The following two editorials were submited to the Union Democrat.
"Board Ineptitude"
To the editor:
In response to Robert Rutherford’s Feb. 22 guest opinion, “Strawberry Fire District
Responds.” I find myself feeling appalled at what is either extreme ignorance or
contempt for reality. Mr. Rutherford claims that the district has a mutual aid
agreement with the county, which denies it. This would be an easily settled claim
if Mr. Rutherford would simply produce the document. At the least, his inability
to do so shows laziness and unprofessionalism on behalf of the district, if it has
managed to misplace such an important document.
Then Mr. Rutherford uses the winter weather as an excuse for the district’s lack of
response to the Strawberry Store fire. Mr. Rutherford, does your engine not have
chains? Or, was the only “impassible” road the one going from your station to the store?
Thankfully, Pinecrest found a path. Mr. Rutherford then claims that district volunteers
were attempting to respond, but heard that Pinecrest had the fire out and went back to
shoveling snow off of driveways and roads. The work is far from done when a fire is
extinguished, so why district volunteers did not continue to respond and assist is a
question that board members should inquire about.
Finally, Mr. Rutherford has the nerve to mention the money that the district has been
able to amass for “supplies and communication equipment.” Perhaps if those dollars had
been spent on a shovel, chains, and pagers, your district could have made it to the fire.
I hope that the residents of Strawberry recognize the board’s ineptitude and look to
partner with Pinecrest in order to get some service for what they pay for.
Kenny Hockett
Tuolumne
"No Trust"
To the editor:
In response to Robert Rutherford’s Feb. 22 guest opinion:
If the Strawberry Volunteer Fire Department is there to provide fire protection for life
and property, why doesn’t it respond to fires? Why don’t you respond to life threats,
like power lines down or the smell of gas in a building?
The winter storm conditions that you talked of were not there for the Strawberry Store fire.
There were no power lines down, trees down, or snow making the roads impassable. I drove
by the SVFD station hours before the fire, and all the roads were clear. No obstructions.
That’s no excuse not to go.
I agree that the Tuolumne County Fire Department’s Pinecrest volunteers don’t trust the
hydrants. The system is not reliable.
And as for high flow ratings, I don’t believe that. When were they last tested? Why didn’t
your firefighters respond after the fire was out? There was still work to do. There were
five volunteers from Pinecrest, not three.
And if you haven’t seen the banner out in front of the store, they are heroes, not the
department that should have shown up.
What if Pinecrest had been on another call and was unable to respond? That would have left
SVFD. Would it have responded? My guess is no.
If the district is able to provide for upgraded apparatus and supplies, why do you have an
antique engine? I am paying taxes to have a fire department — taxes that aren’t being used
for that purpose.
I don’t feel I should be paying even a cent for what I am seeing. In short, I don’t trust
SVFD to do anything.
