Hampshire College founded 1965
Last weekend was pretty good for alcohol runs, with UMass being way down from the usual. Any time they are under 50% for emergency medical calls relating to ETOH (overly intoxicated) that's a good thing.
But notice Hampshire College had one incident with two students under the influence of Ectasy and another two incidents of wasting AFD resources due to "malicious pull station" false fire alarms.
And again I would point out UMass pays the town an extra $80,000 per year (on top of the regular $375,000) to increase AFD staff on weekends, while Amherst College paid us $130,000 for AFD services and Hampshire College paid nothing.
Zero. Zip. Nada.
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UPDATE:
E2 aka "The Quint" enroute to Hampshire College
Five minutes after hitting the publish button as I was enroute to town center AFD Engine 2 passed me enroute to Hampshire College for a "fire alarm sounding", which turned out to be the usual "cooking smoke."
Meanwhile AFD Assistant Chief Lindsay Stromgren had to respond by himself to a Carbon Monoxide alarm call in a town center apartment building.
Click to enlarge/read
Advisory Town Meeting article calling for support of Stephen Kulik state bill to allow municipalities to get money out of tax exempt institutions like Hampshire College
10 comments:
Make those hippies pay!
Aren't the Hampshire College students constantly telling us how we all should care for our fellow humans?
Do you mean CO (as in carbon monoxide)?
Yes.
How many people does it take to respond to a CO alarm?
How much does that "sniffer" weigh?
The sniffer was on Engine 2.
The Assistant Chiefs don't happen to carry one in their pockets.
Wouldn't a "sniffer" in every AFD vehicle, including the Chief SUV(s), be a whole lot better investment than this bullet-resistant vest foolishness?!?
While bureaucrats, the Assistant Chiefs are still trained firefighters, and "their" AFD vehicles are legally considered "fire trucks." They ought to have basic stuff like a fire extinguisher, some basic first aid stuff, a Hallagan tool, and a "sniffer." There is a real chance that this stuff might be used -- the vests, not-so-likely....
For that matter, wouldn't purchasing them for the APD and teaching the officers how to use it be a better TX than this "active shooter" Bull-Bleep?
Carbon Monoxide is a much greater threat, particularly with the extent to which buildings are now being heated with Natural Gas -- and increasingly will be if the Luddites permit the pipeline to be built. (Price will drop.) I believe that these "sniffers" will also pick up other things, like Ammonia & Chlorine. (Larry, remember the video of the officer dying from Ammonia?)
There is a reason why CO detectors are required by law (unless you have electric heat) -- entire families have died. Cops have died in cruisers as well.
And there is nothing worse than not being able to trust a piece of electronic equipment, that's why I recommend mounting *two* CO detectors instead of just the required one-per-floor -- if both go off, at the same time, it kinda tells you something....
Likewise if you have a train derailment with HazMat stuff venting, I'd suspect that the guys would feel a lot more comfortable with two "sniffers" saying the air is breathable where they are than just one. Or if you get a hysterical citizen, AFD can say "m'aam, *both* of these devices aren't broken..."
Carbon MONoxide is deadly -- it bonds to the hemoglobin in your blood, precluding Oxygen from doing so. Carbon DIoxide is essential for life, it is what tells you to breathe. It also is the bubbles in beer & soda.
Different gas, folks...
Larry, if Kulik's bill passes, wouldn't it have to apply equally to all the tax-exempts, including the churches? And all of the non-profits?
Sort of.
It would be up to the Select Board, Town Manager, Town Meeting or whoever the hell is in charge to decide who to hit up. And nobody wants to mess with God.
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