Oakmont Firefighters responding!

Oakmont is fortunate in that we have a volunteer fire department that is well staffed and has good response times even during daylight hours. Many people never think about this but as the population shrinks in Allegheny County the number of people available to be recruited as volunteer fire fighters also dwindles. Many communities now routinely call in surrounding departments when an alarm is sounded for a structure fire even before a fire has been confirmed due to the lack of manpower during daylight hours.

If you live in the City of Pittsburgh and dial 911 asking for the fire department you will have an engine at your door step in a matter of minutes. City residents however pay a heavy toll in taxes for that privilege a fact exacerbated by the previous mayor who signed sweet heart contract with city fireman to gain support for his last election. This is just one of the reasons that the city in now in bankruptcy.

My point being that even though you may not think about it or realize it your local volunteer fire department saves you an untold number of tax dollars each year in labor costs alone. Further many of these departments are as “professional” as the full time paid forces that you find in the city and some of its suburbs. These men and women take protecting their communities very seriously and while some are better than others they all deserve our support and appreciation.

This was brought to mind today as I returned home from dropping Linda off at work and heard the fire whistles sounding as I neared Fifth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. I turned and went towards the fire department where I snapped this picture as the engine left the station responding to a fire alarm at a home here in the borough. Fortunately it turned out to be a false alarm set off by contractors making dust that tripped the smoke detectors in the house.

I happen to know that the fire whistles, which were originally cold war air raid sirens, are controlled by a mechanical timer that runs for three minutes. I came down Virgina Avenue from Sixth Street where I snapped this picture and the sirens had just stopped there was already a crew on the engine and it was pulling out of the station. Think about that the next time you are asked to support you local department.