There has been a vicious, bitter "civil war" going on 20 years now with multiple lawsuits etc. and all it's accomplished is causing the volunteers to dig in their heels even deeper. They no longer trust the mayor, Stamford Fire & Rescue, Local 786, Board of Reps, Board of Finance and the Director of Public Safety. It goes way beyond mistrust, bitter resentment and anger. Before this started, membership and involvement in the vol. FD's was already in a steady decline. There was a way to handl this properly and they was a way to improperly handle this. That goon who was mayor improperly handled this from the start. Some diplomacy, reassurance, gratitude for the years of service, some respect and the offer of non-intrusive, non-threatening help from the city fire dept would have gone a long way but being a petty tyrant he just expected to get his way and people to capitulate to him taking to dirty game playing, name calling and attempts to embarrass and humiliate the volunteers. He's such an arrogant bastard and a bully that I honestly don't think he expected the resistance he met. Apparently nobody ever told him the story of the old bull and the young bull and screwing the cows. You don't barrel-ass your way into somebody else's shop, point your finger in their face and tell them what's what.
Delicately handled years ago and you wouldn't have firefighters working out of a construction trailer and tents while the vol. FD that covers 40% of the city misses a ton of calls and more importantly, with all that geography to cover don't get their tanker, truck and rescue out the door that often leaving SF&R to have to bring up their trucks and rescue from downtown now stripping I-95 responses of a rescue and having to pull a tanker down from Long Ridge stripping that district of big water.
I can't believe almost 20 years later this carnival of dysfunction is still operating and as half assed as it was when this crap started. No, I take that back. Pulling the career guys from those 4 stations and replacing them with Engines 8 & 9 didn't solve a G/D thing. At least back then Turn of River was making 100% of their 2000+ calls and getting their machines out the door. Unbelievable.
Delicately handled years ago and you wouldn't have firefighters working out of a construction trailer and tents while the vol. FD that covers 40% of the city misses a ton of calls and more importantly, with all that geography to cover don't get their tanker, truck and rescue out the door that often leaving SF&R to have to bring up their trucks and rescue from downtown now stripping I-95 responses of a rescue and having to pull a tanker down from Long Ridge stripping that district of big water.
I can't believe almost 20 years later this carnival of dysfunction is still operating and as half assed as it was when this crap started. No, I take that back. Pulling the career guys from those 4 stations and replacing them with Engines 8 & 9 didn't solve a G/D thing. At least back then Turn of River was making 100% of their 2000+ calls and getting their machines out the door. Unbelievable.
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