Priestly St. Fire

Last night there was a fire on Priestly St. It transferred to one of the 'Exposures'(house next door). The question, would having more Firefighters on scene in the critical time have prevented it? We will never know. I was off-shift and my group would have only been called out for a 4 alarm fire, yesterday was a 3 alarm. What I do know is that Mr Leighton is playing 'Russian roulette' with our lives. Remember, the city payed for a study (the Lloyds study) to find out the MINIMUM number of Firefighters per shift. That number is 17. Mr Leighton, with zero firefighting experience, has decided that the number should be 12.



Wilkes-Barre has a 2 to 4 minute response time for the first engine, but a 2 to 14 minute response time for the second engine, BECAUSE OF LEIGHTON'S CUTS!!!!
Wilkes-Barre Engines carry 500 gallons of water, this sounds like a lot, but our smallest hose (called an Inch and 3/4 for its inside diameter) puts out 150 gallons a minute. That's less than 4 minutes of constant flow from 1 hose. We now have to hook up to a hydrant (normally the second due engines responsibility, but remember the long distance the second engine now has). This takes men from the fire ground and from searching for victims. That no one has been injured is nothing short of a miracle.