The fire departments of Hollister and San Juan Bautista are to
be commended for their efforts and work in putting out the fire at
Kentucky Fried Chicken. It was nothing short of heroic. And the
City of Hollister and the cerebrally challenged Council that
purports to serve the best interests of Hollister should be
horsewhipped.
The fire departments of Hollister and San Juan Bautista are to be commended for their efforts and work in putting out the fire at Kentucky Fried Chicken. It was nothing short of heroic. And the City of Hollister and the cerebrally challenged Council that purports to serve the best interests of Hollister should be horsewhipped.
The fire departments arrived on the scene of KFC within seconds after receiving the call. For our family, living directly above KFC, we waited on pins and needles to see what was going to happen as flames continued to erupt, threatening the hillside on which we live. Our children were terrified and my husband and I wondered how much insurance we had. A grease fire is the worst kind of fire and more firefighters are lost in that type of fire than any other. We watched as firefighters directly fought the flames and wondered how they could possibly function. We prayed for the owners of KFC, the employees and the firefighters.
When firefighters showed up at our house requiring the use of our backyard and taking out part of our fence, we knew the fire was worse than we imagined. At the same time, we have never felt so confident in the ability of a group of people as our firefighters. These guys were amazing. They knew exactly what needed to be done, without hesitation, working in complete harmony, handling monstrous equipment as if choreographed to do so, and completely united to succeed.
When I discovered that every available firefighter was at the scene, as well as those from San Juan, I wondered what would happen if there was another fire or an accident on 156 or 25. I wondered where our other fire department was and why we didn’t have more firefighters. The standard is one firefighter for every thousand residents. Hollister has 15 firefighters, about a quarter of the standard. Why is that? I was told it had to do with the city budget.
I am sick to death of hearing how poorly the budget is handled by our city employees and particularly by the decisions of a city council that is clearly not capable of handling its fiduciary responsibilities and certainly not dedicated to the interests of this community.
Now they want to spend $130,000 on a study to figure out where they can increase taxpayer costs to cover their blunders? After they’ve already been hit with a million dollars in sanctions for other violations? When this money starts coming out of Messrs. Brucia’s and LoBue’s and Ms. Valdivia’s personal pockets, I’ll go along with it, but when it is coming out of my pocket, I’m going to have a say and this is it – I want another fire department and more firefighters to bring our community up to code.
Instead of spending $130,000 on a study to figure out where taxpayers can be further raped, let’s spend $130,000 on a recruiting firm to find council members who actually have a clue.
To our firefighters: You are unequaled and we thank you so much for the tremendous job you do on a daily basis.
To the City of Hollister: Wake up.
Colleen Eastman,
Hollister
