Published: November 21, 2008 05:13 pm            

Catastrophes on the horizon

Editor:

I’ve no doubt that McAlester Fire Chief Harold Steward knows what he’s talking about, but being “do-able” is not quite good enough for this senior citizen from North Town. Undoubtedly, best-case conditions were assumed to estimate a “do-able” staff.

I take offense when my family is unduly jeopardized to please bean counters. Simple math, a little imagination and a few ”what ifs” convinces me that the MFD staff will be too widely spread to offer the effective protection that is obviously needed from our firemen, especially in areas such as North McAlester, which is populated by numerous citizens with many living in residential fire traps.

The only solution for staffing with two or three firemen per station will be overtime and drafting firefighters from other stations, rendering those stations inoperative. Also, even the strongest of firefighters soon tires with the heavy equipment, unbearable heat, foul air and mental stress to where they are often completely spent from a single event on a 24-hour shift and are not available to continue without recuperating.

These men are our sons, fathers, and husbands who are willing to sacrifice so much for us, lets sacrifice a little for them. If the city must let some of their other projects suffer to sufficiently fund the fire and police departments, then they should. I believe the citizens spoke when they voted for the bond issue to properly fund the county and city fire departments so lets do it.

Kenneth D. Adkins

McAlester

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.