[jyl]

Very interesting thread with input from all angles. Cool.

I guess that the questions I come away with are:

1. What is the correct level of fire protection service, considering the cost-benefit? Sounds, harsh, but there is a cost-benefit for everything. Even saving cute babies trapped in a house fire is not worth an infinite amount of money, especially considering there are alternative ways to save babies, like better pre-natal care, that may cost less per life.

2. What is the relationship of the level of fire department staffing to the amount of fire protection provided? Here in 500,000 population Portland OR, we spend $129MM/yr on the FD and the average first response time to a structure fire is 7 minutes. If we spent 20% less (more), would the response time lengthen (shorten) by 10%, 20%, 30%?

3. Should the 97% of the fire department's responses that are to things other than fires (medical, power lines, car accidents, etc) actually be done by the fire department? Is that the most efficient way to respond? Should we have fewer firefighters and fire engines and more paramedics crusing in ambulances?

4. What is the correct pay and benefits for firefighters? I think someone who is sworn to risk his life to save yours should be paid more - firefighters, police officers, combat military. At the same time, the economics of demand and supply are such that a fire department could probably hire qualified candidates for less than they are paying - in this economy. How do you balance that? And if some firefighters actually spend almost of their time being medical responders - not a life-sacrificial job usually - does that matter?

Just for interest, here are some numbers for the Portland OR FD in 2008-09.
- 750 employees, about 90% sworn
- $86.5MM budget, $42.5MM for retirement/disability of sworn personnel, total $129MM spent
- 3% of responses are for fires (2,016), 97% are for non-fires
- 90th percentile response time for fires 7 minutes
- 90th percentile response time for priority medical calls 9 minutes to patient's side
- 575,000 population served
- Civilian deaths from fire 7
- Structure fires with >$10K losses 284

[EDITING TO ADD THIS]

As I read this thread, I become more skeptical about relying too much on volunteer firefighters. The job seems too time-sensitive. I'm more interested in how you could more correctly or efficiently use paid firefighters.