Letter: Let's give our firefighters a chance to be successful!

Another tax. Another agency short funds. Every year someone needs more money. I get it, it gets old. Why didn't they budget better? They have a multi-million dollar budget, why can't they make it work?

The fact is, and I heard this straight from Leona Allen, is that since the Angora fire over 10 years ago, Lake Valley Fire Department has been working to create new ways of bringing in revenue. The VHR inspections are one such example. Charging non-locals for calls is another way they can recoup costs. Unfortunately, their equipment is old and the cost to replace fire engines increased exponentially. Coming to taxpayers is a last resort.

Did you know that they are not legally allowed to use fire engines that are 20 years and older? Did you know that the cost of certain metals such as manganese and radium has suddenly increased, causing the cost to build a catalytic converter to skyrocket? Did you know that firefighters are currently using leased air packs instead of their own when they enter a burning building? Did you know that the money brought in by Measure B will be managed by a citizens oversight committee, further insuring that none of this money will go towards personnel. In a community where wildland fires are likely to happen, don't we want to give our fire agencies all the tools they need to be successful?

Do we want to be the next Paradise and look back and say, "$52/year/parcel was too much for them to be able to protect us?"

Let's give our firefighters a fighting chance to be successful, and remember that their success means that they can save your life or your home.

- Julia Ward