Comments on: Cantonment VFD Response Inadequate; Chief Asks For 24/7 Paid Fire Crews

By: shay mccarra

shay mccarra — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 17:27:53 +0000

Well i have been a vol. firefighter for 15 year in cantanment and in LA. I was a LT.firefighter in cantonment tell i move to LA. and i moved back to Cantonment 21/2 years ago and got back in cantonment fire dept. at that time. i have a fulltime job and a son. i work 13- 15 hr. days and havent been able to go to monday night training and run alot of call. but if i could run i did. well the other night we had a fire in cantonment two firefighter from molino got the cantonment fire trucks out and me and another cantonment firefighter went pov to the call to have more firefighter on the call. after the fire i went to the fire house and me and one firefighter from molino got the truck back 10-8 for more calls.before we had to be at work. well at 9:09 that morning i got a text from jeff bingle saying. I appreciate your response last night but you arenot in compliance with trining or call response reqirenents so you can not respond to any calls until you take care of this. And i need all your gear and equipment as soon as possible unless you are going to come into compliance. And so now after that and 15 year of being in the fire dept. im no longing in the fire dept. and like alot of my friends i will go back after jeff bingle is not there anymore.and would be happy to get back in like i have been for a long time.

thank, SHAY MCCARRA

By: tax payer

tax payer — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 18:16:48 +0000

i will tell the problem with this county fire departments are…. this county blows more money on stuff it doesn’t need like leather couches, huge flat screen tv’s stainless steel grills, some of these volenteer stations are set up better than most people’s houses. Not to mention the $500,000 trucks they just bought, those other trucks would of lasted for years and years. These vol stations are little more than frat houses for teens to hang-out at. How do you think the general public would feel knowing that some 18 year old kids that works at a gas station is coming to your father’s heart attack call or your house buring down. I pay a fire tax and don’t get my moneys worth. they have 100’s of untrained vol’s getting paid stipend each month instead of quarter as many paid pro’s. I am all for vol helping the community but as many houses and bussiness that are in this aera the time of the vol station should be and hopefully are over. How would u like it if the ambulace just had vol on it .. or better yet how about your doctor… yeah i am sure you want a guy that works at a gas station during the day being your vol doctor on the side. All the folks up on the north end can stay volunteer since there is not the structures or the popluation or the bussiness up there. if this county stopped all its wasteful spending trying to lure vol’s to the stations we could have more paid pro’s an better fire coverage. Its time to get with the times!!!!!!!!!

By: Mike Amerson

Mike Amerson — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 07:00:57 +0000

I worked the Cantonment area for many years. If you have any question as to what all these guys do for free, I beg you to go hang out around the station for a month and get a good feel for what they really do. I’ve witnessed them doing everything humanly possible to get some one out of a flipped vehicle, bring people back to life at an accident etc.. I personally stood by while they brought a 2 year old child back to life after the child had been under water in a pool for over 40 minutes. When your home is on fire, your neighbor or family member has a heart attack or any other medical issue, you’re quick to pick up the phone and call them for help. But it seems that when the topic comes up that just maybe they deserve a little pay for what they do, people go high and to the right. Government at the County, State and Federal level all waist more money than most residents ever know about. These people save lives, property and give up more personal time than a lot of people ever could imagine. They miss a lot of holidays and other family events due to calls they don’t have to go to, but do because they care about people, property and everything else we all take for granted. Why wouldn’t you expect tension between paid/non paid firefighters when they’re both doing the same job? They all need to be paid for the service they provide. Sure, they will have down time from time to time. But wouldn’t you rather have a crew coming from the station rather than from their paying job to the station and then to you when one of your loved ones are laying in the yard in need of medical treatment that you can’t give them? I say hire a full time [24/7] crew for each station just as all the larger cities around the US have done so they will be there not if you need them, but when you need them. Chief Bingle/Fehl, you have and will always have the support of me and my family. I’ve witnessed both of you in action on many occasions and if I didn’t know any better, neither of you including any crew you’ve ever had with you acted as if it mattered at all if any of you ever received a penny for your services. All of you keep your heads up. There are those of us out there that are very grateful for the service you provide to your community. In closing, pay all of them. They all deserve it regardless as to whether they save one life or a thousand. You all take care and be safe.

By: Disgusted and annoyed

Disgusted and annoyed — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:27:21 +0000

Since we have so many experts on here, I fail to see why there are any problems with the fire service in Escambia County.

If you want an active voice, go volunteer or get the training and go paid. If you are a taxpayer I see nothing wrong with you stating your opinion to a point, but the minute you start quoting policy and participation you are getting into an area most know nothing about. FACTS! FACTS! FACTS! Supposition opinions and half truths get things done.

Most of the community has ABSOLUTELY no clue as to what goes on in the departments around here. Most of the opinions on here are based upon a perfect world situation, but guess what there is no such thing!

For everyone bashing the firefighters, you should go to your local fire station and get informed. See what we go through, have to deal with, and what we actually do. This goes for both career and volunteer.

Are there differences, yes. One group focuses solely on the job as a career. The other group has to meet training standards set forth by the state and county, but has another field they work in. Both are held to the same standard of performance and getting the job done. But all of the back stage activity boils down to what the public sees on scene. As long as a truck shows up with a qualified and professional crew of people the general public DOES NOT CARE if they are volunteer or career.

SO, get involved or butt out. Armchair quarterbacking does nothing but cause problems. Public opinion matters, but it should boil down to “YES WE WANT FIRE PROTECTION!”. How you get it falls on the County Commissioners and the County Fire Chief (it’s sorta their job, you elected of them 5 which answer to you, and the Chief answers to them).

By the way, for those of you who are delusional enough to think that you will get more paid firefighters without paying more taxes… well you are just ignorant.. Welcome to real life. But if you want demand it and they are needed they will give it to you. Just don’t whine when they propose a tax increase (like many are now over $10 more a year).

Ask them what will happen if they do not approve the current proposed increase , and how many positions will be eliminated because they took on a bill without guaranteed funds to support it (E619 Safer Grant). If they tell you you have a vote in the matter they are snowing you. Either they get the additional funds or the career side is going to lose jobs. OOPS, did that just slip out?!

By: john Smith

john Smith — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 06:01:08 +0000

Before the residents of escambia county go bad mouthing all volunteers why don’t you look else where other than station 4. No other VFD have problems with volunteers making stipend! Volunteers do have the same training but not always the same experience. Now with getting volunteers certified with fire one its not the departments you need to look at its the county. Many of the problems we see in VFD lies within reply from the county taking their sweet time to respond with paper work

By: One question????

One question???? — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:06:37 +0000

Both the paid and the vols do a great job. Alot of people don’t understand what goes into doing this job and job is what it is. I believe the problem at Cantoment goes back to one person!!!!

By: Enough

Enough — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:30:33 +0000

When is enough enough with people trying to measure themselves on this topic. Does any one area of this county need pertection over another area. I am truely sick at the bashing of both sides. The fact of the matter is Chief Bingle stepped up and asked for the proper minimum response for the citizens in his community. If you don’t like that get over it! It says a lot about a person being able to ask for help when its need. Protection of his district was and is not being handled so they (the fire chiefs of Cantonment) asked for help. WAY TO GO!!
For the Volunteer fireman who are commenting out of place read your unification plan which was written by your district fire chiefs and agreed upon by the same. If you are complaining about training go and complain to them because they are the ones who set the bar in black and white over five years ago. You have had over five years to becoume compliant with these certifications. If you were too lazy get get them done that is your own fault. Go and cry a river to someone who cares because the community of Cantonment doesn’t. For those people who are wondering about money and equipment and other objects of the fire departments its public record look it up. Why are there fire stations with short staffing that have five, six, or even seven pieces of equipment at them??? Is that so every person who decides to run a call can drive there own fire truck?? Thats real cost effective.

By: that's the truth truth!!

that's the truth truth!! — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:04:41 +0000

For the record, having observed Chief Bingle for the last 6 years or so, I want to make sure the community of Cantonment knows:
Chief Bingle is a very dedicated and well trained fire chief, who together with Chief Fehl has shown nothing but excellent on scene response and service. Both chiefs have encouraged their members to get educated both in the fire service as well as eductation outside the fire service. Both chiefs have exceptional command knowledge that puts most fire chiefs (including career) to shame. So for anyone claiming this chief ran of firemen, I don’t think so, he was encouraging firemen to get educated, which did not sit well with the ones who do not want to train, study, or become any type of asset to the fire service. Chief Bingle made the right decision based on today’s community involvement and response. Other stations will follow as less and less employers will allow their employees to leave work to respond to an emergency call. As far as the budget is concerned, blame whoever is in charge of the budget, if the blame is to be found in the Fire Administration, or the County Commissioners (thanks alot Kevin White for being an idiot wasting people’s money on unnecessary purchases!!!!!!!!!!), then they need to be held accountable. NOT the citizens of Cantonment or the firemen (career and volunteer). They are trying to do an almost impossible job with a small budget as it is.

Chief Bingle and Chief Fehl I want to thank you as a resident of Cantonment for years and years of dedicated service and self sacrifice.

By: Jean Moore

Jean Moore — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 16:27:12 +0000

I have been involved with CVFD since 1986, both as an active member running calls and as a member of the Board of Directors. We went through bad times and good times during all those years. But we always got the job done and done right! Sometimes we had an abundance of members and sometimes we were very short handed. In fact, sometime around 1993 the News Journal did a story on our station because we had such a short crew and managed to get the job done with only 7 or 8 active members that ran all the calls. We accomplished this by having our neighboring departments respond with us when needed. Since we all relied on mutual response, the Fire Association was (and probably still is) much needed. The Chiefs meet once a month to ensure that all 17 fire departments in the county operate in the same manner under the incident command system. If we all operated differently what a mess it would be on scene. We actively recruited volunteers by doing things like setting up tables at the local Walmarts, etc. We also held a firematics competition once a year that always drew big crowds and usually got a lot of interest in the fire departments resulting in applications and more members. Those things all stopped when they started having paid firefighters at some stations. I am acquainted with several paid firefighters and hear both sides of the story. Both have their faults but they need to work together to ensure that the citizens of Escambia County have a safe environment in which to reside. In the past Cantonment was a very family friendly department. We had events for our families like cook outs, etc. That helped to keep our volunteers on our roster. Volunteering takes a lot of time and if you want to keep your volunteers you need to make sure their families feel like a part of the organization and keep them from resenting the time their spouse needs to be at the station for meetings, keeping the trucks up, making sure the station is clean, etc. The trucks and equipment are the tools of your trade and if they are not kept in good shape, you are at more risk. When the family is happy, the volunteer is more likely to stick around. In response to comments about Jeff, he has been at CVFD since some time around 1993. That’s a long time to give to your community and it is a big responsibility to be the Chief. Don’t just criticize him, give him credit where its due also!

By: BoB

BoB — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:28:44 +0000

Replace Bingle !!!!!!!! Quit putting the problem on the tax payers or on the paid firefighters. Bingle shows up alot and runs alot of calls. But he is not a chief, He is not a leader. It seems funny how the chiefs always say ” If you dont show up I will get a paid crew in here ” Hey chiefs you are the problem, If your people dont show up it is because of lack of leadership at the station level. Its not an issue of paid or volunteer its lack of leadership. If you want to see the real problem is with the volunteers look at the Escasmbia county volunteer ” firefighters ” association thats ran by the fire chiefs.