As of this writing, my husband has been out on a structure fire since 4 pm. It's now 10:30 pm. and I haven't heard a thing from him. I don't even know if he made it to the fire with the antiquated engine he has to drive. Or maybe something happened at the fire, a pump has broken and he got trapped, or maybe the brakes failed on the way home, I just don't know…so far no sheriff's deputy has come to my door with bad news...

Here is the scenario, a brief synopsis of my letter which appeared in the Gazette last week:

What we stand to loose is everything if our old engines are decertified and ISO ratings skyrocket. Thousands of dollars a year for fire insurance that most people couldn't afford, to no availability of fire insurance whatsoever. No chance to refinance, no second mortgages, no equity loans, no reverse mortgages. No home sales, no new construction and no one to take your home when you die because they won't be able to sell it. Your calls to 911 in the middle of the night because a loved one has fallen out of bed? Forget it, they'll just have to lie there on the floor because there won't be anyone to come to help them because the volunteers will no longer exist without something to drive.

That's it in a nutshell.  The reason why the county is in the bind it's in now is because people have put off this issue way too long, and it's come to bite them in the rear. $18,000 is the price we'll have to pay to get the voter material out (you can barely buy a decent county car for that little) so we can all have a say. And lease versus outright purchase? When was the last time you paid cash for a new car? Sometimes you have to pay more over time to get what you need now. Reality hurts. We can't wait for a new and improved board of supervisors. I can't wait for that either. I am the one who does have to wait until my husband comes home after a fire, now going on seven hours, not knowing if he's late because the fire was so bad, or because his vehicle crashed, or sometimes they get called out to another incident before they even get back to the station from the first one!

Oh, by the way, before he went out on the fire, my husband responded to three calls in the last few days and has been working at the station getting it ready for the election on the 3rd. Not to mention that both of us have been working on getting it painted for the first time since it was built in the 80s (paint paid for by our station's own money).

Speaking of voting day, we WILL be outside the polling place (our fire station) educating people on this issue, and probably still working on the painting as well!

Lorie Setterberg

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