Originally posted by Karen
... it makes sense to take the truck out in Non-Emergencies just to be sure everything is functional...

The truck, the men, their salaries, -
they all would have been paid for anyway without this incident.

In general, it's a necessary job that most people take for granted - if there's a fire, the firefighters will come and put it out, without thought as to the expense, the training, the physical fitness and the hard work intermixed with odd hours, moments of boredom and moments of intense stress.

Happy firefighters are presumably better firefighters, and if this one minor incident makes people happy, and makes them think well of firefighters, I see no harm in it...
THANKs, Miz Karen - Well said!

And would you believe?
Sorta JUST what da CHIEF and the Public Information Office at LA Fire were thinking when the "Proposal Detail" was requested!

Dad traded a couple Very Nice e-mails with the LAFD Public Information Officer (the FF Brian mentioned in the article)... Here's some of what he wrote...

Dad had wondered if the Troops had *asked* affore the Caper was pulled off?

"Yes. The Chief was apprized of the situation during his morning briefing and did not raise any objections.
The proposing Firefighter was off-duty, using an earned vacation day.
His fellow crew members remained in their primary response district (less than a mile from the Station), and the Truck Company (one of 49 we had on-duty at that moment) was in the common status of "available via radio".
The entire operation took less than five minutes.
There were no incidents in their district at that time.
For us, it was not too much different than a public demo, etc. -
and was met with enthusiastic support from the local business community and applause from the dozens of patrons in the upscale restaurant.
We have also heard from a handful of local businesses and residents who want to offer them some assistance at the wedding.

"The challenge of this situation though, is the many circumstances behind the scenes (relating to the couple and their families) that made local publicity of this event important for them and our LAFD family. The lack of such information could stymie others in creating an *informed* opinion as to *exactly* what we did, how we did it, and most importantly - why."

Brian mentioned how the LAFD often participates in "Make A Wish Foundation" Fire Truck Rides and Station Visits for terminally ill children ...
then concluded with this...

"Oh, and in case anyone should wonder,
we do (periodically) use our aerial ladder trucks to rescue cats from trees and hang banners from tall buildings. While such "trivial" use of our time and skill may seem inappropriate, it is once again, a bit different when we know the rest of the story.

While our primary responsibility will *always* remain the protection of those we serve, the LAFD takes seriously its collateral mission of putting a smile on the faces of others. It is one of the key reasons that you never see me apologizing for our actions."

So we're not makin 'Scuses for what the LA Fiur Guyz dun -
kuz we don't really think any excuses are needed!
Nuffin wrong when ya put *smiles* onna
Whole Lotta Faces!!



/s/ Phred