Good idea to swap out the smoke for a heat detector.
Also not sure if where you are has a Fire Inspection branch of the fire department but you might want to call them and explain what happened and then ask them what the laws are in your area regarding automatic dispatch calls. Good idea to get the correct information from someone who's not having a bad day.
As to the firefighters only working 8 days a month, that works out to be 192 hours a month or 4 weeks & 4 days if you figure a 40 hr work week. Probably more hours than some people work in the same time period. Hard to have a dog when you work 24 hr shifts. A cat can be left alone for that time but a dog can't. I'm not even going to mention how hard working shifts like that can be on personal relationships.
"Fat pension after 25 years" Well most pensions are determined by how much you pay into them. That and your length of employment determines what a pension will be. It's part of your wages which you bargain for when you start employment with any company. At least it was with mine.