04-23-2016, 08:19 PM
(04-23-2016, 07:12 PM)Drake Wrote: The amount of fires in these areas I am guessing don't support paying full time fire fighters to sit around for weeks on end with no fire to put out, but God forbid one happens and the RFD doesn't show up within "X" number of minutes. (...)
The city of Waterloo by far pays the largest line item in their budget to their Fire Department.
The cost of fire departments is a big issue for municipalities across the country. Firefighters have succeeded in getting steady pay increased over the years, and yet there are far fewer fires than there used to be (and yet more firefighters). A greater percentage than ever of the calls is going to traffic accidents (have you ever noticed a couple of full-sized fire trucks at a fender-bender on the 401?).
Managing and containing fire department costs will be an ever-bigger challenge in the future. Would it be easier with a regional fire department? I honestly don't know.