Without actually being there and knowing the history, it’s difficult to appreciate what caused eight of the 11 volunteer fire chiefs in Eddy County, N.M. to walk off the job during a board meeting.
What is not difficult to appreciate is that the real losers in this mess will be the civilians that both firefighters and politicians swore to protect. Judging by news reports, the situation there has gone from bad to worse.
In short, many of the county firefighters were at odds with the emergency management coordinator and fire director to the point that they wanted him removed from the post — eight chiefs went so far as to walk off the job to force his removal.
Up for debate is if these chiefs were going on a leave of absence or resigning. In at least one case the county fire board voted to view it as a resignation and moved to lock down that fire department.
Other volunteer departments and Carlsbad’s career department are providing coverage for the closed fire department, but that’s hardly a good solution.
Much like last week’s piece on striking firefighters and repossessed apparatus, there should be no place in the fire service for the “I quit, well, you’re fired” nonsense. And while on the topic, I should have made it clear last week that while I don’t think banks should be allowed to repossess fire trucks, neither should fire departments be allowed to skip out on their debts.
When these things are allowed to happen, the big loser is, again, civilians.
The situation in Eddy County is probably so far gone that the two sides will not be able to settle things. One solution would be to bring in an outside arbitrator with no affiliation to either side to hammer out a fair agreement.
In the end, I’m hoping that firefighters, politicians and appointed officials can set aside their pride and bad feelings to do what is in the best interest of their public. It is their sworn duty.
