Editor:

Someone needs to pull the fire alarm!

The May 21 Brentwood Press article “Fire station closures on horizon” reported that East Contra Costa Fire Protection District is thinking about shutting the door on fire stations due to a local budget problem.

The burning idea of closing fire stations to make ends meet is an idea that needs to be put out. It would be simply crazy to do such a thing.

Not only is it dangerous for the firefighters to lose their jobs, but it’s even more dangerous for the community. By adding seconds or even minutes to a response call, one can forget about having a possible chance of being saved.

According to the United State’s National Fire Protection Association, only 58 percent of full-time fire departments meet the recommended response time: six minutes from alert to arrival. Do we really think we are going to rise the response time by lowering the number of stations?

I believe citizens must be ready to bring the heat on administrators if they want to make sure they will solidify their safety.

I understand there is a $2.9 million deficit and that cuts need to be made somewhere, but are firefighters really the ones who should be taking a cut? We might as well make the police department take more cuts as well. After all, do we not agree that cops are like the Army, and firemen are more like the Marine Corps?

We need to look elsewhere to take care of our fiscal dilemma. The possible savings of closure on fire companies are so small compared to the entire deficit.

It is sad that we as a community hold such a high regard for firefighters but rarely reflect it in our municipal budgets.

Zechariah Matis, Brentwood