Fire training sparks debate in Lehigh neighborhood

http://www.nbc-2.com/articles/readarticle.asp?articleid=11304


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Info ------

http://www.lehighacreswatchdog.com/leepadaniast.jpg this is an aerial view of Dania St --- 301 Dania Street is outlined in yellow


Video Link ----- http://www.nbc-2.com/videoplayer.asp?videonum=070223_lehighfiretraining.wmv&dw=http://www.nbc-2.com/news/videolist.shtml

Lehigh Fire Training

February 22, 2007

By Althea Paul

Plans to deliberately set three homes on fire are sparking concerns in Lehigh Acres.
Three abandoned homes along Dania Street in Lehigh Acres may soon be burned to the ground. It's all part of a training exercise the Lehigh Acres Fire Department is planning.

"I feel it's too dry and it shouldn't be done in a neighborhood," said resident, Nancy Wallace.
Some residents are scared the fires may get out of control and spread to nearby homes. Robert Anderson, president of Lehigh Acres Watchdog Inc., is so concerned he started passing out a petition for residents to sign.

"Training is an important part of the fire department and I absolutely believe that, but to do live fire exercises in a truly residential area, that is wrong," said Anderson.

Officials with the Lehigh Acres Fire Department say they're still in the process of planning the exercise, which is important to their fire fighters. If it moves forward, officials don't believe dry conditions or the location will threaten any homes.

They also say plenty of trained fire personnel will be on hand. Still, some residents don't want any fires on their street.

"There was a central burn yesterday that got out of control and last winter when I was here the same thing happened in parts of Fort Myers," said Wallace.

According to Anderson, no one from the fire department has talked to residents about the exercise.

Fire officials say they will talk to residents, however, Anderson and others are hoping the petition will keep the burn at bay.

Residents were also concerned about who will clear up the burned structures after the exercise. Officials with the fire department say the contractor will be responsible for that and should do it nearly immediately.

Some serious questions for fire chief

The local media has reported that Fire Chief Don Adams of the Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District asked fire commissioners to consider planning for more ambulances, rescue trucks and support for next year's budget. The current 2006/2007 year's budget is $36.2 million.

"It is critical, even though I understand the taxpayers' concern with the budget, that as we grow we move forward to adding more units and fire trucks in the area," Adams said.

Growth is leading to higher call volume. Assistant Chief Jeff Haugh said there were 30 more calls made to the department this November compared to November of 2005.

Are these 30 more calls a day or a month? Please explain Assistant Chief Jeff Haugh? So if there is one more call a day, so Assistant Chief Jeff Haugh just hired 16 more staff and cut the working hours form 52 hours a week to 48 hours a week and given each firefighter a pay day off every three weeks.

Hire more, cut hours and still a staff issues - what type of management is the fire department running?

Adams has said that in a given hour of the day recently there were not enough ambulances and trucks to service all the emergencies and there were no fire engines to cover Lehigh, which they had to begin to call for mutual aid from nearby fire departments and the county, Adams said, and was reported in The Lehigh Acres Citizen.

Click Here to see the pictures

Please, we have mutual aid agreements with all the districts, but according to the 2006/2007 Budget Chief Adams we have the following vehicles:

Six Fire Engines 200 / 210 / 220 / 230 / 240 / 250

Six Ambulances 110 / 120 / 130 / 160 / 170 / 180

One Aerial Platform 310

Four Brush Trucks 400 / 410 / 430 / 450

One Tanker 710

One Special Tanker 707

Ten Staff Vehicles 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 8 / 9 / 31 / 35

Two Inspector Vehicles 32 / 33 and Two Maintenance Trucks 510 / 520

And according to the 2006/2007 Budget the fire dept will purchase

One new engine for $500,000 + plus added Advanced Life Support equipment.

One Quint (ladder truck) for $600,000 + must likely will be a million dollars.

Two Ambulances for $250,000 + each, plus added advanced life support equipment.

Trades person vehicle for $35,000 and an assistant chief staff vehicle for $35,000.

How about doing the following instead?

One advance life support engine to replace engine 200 or 240 and then sell 200 or 240 and fix the other one we keep.

One Advance Life Support Ambulance

One advance life support fast attack rescue Unit - This unit can do everything a engine and ambulance can do excerpt for transport. In fact every fire department from Sarasota County to Naples except for Fort Myers Beach uses this type of vehicle. I wonder why because it works and it does get through traffic so much quicker and save lives.

Also the fire department needs to convert Vehicle 35, which is a van to a maintenance vehicle for the trades person and fix Special Tanker 707’s upper turret and retrofit this unit with newer class of foam suppression.

Why do we need to spend, spend, spend your taxpayer’s dollars; why can’t we start thinking out side of the box and resolve the maintenance issues?

We already have 33 vehicles and budgeted to buy six more this year. When is the hemorrhaging of our tax dollars going to stop?

According to Charlie Robbins ....................

According to Charlie Robbins -- The maker of http://www.lehighfire.blogspot.com The LAFD covers approximately 143 square miles with 3 engines, 3 rescues, 1 tower ladder and several specialty pieces.

Mr. Robbins please learn to get the facts straight...............................................

According to the vehicle inventory of the Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District they have the following –

Six Fire Engines 200 / 210 / 220 / 230 / 240 / 250
Six Ambulances 110 / 120 / 130 / 160 / 170 / 180
One Aerial Platform 310
Four Brush Trucks 400 / 410 / 430 / 450
One Tanker 710
One Special Tanker 707
Ten Staff Vehicles 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 8 / 9 / 31 / 35
Two Inspector Vehicles 32 / 33
and Two Maintenance Trucks 510 / 520
According to the 2006/2007 budget

And now the current Union board wants to buy ----
One new engine $500,000 +
One Quint (ladder truck) $600,000 +
Two Ambulances $250,000 + each
Tradesperson Vehicle $35,000
and an Asst. Chief Staff Vehicle $35,000
According to the 2006/2007 budget\\

BYE BYE HAAS

The Chairman of the LAFD has been fired by the people ---- the voters have spoken!!!!!

Barrett Win Likely

Barrett Win Likely
By By Justin St. Clair
jstclair@lehighnewsstar.com
Originally posted on November 16, 2006 4:40pm


Julie Barrett appears to have beaten incumbent Steven Haas by one vote in
the race for Seat 2 on the Lehigh Acres fire board.

After a machine recount last week, Julie Barrett led incumbent Steven Haas
by only two votes. That margin slipped to a single vote after a manual
recount.

Lee County Elections officials and a team of about 50 temporary workers
counted printouts of each electronic ballot by hand, along with provisional
and absentee ballots, Supervisor of Elections Sharon Harrington said.

The hand recount was completed Wednesday, with the exception of provisional
ballots. Final official results are expected Friday. Check out lehighnewsstar.com for these results late Friday afternoon.

Initial returns had Barrett leading Haas by nine votes, which spurred the
recounts.

Congratulations to Ralph Hemingway

To the Editor,

First, congratulations to Ralph Hemingway and all Fire Union Brothers & Sisters that helped him out at each polling location in Lehigh Acres.

I would also like to thank all the citizens who voted for me and even the ones that voted for Mr. Hemingway.

It’s a truly a good day for Lehigh Acres when political newcomer Julie Barrett can upset the Fireboard Chairman Steven Haas. And I look forward in working with Mrs. Barrett and Mr. Hemingway on the fireboard issues.

By carrying 45 percent of the vote on Election Day, I’m truly energized that Lehigh Acres deserves more then never someone that can watch and report on issues that are affecting us now and in the future.

The Lehigh Acres Watching Inc. will soon have a new and fresher looking website at: www.lehighacreswatchdog.com and I look forward in serving the citizens of Lehigh Acres in this capacity.

Robert J Anderson

President

Lehigh Acres Watchdog Inc.

Firefighters dampen voting

On Tuesday my family voted and it was such a good feeling because there were so many helpful volunteers to assist and the voting machines were easy to use and understand. Although there was a lot to vote for, it was well organized.

What bothered us was that Lehigh Acres firemen were in the parking lot outside the voting polls trying to convince us to vote another union fire department member onto the local fire board.

Instead, these firemen should have been out training because the fire department isn't efficient, and yet they are highly paid, with a super chief and their costly toys.

All this means to us is that the exceptional fire department survey The News-Press conducted went for zero and showed the true colors of our citizens and the county commissioners.

Obviously, the citizens of Lee County, especially from Lehigh Acres, are not concerned about the awesome cost of fire safety, so why should we be? We live hoping that our home doesn't catch on fire, even though we carry insurance to cover any loss that may occur.

DOT AND NORM ANDERS
Lehigh Acres

Lehigh Acres Fire Board and the News Press

I thought the newspapers were in the habit of presenting the news in a fair & unbiased manner.

Our comments are in red

Lehigh Acres is the fastest growing community in Lee County, and its fire department has been striving to keep pace — both in providing the personnel and equipment necessary and in building its level of professionalism.
The fire commissioners just approved a budget of $36.2 million, the highest among independent fire districts in the county.
There are two seats open, with three candidates in Seat 2 and two in Seat 5.
Lehigh commissioners take a salary of $6,000 a year.

SEAT 2
Steven P. Haas, 41, is a professional firefighter in North Fort Myers and the incumbent here. He is the consummate professional, yet open to both suggestion and innovation and deserves to be re-elected. Haas has been known to hold Saturday open forums and sit patiently answering citizen questions and hearing concerns. But he never answers questions -- checked the minutes of past four year’s meetings. When asked about the possibility of consolidating districts, he shunned the defensive response of many commissioners, suggesting instead an innovative model of a county-wide system that would keep the governance of a central fire district removed from politics and yet able to take advantage of the economies of scale. This is the news paper and union talk and not a true goal. He claims a large amount of credit for taking Lehigh’s department from the depths of ineptitude four years ago to a culture of professionalism today. Seasoned observers say he deserves that credit. The seasoned observers you wrote this endorsement has never been to a board meeting so they can see if there comments fair & unbiased.
Haas also received election fines this year for violating campaign rules from Lee County election s office, but news-press refused to print this. Hass also got in trouble with FPL for put his election sign 6 to 8 high on the power poles endangering there the FPL linemen. Don’t the voters have the right know about these issues?

SEAT 5
The endorsement here goes to Ralph B. Hemingway Jr., 76, a former commissioner who we believe exhibits a fine sense of core values and an ernest concern for the welfare of the department and the taxpayers. Hemingway tends to focus on the details a bit more than is necessary, but he isn’t afraid to challenge the professionals on the commission with probing questions about important issues. He does not understand planning and future. He has some creative financing ideas and is a strong advocate of long-range planning. He is also a hard worker. Hemingway has no core values and even violates the election laws this election cycle. Currently Hemingway has election and ethics charges pending. Hemingway also received election fines this year for violating campaign rules from Lee County election’s office, but news-press refused to print these items. Don’t the voters have the right know about these issues?

Our question to the Editorial Board of News Press is that how can you by fair & unbiased when you don’t even print the ongoing issues with the candidates that you endorsed?


And when we ask you the great News Press to print our comments also they refused!!! Why is the paper afraid of printing the true???? Don’t the voters have the right know about these issues also?

Again News-press refuses to print full letter .......

The local firefighter's union would like you to believe I'm a bad person, not qualified to serve as your fire board commissioner.

They are desperate.

The history of the Lehigh Acres Fire and Rescue District is one where once three seats are filled by either union members or union-backed candidates, carte blanche spending becomes the norm, thus benefiting union members. They want to continue spending your tax dollars in this carefree manner.

Therefore they want you to believe that a youthful indiscretion on my part - I admit these transgressions, which happen over 12 years ago, and somehow they want you to believe that it taints me as a bad person.

I paid for this acts, determined to lead a productive life, actively involved in the community in which I live.

I have accomplished this through a variety of ways becoming active in many civic organizations plus founding the Lehigh Acres Watchdog - always checking on the government entities and officials YOU have entrusted to spend your tax dollars.

I want to continue this activity as your fireboard commissioner, continuing my watchdog efforts.

The union refuses to discuss the many issues I have brought up during the campaign. Instead they want to scare you into thinking I'm a bad guy.

Don't let them.

Vote for me Nov. 7 so I can continue my watchdog ways holding the fire district accountable for spending YOUR tax dollars.

Robert J Anderson