Bill Wallace: Turning over fire stations to homeless a bad idea
Re “Turn fire stations into shelters” (Letters, Feb. 9): The writer failed to recognize a lot of the problems this would create. I doubt he has ever seen the inside of a fire station and the daily activities. Before presenting such an absurd idea, he should do a ride-a-long and get a perspective of life in the fire station. He mentioned the fancy fire stations, yet the main fire station was built in 1949 and is now far from fancy.
One obvious problem would be the safety and security of the fire engines/trucks and all the equipment. Response times to medical and fire calls would increase dramatically. With this the loss of life and property will rise. The training, maintenance of equipment and engines, and any coordination of special events or fire-safety programs would be greatly impaired. By transitioning to an 8-hour shift, the city would need to hire additional firefighters, increasing the cost to taxpayers.
Instead, the writer should offer his medical offices at nights as a place for sheltering the homeless.
Bill Wallace, Modesto
This story was originally published February 15, 2016 at 12:29 PM with the headline "Bill Wallace: Turning over fire stations to homeless a bad idea."