Our fire dept. responded to a rural brush fire that wasn't in our district. We had the fire in control when the fire dept. in which the fire was located showed up. They told us what a good job we had done and then promptly turned around and left. The Chief and I consulted together with each other and we felt someone should stay at the scene for at least another 12 hours in case the fire flared up again. I and another young fireman spent the night on this fire making sure it was under control and it wasn't even in our jurisdiction. I was angry with the little rural fire department, because it was their job but I was glad we did the right thing regardless of jurisdiction. So what I lost a night's sleep. Protection of property and human life was more important. In my opinion the first thing is the safety of others regardless of territory. I was glad the chief and I both felt the same way. Our chief did contact the little rural department's chief and complain, a friendly chief to chief complaint. But why can't people make those kind of decisions?
Keith
