It seems that the flathead axe approach through the lock of the front door of the volunteer fire service by some politicos and their nonprofit affiliates has been re-evaluated by their incident commanders. Good incident commanders constantly re-evaluate their tactics in order to move their strategy forward. No tactical changes can work if the strategy is based on assumptions and conclusions that are no more than an exercise in surround and drown.

We in the fire service are taught to check the lock and knock before we forcibly enter a home deemed to have a potential or actual emergency situation. This method results in less property damage and homeowner distress, while advancing the tactical objectives of firefighters: to preserve life and property. When certain politicos and their nonprofit affiliates force the front door of all volunteer firefighters in Nassau County, they must understand that a flashover might occur. A flashover occurs when every combustible object in sight ignites into a ball of fire.

The Rauch Foundation has done a good job of compiling data. There will be plenty of time to debate per capita fire service equipment, capital and operating cost data. But this data cannot be evaluated in a vacuum, especially after our county executive's recent attempt to eliminate the "County Fire Prevention" tax line. This dedicated tax line provides funds for fire communications, fire marshals, fire code enforcement, and one of the top-rated fire service training facilities in the United States. These dedicated fire service funds would have been thrown into the county's general purposes fund. A knock at the door approach would have been better than the attempted forcible entry approach.

The recent Long Island Index Briefings theme seems to take a knock at the door approach in one paragraph and a forcible entry approach in the next. It seem that the officer in charge of this briefing is not sure of which end of the Halligan tools to use in the fire service front door. It would help to first know if the door opens inward or right at you.

Edward W. Powers