By Pamela McLoughlin
Hartford Courant
ORANGE, Conn. — No good deed goes uncriticized, as a Connecticut Volunteer Fire Department found out this week when they came up with a storm-related challenge for residents,
Of course, the positivity pool also overflowed in the tight-knit Orange residential community. Others outside the fire department also stepped in to support the effort.
| MORE: Learning from viral firefighter videos without becoming a keyboard critic
The department launched a challenge to residents Monday as the big storm wrapped up to give firefighters a little relief after they left their families and pulled a grueling 24-hour shift during the storm.
The town of Orange Fire Marshal’s Office fire hydrant challenge goes like this: Shovel out a fire hydrant in town, send a photo and be entered into a drawing for one of three $10 Dunkin gift cards purchased by the department. The challenge appears on the town of Orange Fire Marshal Facebook page.
Fire Marshal James Vincent said there are more than 500 fire hydrants in town and volunteer firefighters had spent six hours shoveling around hydrants while answering 15 calls for service, including for suspected carbon monoxide, helping with medical calls, shoveling pathways for emergencies, putting out a highway car fire at the height of the storm.
Hydrants are cleared in case they’re needed to help put out a fire and saving that time, about 10 minutes, can make all the difference if there’s a fire, Vincent said.
The challenge posted on Facebook was met with more than 300 positive comments.
But Vincent was met with negative comments as well that were posted on Facebook, including, “for what I pay in taxes, they should be cleared by town workers.”
Vincent’s response on Facebook, “Ok, which town workers are you referring to? Public works who are already out for long hours trying to clean up the streets? Or maybe park and rec who are already out clearing town and school buildings?”
“What started out as a fun way to get our residents to help out our volunteer firefighters has turned into regret. With that, I want to clarify a few things. This idea came from sitting around a table at the firehouse with the volunteer Fire Chief Vaughan Dumas after 24 hours of nonstop response to 15 calls for service throughout the blizzard…”
Another commenter asked, “Why are my tax dollars going towards gift cards?”
Vincent’s answer, “They’re not. The gift cards were bought and paid for out of my pocket, Chief Dumas’ pocket, and one of the police officers. This is not costing the town a dime, just to have a little recognition for those who help out.”
Another wrote of firefighters, “They chose to volunteer.”
Vincent’s answer on Facebook, “Yup, you’re right; our amazing firefighters give freely of their time. After standing by at the firehouse and responding throughout the blizzard, when it was all said and done they had to go home and dig out their own houses.
“Even still, they were out all day yesterday shoveling out hydrants. There are over 600 hydrants in town. It’s a pretty tall order. There are plenty that still need attention.”
Then a commenter wrote: “Lot of work for a chance for $10 coffee.”
Vincent “apologized.”
“Sorry it’s not more lucrative. Feel free to not participate! For those who are participating, we thank you. For those who shovel out their hydrants regardless, we thank you, too! We understand how difficult it can be!”
Vincent said when he was growing up his father taught him to shovel the fire hydrant automatically when he dug out the mailbox.
But in small town, community-minded Orange, the well-wishes and generosity flowed faster than the less-than-well wishing.
They started with the three gift cards, the police department added one, a dispatcher and her boyfriend dropped one off and First Selectman Jim Zeoli said he planned to drop off a few.
So far 13 people have joined the challenge that’s running until Friday and there are more chances
Many residents who didn’t enter the contest, so someone else might win, also sent photos of their dug out hydrants, Vincent said. Vincent said the challenge will return in any future big storms.
How should fire department officials respond when a well-intended community effort faces social media backlash?
FireRescue1 readers respond:
- Fire Marshal Vincent’s response was an exceptional response to the criticisms that came out of this situation. Hopefully, there weren’t too many negative responses. Having shoveled a few hydrants in my volunteer career, I can attest that it is a strenuous activity, especially when coupled with calls for service and digging out your own property. We actually had a citizen who shoveled his sidewalk and piled the snow on top of the hydrant in front of his house. When asked about it, he said, “Nobody ever uses that hydrant anyway.” We removed the snow in 15 minutes and explained what that delay would do to a fire in his house. His reply was something about having water on the trucks. Maybe it’s time for a promotional campaign to inform the citizens of just what it is the fire department does and how much time is put in by volunteers!
- While engaging with keyboard warriors can be dangerous, in this case, it is absolutely necessary to engage to clarify the details of a great safety campaign. Love the challenge and sounds like 500 hydrants cleared proves the effort was successful. Adopt-A-Hydrant programs are very prevalent in many areas across our country.
- You have their attention, so use it to your advantage to educate the public on the services the FD provides to the community.
- One thing that every chief needs to know is what it would cost the taxpayers of their districts to staff paid service compared to what the volunteer service costs. Many taxpayers do not realize what their taxes could be compared to the peanuts they pay for the volunteer fire service.
- I applaud the Fire Marshall from the town of Orange for having this contest aimed at the residents to not only help but be rewarded for clearing hydrants. As a Fire Commissioner for the Newington Vol. Fire Dept, this is a very novel idea with minimal cost & it’s a great service for the kids/residents to get involved to clear hydrants & in some small way be rewarded for doing so. I know that we are looking at doing the same thing as our neighboring WHFD which also held the same contest & it was extremely well received without ANY negative comments.
- Respond diplomatically as the chief in the article. The bulk of the residents were appreciative. Unfortunately, there are also crabby, mean, unhappy ones. Be diplomatic and then ignore them.
- Good citizen-to-Karen ratio is strong in this town! Sounds like they all forgot what the term “volunteer” means!
- We have the same issue with keyboard warriors. We don’t engage with the negative commenters. They would never come face to face. We just thank them for their concerns and let them know we are looking into the issues.
- One thing social media has shown us: if you’re a dedicated enough curmudgeon, you can find a way to complain about ANYTHING. Thank you to the volunteers out getting it done, to the folks at that table that came up with the idea and fronted a few bucks to provide a small incentive and took the initiative to get the word out, and thanks to those who did a little so that a small group wouldn’t have to do even more than they already had. Illegitimi non carborundum.
- What a neat way to engage your community while making very important strides towards safety!
Ignore them... it is a complete waste of time, effort, and literally emotional well-being to argue with people who are fully convinced of their own self-righteous views, and their moral and intellectual superiority. The literally are not worth your time or your consideration.
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