Is being a firefighter in Texas more dangerous than it has to be?

H/T Joe






But is fighting fires in Texas more dangerous THAN NECESSARY for the brave men and women who risk their lives doing it on a daily basis?

In Texas, firefighters aren't just battling the wild fires raging around Austin and Houston. The state's first responders have also had to deal with budget cuts affecting everything from fuel purchases to hoses and oxygen tanks.

In some cases, fire officials say, firefighters have had to pay out of pocket for basic necessities like proper protective gear and fuel to get them to the scene. One fire department that battled the blazes in Bastrop County had to pay for a hose, recalled Bastrop City Fire Chief Henry Perry, speaking to The Huffington Post during a break from working the wild fires.

[...]

The cuts come at a time when Texas fire departments have already been slowing purchases of new fire trucks and other critical equipment as a way to save money, said Guy Turner, president of the Texas State Association of Fire Fighters. The association had endorsed Perry in his re-election for governor in 2010.

"What I fear will happen is equipment will start to fail and put our members at peril," Turner explained. "You can imagine if you're inside a structure fire and your engine quits."

Turner doesn't have to imagine it. He said he knows of firefighters whose breathing apparatus has malfunctioned during fires. There have also been "instances of hoses failing during the course of firefighting operations."

The full story is HERE.

I don't know about you, but when it comes to safety issues for our firefighters, I believe that should be a priority in any state.

Here's another thought......And what was Perry's view on the creation of Homeland Security in his book, 'Fed Up'?

Perry faults Republicans for taking an “unprincipled” stance by voting in the wake of Sept. 11 to create the Homeland Security Department, which he criticizes for its “massive” scale. (In the 2002 campaign, it was some Democrats who found themselves on the defensive for opposing the creation of the Homeland Security Department.)

I bet he can't wait to get his hands on that. Maybe he'd run it and fund it like his state's firefighter department?

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