Something profoundly refreshing has happened: The College Park City Council has actually done something about its concerns regarding fire safety. As reported Friday by The Diamondback's Kevin Robillard, the council unanimously voted Tuesday to send a letter to Prince George's County Fire Chief Lawrence Sedgwick in protest of planned cuts that would slim the budget of each county volunteer fire department by $7,500.
Unfortunately, the fact that the council's letter-writing act can be considered refreshing is not a good thing. The fact that this letter stands out as being one of the most active stances the council has taken recently on fire-safety issues is scary.
The city council's letter comes shortly after city officials did next to nothing in response to a recent fire that caused more than $15,000 in damages in Hartwick Tower, a building that lacks a sprinkler system and had an alarm system that failed to work. It also comes in light of the fact that, in the past three years, there have been four major student-housing fires in the area, two of which resulted in the death of a student.
An apartment was gutted in a building where no alarm warned residents that their lives were in danger and no sprinklers fought the blaze, and the city council did nothing in response. The city council seems awfully worried about the $7,500 its volunteer fire department may lose, as it should be, but it doesn't seem to give a damn about the city's massive fire-safety failures made apparent in the recent Hartwick Tower fire. Why?
The College Park Volunteer Fire Department receives some of its funding directly from the city. A skeptic would think city officials only care about the budget cut because they fear they may be asked to replace what was cut. An optimist would think city officials are solely concerned about the safety of their constituents. It's hard to know who would be more correct, but the city council certainly doesn't have any sort of record to support the idea that it is overly or actively concerned with fire safety.
Although we may like to think that fire safety isn't about money, it certainly is. Hartwick Tower would probably have been outfitted with a sprinkler system long ago, were such systems not so expensive. If fire safety was deemed more important than fiscal dynamics, then the fire-hazardous Knox Box area would probably have been bulldozed and replaced long ago. Most frightening is that it seems, were it not about money, the city council probably wouldn't be in contact with the county fire chief at all.
Although there is no reason why we should look at this letter to the county fire chief as being indicative of a change in the council's stagnant and soft approach to fire safety, we can look at it as being an example of the kind of response to fire issues students should expect from the city council.
The letter shows that city officials are aware of the fact that volunteer fire departments play a crucial role in our city. The county staffs the fire station between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m.; volunteers protect the city the rest of the time. The Hartwick Tower fire and both area fires that killed students in recent years were all during early morning hours.
The letter shows council members are fully cognizant of how sensitive many of their constituents are to fire safety concerns. It shows they have avenues through which to address their concerns about threats to fire safety in active, public ways.
By sending a letter about fire department funding to the county's fire chief, the city council is saying it takes fire safety very seriously and it is willing to confront its county counterparts when it feels safety is being threatened. By sending the letter, city officials acknowledged their role in protecting city residents against fire. They should start doing the same with all the fire-safety issues our city is facing and not just when it comes to budget cuts.
Be the first to comment on this article!