Massachusetts Fire Apparatus

[Guest]

Not defending the MFA, but last I knew they were funded from a surcharge on insurance. Unless your local city can tap that fund, what they buy or don't buy has no bearing on who gets laid off.

James you are right about the insurance surcharges. I will elaborate a little more on both the surcharges and new truck. This tower was ordered almost a year ago against the many wishes of the instructors who will typically use it. The majority thought for training purposes, a straight aerial would benefit most students here at the academy - after all, how many departments have specialized equipment like a tower? But the person in charge ordered what they wanted and who knows if it will work for us. It is a great piece of equipment and I was there the day it arrived at the academy and then it went back to Greenwood for a punch list. Not sure when it will be back or what it will be used for.



On Jim's comment - things ARE bad at the academy as well because our great Governor decided that the insurance industry had it as bad as everyone else and decided to cut back on what finances they send to support the programs at the academy. From what I understand, there is no recruit program over the summer even though there is a need and call for it due to departments that have SAFER Grants and are still hiring new firefighters. The gas program has all but been eliminated, the maritime program has been cut completely and the majority of the other programs have almost all been cancelled. The maritime program actually makes money as Mass. Maritime Academy pays for the training. The hours I work as an instructor have been severly cut and they are operating day to day and even canceling instructors as needed to make sure the funds last through the end of the fiscal year. I understand my two days next week were cancelled already. This is as bad as I have ever seen it in my 10 years there and it will only get worse when people who do not understand what we do are making decisions for us! The many layers of civilian staff that work upstairs all still have jobs, but I'm not sure why - there are virtually no classes going on so there are no certificates to print, virtually no payroll to produce, etc, etc.



With all this going on, regardless of where the funding is coming from - it is EXTREMELY frustrating to see all these shiny new pieces of equipment keep rolling in yard in the form of ladder towers, training trailers that sit parked in our way, haz mat trucks, haz mat squads etc even if they are bought with federal grant money. The basic firefighting programs have always made do with well-used fire gear, old hose and the simple basics we need to train our firefighters in the BASICS despite our pleas.



My rant went way off base, but I won't apologize! Hope this helps.