Tom Casady wants to relocate some fire stations, and open a couple new ones, to better serve Lincoln as it grows. Lincoln hasn't opened a new firestation since 1996 despite adding 50,000 people. That's like Grand Island not having a single firestation.
Despite your initial impressions, however, this change is intended to be a cost-saver over time. How? Currently some stations host more than one fire company. Under Casady's plan there would be no multi-company stations; the "extra" firefighters would move to their own station. Thus, personnel costs would stay relatively constant while areal coverage would increase.
Jon Camp, never one to let new expenditures by without comment, generally likes the plan, but he wants to see some medic-only stations. The vast majority of calls are for medical emergencies, not fires. On a superficial level Camp's concerns make sense. Deeper than that ... well, I just don't know. Firefighters -- and Casady -- will tell you Camp's idea is misguided. But how much of that is based on public safety concerns and how much derives from less altruistic concerns, like job protectionism? I hate to hint at something like that, but it's impossible to look at the history of Lincoln Fire & Rescue and not be a little concerned. The department's past mandates some pretty hefty skepticism.
Not that we should assume Camp's motives are any purer, nor can we assume that he knows better than Tom Casady. While LFR deserves a watchful eye, Casady has earned himself a tremendous amount of respect and trust over the years. If anybody in this town should get a little deference, it's Casady. Not that he needs us to be soft on him. I'm sure he has a mountain of data to back up his plans.
I'm eager to follow this issue as it develops. We as a community will have to decide if we want to front the money required for this to happen, and you know how Lincolnites are about money. Do you think it will happen? Should it?
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