Yeah, I've heard that, but it doesn't wash here. The unionized firefighters here have nothing more than three stories with which to deal, and who spend their time “promoting” even more “safety items” so they can sit around the “house eating and sleeping.” Now here, when you build a single-family home, it has to have fire sprinklers. And when it comes time to “inspect properties” in the area for weed abatement, instead of sending out someone in a pickup truck, the union rules specify that the “inspections” be done by the FF’s so they use a pumper truck to make their tour. Firefighters here are simply disgraceful PE Union goons who are paid handsomely for doing very little. Here they "shop for the house" at the most expensive market in town. A place that I can't afford to patronize. And then we have the situation down in Los Angeles where the Lifeguards at the Beach are FF’s so they get to retire at 50 after spending their worthless lives ogling women on the beach. It's just nuts!
-—Now here, when you build a single-family home, it has to have fire sprinklers-—
Wait’ are you serious ?
A new single family home is required to have a sprinkler system...?
That is absolutely insane...
They got it easy. I have firefighter friends here in San Francisco, and they have to deal with highrises, as well as cliff and sea rescues along the waterfront. But I agree about the time spent at the firehouse. I've been to a couple and when not busy, they're cooking steaks, enjoying sports on big-screen TV and sometimes waxing their private cars nearby (shh, don't tell anyone). But they do have a dangerous job, and sometimes get hurt on the job - I've seen some with casts on broken limbs. Guys in the suburbs have it easier. But they're all paid very well and can retire at 50 with bigger pensions than other employees who retire at 65.