Fire away

A few words here about the League City Fire Department, it's current search for a paid Fire Chief, and some comments from a city resident whose house burned about nine months ago.

Last fall and winter, these signs appeared along Centerpointe Drive, near the pool and other areas:

Up until seeing these, I had no idea that our city's Fire Department was a 100% volunteer organization.  This surprised me, because with our upper-middle-class tax base, I guess I unconsciously expected a more formal or robust department structure, but apparently it's common for cities our size to have no paid firefighting employees.

Here's the part where I recap a story that I submitted to the October 2010 neighborhood newsletter.  During a business meeting, I encountered a League City resident who claimed that his house had burned down, and that it had been a needless event.  He alleged that between the time he dialed 911 and the time LCFD showed up, a full 30 minutes elapsed, such that a small kitchen stove fire had time to engulf most of his house and cause hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.

The man described LCFD as being "absolutely unapologetic" about the fact that it took them so long to arrive, and he recommended that people keep an abundance of fire extinguishers distributed throughout their homes so that they will be able to respond to their own incipient fires, rather than relying on LCFD.

Of course, this man's account above represents only one side of that fire-fighting story, and I have no idea if his experience is typical or simply reflected a conspiracy of negative circumstances for LCPD on that particular day.  I will say that he was a medical doctor and his character seemed authentic.

And either way, there's merit to his advice:  there's no harm in having a good supply of fire extinguishers.  My husband and I bought several more and placed them strategically around the interior of our house, including mounting them on the walls inside our garage so they won't get buried in clutter.

www.wikipedia.org

Around the same time that this doctor's house burned, a search for a "half-salary" LCPD Fire Chief was announced.  I'm not sure how that kind of employment works logistically, because most people need full salaries to meet their personal financial obligations, but whatever - at least it's a start in further developing the department as League City continues to expand.

Today it was announced that the search has been narrowed to ten finalists.  So, despite the fact that League City has been hemorrhaging administrative talent, it seems that this hiring effort is proceeding.  Hopefully they will install a strong candidate and we'll all be better off for it.

In the mean time, be sure to check that your own fire extinguishers are present and in good working order.