Firehouse Poles Declining
Via US Firefighting News, an article by the Star Tribune covers the decline of poles within firehouses.
It's the same around the country, as cities build one-story firehouses and update older ones. "It certainly is without any question that firehouse poles are becoming, with each new firehouse, a thing of the past," said Harold Schaitberger, general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters.
Here is why:
The removal has also coincided with heightened concerns about safety in recent years. Every firefighter seems to tell stories of pole-related broken ankles, sprains, blown-out knees, friction burns, concussions, twisted and broken backs. News accounts described one pole-related paralysis, in 1969, and one civilian death, in 1929.
It’s too bad that they are unsafe; however, they will forever remain a symbol of firefighting.
