[rubicon]

"Firefighters" the last of the American hero.

I use to see some of these guys work out at the gym so I went to one of them and asked how much weight he could lift. Why, he asked I told him because I wanted to be sure if he responded to an alarm for a fire at my house I wanted to be sure he could lift me and carry me out to safety

As this community grows so will the need for employing more and more people. And employment costs and hence taxes, fees, etc will continue to rise. its one of the reasons I have mixed emotion about the expansion of The Villages.
Before long some will look down at their tax bill and wonder if they moved to New York City ( a bit of hyperbole, I know but..................)

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by 57ChevyFI

As much as I respect firefighters and appreciate everything they do, I've never understood why they get paid to sleep on 24 hour shifts. Why don't they do 12 hour shifts or some other rotating shifts. I can't think of many jobs where you get paid to sleep, just wondering.

It takes less firefighters to cover 24/7. You can wash the trucks so many times.

[GaryW]

Originally Posted by blueash

Just to keep things in proper perspective. I am not sure why you think a roofer or a landscaper does not put their life on the line.

Here are the death data:
There are about 1.2 million firefighters in the US not including private and federal. There are about 70 deaths per year in that group and more than half are heart attacks or stress and this includes things like a 66 yo who died after 20 mins on a treadmill which is not clearly a job related death. A death rate including all 70 as job related gives 58 per million.

Roofers have a death rate of over 300 per million or more than six times that of firefighters, and 12 times if you don't include sudden death from heart disease.

So if risk of death is going to be brought up as a main criteria then roofers have a much better argument for a huge pay raise.

Landscapers? I don't have data for the workers but I do for the supervisors. Fatality rate of 181 per million on the job, or double that of firefighters.

Do I think our public servants are underpaid, yes. But the risk of firefighting is much lower than many other fields. And the risk in the Villages is certainly lower than in most other departments.

Just FYI here are the highest fatality risk occupations and deaths per million in 2015
Logging 1327
Fishing 548
Aircraft pilots and flight engineers 404
Roofers 397
Refuse collection 388 yes the "garbage man" is five times more likely to die doing the job than a firefighter
Iron and steel workers 298
Drivers 243
Farmers 220
Electrical install and repair 205
Supervisors of landscapers 181

Estimating this one
Police 145 [2016 data 145 death and estimated 1 million police]

and Firefighters 58

Might need to change you stats,,, FHP Tropper killed on 75 while working another accident. Trooper for 30 years. Where was the Plumber or Landscaper on that deal. Do not think either one of them where out there.

Get the point. I do think that I read in a article that most job related deaths among trades like that where completely avoidable had a training program been in place. Fall Safety is a big issue in all trades as in Firefighting.
You can not fix stupidity, but you can train it to be less of a concern.

Funny you mention fishing. Just like the show Deadliest Catch. Not sure if you noticed but them CATS GET PAID to brave that crap in the Bering Sea.
What about Military since you are comparing. Lets take their Rate of Pay versus all of this. Should our Military not make More Money than all, and not have to worry about having no arm or leg or eye or what have you and having to rely on a charity to help them or build them a house.

LEO and Firefighters as a whole face danger daily. Not sure how many of the above mentioned would have volunteered to run into the World Trade Centers to go up to the fire and try to save a life if only just that one life.
Sure The Villages Fire Dept is not going to have to worry about a big threat like 9-11. But they have to be trained and trained hard for you never know when Lighting will strike your house, the gas blow up, fall asleep with a cig in your mouth or hand, or a major accident and they have to rescue you. That training my friend you will be glad they got.

As far as 401k and benefits. Make sure you know which Fire Dept pays what benefits. Not all of them pay the same or even offer the benefits that a neighboring county pays. My daughter just past her State test and CPAT to be able to apply to TV FD. But as they were told in training, go to where the total benefit package is the best. It may not be the highest paid per year, but get the total package, retirement and all. I have 2 friends on The Villages FD. Really great guys. And they always say TVFD is a stepping stone for most to move on. It is not the responsibility of the Firefighters to change that. It is the Employers responsibility to make them want to stay.
Just saying

http://www.nfpa.org/news-and-researc...ture-of-injury

[GaryW]

Originally Posted by fw102807

To me it's about the lives they save. If I have any kind of emergency I don't want to rely on an understaffed dept of rookies.

I agree. A roofer or a Landscaper or Driver or a Electrician house catch on fire or start the fire because they made a mistake on the job, it is now the Firefighter that has to put their life a risk to solve the problem.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by GaryW

I agree. A roofer or a Landscaper or Driver or a Electrician house catch on fire or start the fire because they made a mistake on the job, it is now the Firefighter that has to put their life a risk to solve the problem.

One thing to consider about the rate for firefighters, and police for that matter, is that stress leading to health/mental problems leading to death is not factored into that statistic. Who can tell what the real number is.

[Mrs. Robinson]

Originally Posted by fw102807

I am very disturbed by the opposition to pay increases to the firefighters. People see nothing wrong with paying some fool who can throw a ball around millions of dollars but do not want to pay someone who may save their life.
How much money do you waste on designer items or tickets to sporting events or even expensive cars but you refuse to pay a few more dollars to pay the first responders? The people who come day and night when you have a medical emergency or are in an accident, or set your house on fire or have to respond to a shooting or bombing. Really people?

I understand (have been told) that the Sumter firefighters are underpaid but have no idea what their salary range is.
It would be helpful to know this.

Perhaps those who might be opposed to giving them a raise is from previous knowledge of firefighters' salaries in the area where they lived prior to moving to TV???
I don't really know; I'm just playing devil's advocate.

I can cite one example where the masses were upset with the firefighters union.
The firefighters could retire after 20 years.
So possibly at 40 years old, they could get another job (no problem with that),
but at retirement age, they would collect about $80,000 a year from their pension.
There was a special tax every year which residents had to pay for that purpose (the pension).
There were many people who were very unhappy about this.

[JohnB]

Fundamentally, we are pounding on our neighbors door and DEMANDING they pay more money to firefighters. Who is next? Police, recreation department workers, etc. etc. Why are the people who live here not permitted to vote for these increases which other sites (WFTV8) say are a 50% increase year over year. I wish I got a 50% increase in my SocSec to pay for this.

[skip0358]

Those in the Sumter County portion of TV are paying less the those living outside TV in Sumter County for Fire Tax.That's not fair either and starting with your new tax bill that will be changing. Increse of about $120.00 per year.Still a big bargain. My house was covered by a volunteer dept and I paid $800.00 + for my fire tax. Your getting a bargain here, we have top notch equipment and well trained personnel and we need to keep them. They deserve a raise to at least that what other fire personnel in Sumter ,Lake & Marion make. JMO

Originally Posted by Mrs. Robinson

I understand (have been told) that the Sumter firefighters are underpaid but have no idea what their salary range is.
It would be helpful to know this.

Perhaps those who might be opposed to giving them a raise is from previous knowledge of firefighters' salaries in the area where they lived prior to moving to TV???
I don't really know; I'm just playing devil's advocate.

I can cite one example where the masses were upset with the firefighters union.
The firefighters could retire after 20 years.
So possibly at 40 years old, they could get another job (no problem with that),
but at retirement age, they would collect about $80,000 a year from their pension.
There was a special tax every year which residents had to pay for that purpose (the pension).
There were many people who were very unhappy about this.

My husband was a firefighter in a large city up north and in the union and I only wish he could have retired at 40 and had an 80,000 pension.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by fw102807

My husband was a firefighter in a large city up north and in the union and I only wish he could have retired at 40 and had an 80,000 pension.

You aren't alone. That is a good wish.

[manaboutown]

Well, if I wanted to become a firemen or a police officer today I would go where the pay, benefits and retirement were top drawer (if they would have me). This town would look good to me. 2012–2016 salaries for Newport Beach | Transparent California rather than a lower paying area such as https://www.cabq.gov/fire/become-a-f...r/pay-benefits

[eremite06]

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by eremite06

Attachment 70613

Thank you for your service.

I think this is the way to accomplish a pay raise for these wonderful men and women.

Older people don't like being ranted at.

[CWGUY]

Originally Posted by skip0358

Wow really hope you never need help but if you do YOU'LL SEE that they are of the same caliber. Yea there hopefully will never be a 9/11 here but if there were these are the guys & guys that would handle it. They train the same and have the same equipment.. All they want is what the Fire Deprtment in the surrounding departments get.

I agree 100%.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by fw102807

My husband was a firefighter in a large city up north and in the union and I only wish he could have retired at 40 and had an 80,000 pension.

My husband was also a firefighter in a large city up north.
Like you, I only wish he could have retired at 40 with a $80,000 pension.
He was on the job for 32 years before he retired.
Being the captain of a rescue squad, he saw some terrible things, but never brought them home.