Volunteer firefighters resign en masse over B.C. chief’s suspension

[Goober]

Volunteer firefighters resign en masse over B.C. chief’s suspension - The Globe and Mail

All 19 members of a volunteer fire department in southeastern B.C. have resigned to protest the suspension of their chief.

It means the roughly 400 residents of the Slocan River community, 46 kilometres north of Castlegar, have no local fire coverage, although crews from Passmore and Slocan will respond to calls.

In a letter posted online, fire chief Jon Wollenberg says the Regional District of Central Kootenay suspended him for at least three months after he refused a recent order to have his members direct traffic at a non-emergency meeting linked to last month’s jet fuel spill into nearby Lemon Creek.

Wollenberg defends his refusal, saying he understands a chain of command is required, but if no emergency exists, volunteers should not be forced to provide their services.

Wollenberg says all members of his department agree with his opinion and have decided that any disciplinary action against him will be served by the entire group.

A meeting between regional district officials and the Winlaw, Passmore and Slocan City fire department volunteers is expected to be held Thursday, with the regional district hoping to update the situation by Friday.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Honourable.

Not that it'll make any difference, mind.

 

[taxslave]

This was on the volunteer firefighters association facebook page this morning. Seems they have a professional bureaucrap that does not understand the meaning of volunteer. And yes it does make a huge difference to the whole community.

 

[SLM]

This was on the volunteer firefighters association facebook page this morning. Seems they have a professional bureaucrap that does not understand the meaning of volunteer.

Clearly! Well, seeing as how this bureaucrap is so confused and all, how about they just tell him they'll take a pay cut instead. Lol.

 

[Goober]

Honourable.

Not that it'll make any difference, mind.

Small towns depend upon them.
They all spend a lot of time and effort for a small amount of remuneration.

Anyhow I got the feeling that these 2 have been down this very same road before.

If it is not included in their duties, responsibilities and what not I get the feeling they have been used for such non emergency situation previously.
Chief complains as his men/women complain to him.
Buckey in the Regg Dist of K does not listen.

The Chief does what he feels is right.

I think the Chief is right.

 

[petros]

The company who had the spill is responsible for supplying traffic control.

 

[taxslave]

Small towns depend upon them.
They all spend a lot of time and effort for a small amount of remuneration.

Anyhow I got the feeling that these 2 have been down this very same road before.

If it is not included in their duties, responsibilities and what not I get the feeling they have been used for such non emergency situation previously.
Chief complains as his men/women complain to him.
Buckey in the Regg Dist of K does not listen.

The Chief does what he feels is right.

I think the Chief is right.

I know he is right. Kind of hard to force volunteers to show up for an event. Kind of hard to fire them too.

 

[Mowich]

Small towns depend upon them.
They all spend a lot of time and effort for a small amount of remuneration.

Anyhow I got the feeling that these 2 have been down this very same road before.

If it is not included in their duties, responsibilities and what not I get the feeling they have been used for such non emergency situation previously.
Chief complains as his men/women complain to him.
Buckey in the Regg Dist of K does not listen.

The Chief does what he feels is right.

I think the Chief is right.

Without the volunteer firefighters in hundreds of communities around BC, there would be no fire department at all. And volunteers are exactly what they are - men and women who have jobs and lives outside the dept but who willingly give of their time to help their neighbors. The Chief is absolutely right.

 

[L Gilbert]

Unf'nreal. "We're really sorry that your house and barn burnt down and your horses died in the fire but the R Dic had us doing traffic duty. Hope you had insurance".

 

[Goober]

Unf'nreal. "We're really sorry that your house and barn burnt down and your horses died in the fire but the R Dic had us doing traffic duty. Hope you had insurance".

I get the feeling the Regional Dhead after hearing form above and being ritually circumcised will come out and lift the suspension, state it was all a misunderstanding and it will be one of those statements where it is all gussied up.
Could be as early as Friday.
I am sure local MP's are getting an earful and passing it on to the Premier or some lackey.

 

[L Gilbert]

I'd bet on it, Goob. An appropo scenario would be if the brass of the R Dic had to direct traffic for a month in some town. Save a place like C-gar some electricity for lights. Or maybe if those brass had to get up at 3:30 and spend the next 5 or 6 hours putting out a blaze and then had to go to work.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Small towns depend upon them.
They all spend a lot of time and effort for a small amount of remuneration.

Anyhow I got the feeling that these 2 have been down this very same road before.

If it is not included in their duties, responsibilities and what not I get the feeling they have been used for such non emergency situation previously.
Chief complains as his men/women complain to him.
Buckey in the Regg Dist of K does not listen.

The Chief does what he feels is right.

I think the Chief is right.

I agree completely.

Think the bureaucrats will?

 

[L Gilbert]

Just sent this to R Dic:
[URL=http://s1184.photobucket.com/user/AnnaliseNemo/media/emailtoRDic.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1184.photobucket.com/albums/z327/AnnaliseNemo/emailtoRDic.jpg[/URL][/IMG]

 

[Goober]

Just sent this to R Dic:
[URL=http://s1184.photobucket.com/user/AnnaliseNemo/media/emailtoRDic.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1184.photobucket.com/albums/z327/AnnaliseNemo/emailtoRDic.jpg[/URL][/IMG]

LG- You were quite polite.

 

[Cliffy]

From what I heard today, firefighters are not insured for traffic control, which was one of the chief's beefs. As the RDCK rep is elected, I doubt he will see another term. Slocan residents have long memories.

The spill of jet fuel in Lemon Creek is a disaster. Many residents had to be evacuated. The Slocan river dumps into the Kootenai, then into the Columbia which flows into the US. There is going to hell to pay for that screw up. Why was a tanker sent up logging roads in the first place? They couldn't set up a helicopter base closer to the highway? The driver was not familiar with the roads and got lost. He rolled the truck into the creek trying to turn it around. I think a few heads are going to roll over this one. Hopefully, the RDCK rep will be one of them.

 

[L Gilbert]

LG- You were quite polite.

It was forced through clenched teeth. I am hoping for a reply.

The ONLY time we did any sort of traffic control was at fire scenes, and that control consisted of blocking access with a unit and that was ONLY if there were no cops at the scene yet. And that was as professionals, not volunteers. Any R Dic dic tried pulling that sort of stuff on us and they'd be politely told to take up their concern with the municipality, province, and union.

From what I heard today, firefighters are not insured for traffic control,

Well, yeah, it's a police job.