Firefighting "Roulette" Is a Game With Deadly Consequences

It's no secret that your home (if you've still got one) isn't worth as much as it was before the economy started its decline. Real estate, as this blog explained last week, is no longer an appreciating investment — and may not be for quite awhile, if ever again.

That probably still doesn't mean you're okay with your aforementioned house burning to the ground because half the town's firefighters have been laid off.

Get your buckets out, people. The New York Times reports that "from Baltimore to Sacramento," fire stations are laying off employees, putting the resident Dalmatian up for adoption (okay, maybe I made that one up) and closing their doors.

In cities not forced to completely shut down stations, many fire houses are instituting a system called "brownout plans," where stations shut down on a rotating schedule and call on others from around the area when they need help. But emergency response times are increasing, leaving officials like Chief James S. Clack of the Baltimore City Fire Department comparing the firefighting industry to a deadly game of roulette. "I'm always worried," Clack explains, "that something's going to happen where one of these companies is closed."

And things do happen — in San Diego last month, a choking two-year-old died after it took almost ten minutes for paramedics to arrive. He lived just six hundred feet from a fire station, but because of the city's brownout schedule, the station was closed.

We've all been burned by the recession; skimping, saving, putting off everything from taking vacations to starting a family. But one thing that should never be compromised is the knowledge that, in an emergency, you can call for help — and get it before it's too late. When it comes to emergency services, local governments are playing with fire.

Photo credit: 111 Emergency