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What firefighters want from the next president

With presidential politics going full steam into November, here are the questions firefighters want answered

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There has been no shortage of fireworks in the presidential campaign this past week. With Trump and Clinton each naming their running mates, the dust up over presidential hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz’s non-endorsement speech at the Republican convention and Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigning over leaked emails, there’s been plenty to talk about.

Yet, all of this and the usual barbs between candidates doesn’t get at the issues facing the fire service.

Leading up to the Republican national convention, we posed five fire-service questions we feel the presidential candidates needed to answer. We encouraged readers to weigh in with their own questions and concerns.

As Democrats kick off their convention tonight, here are the concerns FireRescue1 and Fire Chief readers sent. Feel free to add your comments about what fire-service issues the candidates need to address in order to win your support.

1.“How will you provide funding to departments when new mandates are imposed when they are struggling or unable to comply with current ones due to budgeting?” — Jeremy Henries

2.“Most of our gear is 12 years old, two years expired. Can we hear back on that grant we applied for two years ago?” — David Kraus

3.“The fire service issues are the least of our countries problems. If they get to us great, but my country comes before my job.” — Jimi McCabe

4.“The safety and welfare of our men and women would be the number-one issue.” — Lisa Myers

5.“At this point I don’t care if they support the fire service. We have bigger problems. I’m just voting against Hillary.” — Trebor Renrut

6.“I am waiting to see who the IAFF backs.” — Gordon A. Fowlston

Rick Markley is the former editor-in-chief of FireRescue1 and Fire Chief, a volunteer firefighter and fire investigator. He serves on the board of directors of and is actively involved with the International Fire Relief Mission, a humanitarian aid organization that delivers unused fire and EMS equipment to firefighters in developing countries. He holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s of fine arts. He has logged more than 15 years as an editor-in-chief and written numerous articles on firefighting. He can be reached at Rick.Markley11@gmail1.com.

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