Weird: 2 DC Ambulances Catch fire within 3 hours of each other....

[BaiHu]

"Let me answer it this way. Since you've been in the District of Columbia, how many instances are you aware of where two fire engines or two fire apparatus have caught fire on the same day within a three-hour period? Any?" the deputy mayor said.

Read more: http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/2313719...#ixzz2c45F9Y5M
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[Byron]

Really doesn't seem so weird when the facts are laid out:

...well-documented equipment and mechanical problems...
...Mechanical breakdowns are a daily occurrence in this department...
...Ambulances frequently overheat...
...A picture also shows a parking sign used as a makeshift heat shield inside the engine...
...For months, FOX 5 has reported the equipment failures and maintenance problems within DC Fire and EMS. Just last week, an ambulance assigned to the President's motorcade ran out of gas. Apparently the gas gauge was broken...

[TGS]

Really doesn't seem so weird when the facts are laid out:

Those facts are all too common in many EMS agencies these days. Granted, DC has it especially bad, but half of our ambulances were in service prior to 9/11. Hopefully we're getting 3 new ones this year.

One of the reasons that EMS is so poorly funded in many places is because it isn't really a government responsibility to provode it...rather, its a courtesy. The goverment has a responsibility to keep the town from burning down. Ditto the safety of the public large. You're hurt or sick? Its not the governments responsibility to fix you.

[MikeyC]

There's a lot more going on to this story than is making the papers. For professional reasons I'm not going to put the dirty laundry of my department out there for everyone to see. That being said these repeated accusations of sabotage are infuriating and complete bull kitten.