Letters to the Editors

Clearwater meets challenges of high-rise fires

Re: Unprepared, editorial, Oct. 18.

There are several important points that need clarification, and I want to reassure our residents who live in high-rise buildings and depend upon Clearwater Fire and Rescue that they do not need to "fear for their lives." Public safety has always been and will continue to be a top priority for the city of Clearwater.

Since January 2000, Clearwater Fire and Rescue has responded to 2,487 structure fire calls. Of those calls, 272 were real fires. Of these, 85 were contained to the room of origin, 179 were contained to the structure, and only eight extended beyond the originating structure. Our first objective is the prevention of fires, but when structure fires occur, our goal is to contain the fire in the room of origin.

Our success in containing a fire is directly related to several factors: a timely call to 911, accurate reporting of the fire, a working fire-sprinkler system, and the number of personnel assigned to the fire. A fire can easily double in size every two minutes. Thus, any one or more of these factors can greatly affect our ability to contain a fire and prevent injuries. Such was the case in the Dolphin Cove fire, the only one of these 2,487 calls to result in serious firefighter injuries requiring extended hospitalization and civilian deaths.

Clearwater firefighters receive classroom and in-field training regularly. Of the more than 43,900 hours of total firefighter training in the last 12 months, roughly 75 percent of these hours have been practical physical training hours, outside of the classroom. More than 13,000 hours of training was specific to high-rises. Each firefighter receives an average of 224 hours (almost 38 days a year) of training.

As a result of our investigations, we have identified and are actively working to correct breakdowns in our standard operating procedures that occurred at Dolphin Cove. Work began almost immediately to correct identified issues. Since the Dolphin Cove fire, mobile radio repeaters for district chiefs' vehicles have been explored as an option for eliminating communication interferences caused by large structures. Firefighters were retrained on incident command protocols and radio communications during large-scale operations. Complete training sessions on high-rise operations will take place beginning immediately and continuing through March 2003.

In addition to the review by the U.S. Fire Administration scheduled for next week, we will obtain the services of an outside fire service professional to give us another perspective. This level of scrutiny will help us answer any remaining questions about what we need to do to become better at fighting high-rise fires. Further, we are taking additional steps to address the need for fire safety education for residents. We are producing a video to help educate high-rise occupants about fire safety. Additionally, we continue to conduct fire evacuation drills at the request of homeowners groups and civic associations. Interested groups should contact Fire Marshal Randy Hinder at (727) 562-4327.

While we continuously strive to improve our daily operation, Clearwater's residents can be assured that we will continue to be pro-active in the areas of training and accountability. We are extremely confident that Clearwater Fire and Rescue can handle the needs of our residents.
-- William B. Horne II, city manager, Clearwater

Gun 'fingerprints' won't work

Re: Stand behind ballistic fingerprints, editorial, Oct. 21.

Can we be surprised when the Times jumps on the anti-gun bandwagon regarding ballistic "fingerprints"? And is it more surprising that the Times' writer admits that "the science of conducting ballistic tests must continually be perfected. While criminals are not inclined to follow the law . . ."

The editorial admits the weaknesses now inherent in so-called firearm fingerprinting, admits that criminals would ignore requirements to test whatever illegal firearms they possessed, and says "the ideal system would hold prints nationwide from every weapon in circulation," and recommends immediate congressional action.

The ballistic characteristics of a firearm are not as permanent as human fingerprints (which can also be altered or mutilated). They change as the firearm is used, and a report by California state ballistics experts concluded that computer matching failed 38 to 62 percent of the time, depending on the cartridge manufacturer (Washington Times, Oct. 21).

A criminal could change bore and firing pin characteristics with a simple file, or simply replace or remanufacture those parts, and make such testing futile. To attempt to test every firearm in the country would require a federal registration and licensing system of gigantic proportions which not only would not work, as only law-abiding citizens would comply, and would likely be inaccurate in application, but also would provide the government with the database to potentially disarm each and every law-abiding citizen gun owner in the United States, and exempt, in practical terms, all those in illegal possession of firearms, such as criminals and terrorists.

The right to keep and bear arms is a constitutional right expressed by the Second Amendment. To attempt to subvert that right through more and more gun laws, which only affect those who obey the law, and serve no true practical purpose, is a familiar tactic by those misguided hoplophobic souls who want to totally ban all firearms, little by little, step by step. This idea, if implemented, would be a goose step.
-- Lee Hanson, Hudson

Remember our rights

Once again in an editorial you compare gun ownership with car registration (Stand behind ballistic fingerprints, Oct. 21). When will your leftist newspaper realize that driving is a privilege? My right, and yes yours too, to own a firearm is an inalienable right, guaranteed to us by the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The areas where these terrible shootings are occurring already have some of the tightest and most restrictive gun laws in the country. It is yet more evidence gun control only affects us law-abiding citizens.
-- John Welch, St. Petersburg

An insulting increase

Re: Social Security checks rise by only 1.4%, Oct. 19.

Anybody who believes that the cost of living across the board has gone up by 1.4 percent in the last year does not pay for home insurance, auto insurance or medical insurance premiums. And these people most certainly do not do the weekly grocery shopping. If they are delusional enough to believe that 1.4 percent is an accurate gauge of the increase in prices this past year they are as crazy as the proverbial "outhouse rat." This paltry and unrealistic amount is just another slap in the face of those that can least afford it.

You know where the blame lies. On Election Day, vote with your "pocketbook" or "wallet."
Bill Hoelzle, Largo

To protect Social Security

During the 2000 presidential campaign then-candidate George W. Bush proposed allowing the investing of a portion of an individual's Social Security contributions into the stock market. He argued that equity investments would result in a higher earnings yield on the funds invested over and above current returns from interest derived on Treasury securities.

President Bush still supports this proposal and has advocated that Congress pass this measure. However, two events have taken place to render his proposal harmful to the future financial integrity of the Social Security trust funds. First and foremost is the significant decline in the stock market over the past two years. Social Security funds invested in stocks would have yielded negative returns and reduced investors' future Social Security benefits. Secondly, the large federal budget surpluses projected at the time of the 2000 campaign have now given way to large budget deficits forecast for years to come. A consequence of these budget deficits is that Washington now is using Social Security revenues to help fund the rest of the federal government. Also, using a portion of Social Security collections to invest in stocks would decrease revenue thus increasing the deficit and the national debt.

It stands to reason that the best way to protect Social Security would be to eliminate the federal budget deficit in order to stop spending Social Security revenues for programs other than Social Security benefits.
-- Glen Goodnow, Melbourne

Dams are central to salmon problem

In his letter to the editor, Brig. Gen. David Fastabend of the Army Corps of Engineers' Portland office seems to have ignored your editorial, to which he said he was responding (The complicated salmon struggle, Oct. 11). He also told us Floridians that we did not understand the complicated situation with salmon and the Snake River dams, but at the same time contended that we should understand because we have much in common with them because we are undertaking restoration of the Everglades.

We do understand. Here are the facts his letter ignored:

All species of Snake River salmon are on the endangered species list, thanks primarily to the four lower Snake River dams in Washington state. State, federal and tribal scientists continue agreeing those dams are the biggest culprit in the decline.

For decades, the corps has been spending millions of dollars to save salmon on the Snake River, and everything it has tried has failed. Some measures, like trucking salmon around the dams, are downright silly. The main thing these projects have accomplished is putting millions of dollars into the corps' budget.

The people of the Northwest are not uniformly supporting the corps' continued dam operation on the Snake River. Thousands of people support breaching the dams, including taxpayer advocates who are tired of the pointless waste of our money; anglers who want to preserve their sport; family fishing businesses who depend on the salmon; and native Americans whose treaty with the U.S. government is violated by the dams' decimation of salmon.

It is even peculiar that the general referred to Everglades restoration, because it is our equivalent of breaching those dams. Most of the massive Everglades restoration involves reversing the damage done primarily by dams, sluices and canals built by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The RAND report, "Generating Power in the Pacific Northwest," mentioned in the Times editorial, concluded that removing the four lower Snake River dams and investing in clean energy would create up to 15,000 jobs and improve the environment.

The corps needs to spend more time examining new ideas like those in the RAND report, which could benefit everyone, and less writing letters trying to justify past mistakes.
-- Melissa Metcalfe, Southeast organizer, Endangered Species Coalition, St. Petersburg

Can we filter out political ads?

Florida seems to have a great need for more funds to balance our state budget. I would gladly pay a decent fee if some technological whiz would invent a program to screen out political ads on my television. What an evening to look forward to!
-- A. William Clark, Homosassa

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