are 99 comments so far
and they're pretty heated throughout. Why do firefighters like to argue so
much? Is simply (and perhaps admirably) a function of their passion for the
profession? Does social media or the ability to anonymous post comments add,
er, fuel to that fire? Dave's site is my favorite for such things. Things
never seem to get too personal, nor stray too far off-topic.
Talking about chargeing for fires. Many departments in Johnston county are chargeing for MVC’s. If you land a helicopter it can pay out in excess of $1200. The insurance companies are the ones getting billed through a contracted company with the county.
911 - 04/02/12 - 13:40