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With California experiencing two years of unprecedented wildfires that have left more than 20,000 homes destroyed and scores dead, the private firefighting business is booming. These brigades work independently from county firefighters; their job is to protect specific homes under contract with insurance companies.
Their work can vary from pushing back flames as they approach properties to reaching the site before the blaze arrives and spraying homes with fire retardant.
But the private forces have generated complaints from some fire departments, who say they don't always coordinate with local crews and amount to one more worry as they try to evacuate residents and battle the blaze.
"From the standpoint of first responders, they are not viewed as assets to be deployed. They're viewed as a responsibility," said Carroll Wills, communications director for California Professional Firefighters, a labor union representing rank-and-file firefighters in the state.
What began more than a decade ago as a white-glove service for homeowners in well-to-do neighborhoods has expanded in recent years as the wildfire danger has increased, said Michael Barry, a spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute, a not-for-profit organization that educates the public about the insurance industry.
https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-private-firefighters-20181127-story.html
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 29 2018, @08:09PM
Reading comprehension my main douchenozzle, reading comprehension.
"As soon as a few of them fail in a deadly fashion, the risk/cost/benefit analysis will change and it won't be worth it."
- Just a statement about how this industry may collapse, insurance companies won't want to continue using such services if a lawsuit awards the family of a dead worker lots of money.
"Just hoping that those mercenaries don't endanger (or worse) the real firemen before that."
- Seems reasonable
Nowhere do I see anything about letting someone's house burn because it is ruining "union jobs" or whatever your crazy brain comes up with. Not a single firefighter is likely to lose their job due to these fire mercs. Not being fully coordinated with the actual firefighters could very well endanger the mercs or fire fighters.
You sure you're not a Trump fan? You're starting to sound like him.