Day Eight: What's Next?
Here is the link to day 8 on the LI firefighters. It deals with what is next for the entire firefighting system on Long Island.
Long Island is the last densely populated region in America served almost exclusively by volunteers, but the system here is showing signs of strain.Though they are among the best-funded, best-trained and best-equipped in the nation, fire departments here are falling prey to many of the same problems that have plagued agencies nationwide.
"Was the volunteer fire service ever designed to do what Long Island fire departments are doing right now? I don't think so," said Gil Hanse, Babylon Town's director of emergency preparedness and a longtime volunteer.
"We're like a city. With the amount of people that we have and the service we're expected to provide, has it become a burden? Yes."
This has been a really good series of articles. I'll try to put some of my thoughts together regarding the articles and put up a post, probably on Wednesday.
