What the hell is MABAS and why should I care?
MABAS stands for Mutual Aid Box Alarm System. Why should you care?
Well, this system was implemented for firefighters in urban and suburban areas where suburbs are all crowded together. It allows the nearest firestation to respond to a call no matter if it happens to be in an adjoining town. Good idea.
But now it's being implemented locally, and used as a justification for cutting firefighter positions.
An interested party in all of this is a committed firefighter who's set up a blog to inform the public about this matter and how it affects their safety and city budget. He does a good job explaining the intricacies of this arrangement and why citizens should care.
Take a look at Inside the Firehouse and see what he has to say about this issue of importance to the area.
Remember to start reading from the bottom up.
posted by The Inside Dope @ 3/27/2006
5 comments
5 Comments:
So in a town with 40,000 residents with 2.2 people per household or 18,182 households, at $33 per household, the city taxpayers are contributing $600,000 each year to firefighters' pensions. Can this be correct? $6 million over 10 years for pensions for a single city department?
My point is not that fire protection is cheap.
My point is that you are not getting the services you are paying for!
Police, Fire, Garbage, Water or any city services are not cheap. But they ARE worth it. I choose to live in the city becouse I want those services.
Is it true East Moline is the only Quad City fire department that works 24 hours on and 72 hours off and the other cities work 24 on 48 off? If that is true, what do the firemen do for 3 days?
FOR THREE DAYS THEY EAT DRINK AND ARE MARRY. wORRIE ABOUT YOURSELF.
No. Most of them have a business on the side or have a second job.
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