Normally, I don’t do movie reviews or things like that.  But a couple of weeks ago I watched a fascinating drama/mystery on the PBS network’s Masterpiece program that I think is worth telling you about.  Collision is a British production and it maintains the usual high standards of acting and plot development that they’re known for.

The story is about a police detective who is assigned the task of sorting out the mess that arose from a 6-car pileup on a local freeway.  The crash killed two of the ten passengers involved in the wreck and critically injured two others.  But what brings the investigators into it is a lawsuit quickly filed by the parents of one of the dead victims.  The high brass at police HQ are demanding to find out what the real cause of the collision was, along with what all was going on with it.

But once Det. Insp. John Tolin (played by Douglas Henshaw) starts reconstructing the crash and delving into the personal histories of  all the crash victims, it turns out to be six mysteries that all collided in this one wreck.  Early on in the movie, there are a lot of flashbacks showing how each of the victims’ day was started and how they all came to be at that one spot on the highway at the same time.  The flashback method is necessary and cleverly done, but it does require some concentration to follow it.

By the time Insp. Tolin is done, he has waded through a murder, a human-smuggling ring, industrial espionage, serial infidelity, and hidden pasts.  The plot development is excellent and it surprised me by its “grabbing” ability.  The story begins rather benignly and you tend to think that it’s going to be a dull, plodding story.  But as he gets more into the investigation, it pulls you into it and you begin getting anxious for the next revelation.  If you like complicated, intertwining plots like I do, then I think you would enjoy this movie.  Oh, yes…..he discovers what really triggered the accident and that revelation at the end of the story is the biggest surprise of them all.

The movie runs 2-½ hrs., so you might want to view it in two sittings.  I see that Amazon.com is releasing it for sale on this Tuesday, Dec. 15.  It would make a good stocking-stuffer, I think.

Now we’d better get this equipment checked out.  We might have our own 6-car pileup to work on today, you know.  I’ll get the coffee started and see how the Sunday breakfast is coming along.  See you in the day room.

There is an ongoing flurry of backpedaling in Baltimore this weekend as the Mayor’s office is trying to dish out some damage control following a fire death nearby a “browned-out” fire station.  Dave Statter has been staying on top of this story since it occurred on Wednesday and has a good summary along with Baltimore’s persistence in practicing “firehouse roulette” POSTED HERE.  To his credit, Baltimore Fire Chief Jim Clack has consistently told the citizens that this policy, promulgated by the Mayor’s office, will affect response times throughout the city.

While there are many fire chiefs that are willing to let the public know what kind of risk their elected leaders are imposing on them, there are many more who are unable to tell these truths without being summarily fired by the politicians who don’t want their citizens to know that they are being placed in  less-safe coverage.  Usually this is done in order to preserve a pet program of the mayor’s or a popular department that generates more votes for the incumbency of the city council.  This is why I don’t understand why the firefighters themselves don’t get more vocal and visible in order to let the clueless citizenry know what’s going on.  In the case of the paid departments, there is always a union local that can put the voice of the rank-and-file out there.  And in the volunteer departments there is always a friendly news outlet or community group that are willing to spread the word.  But first you have to have “the word” ready to share.  We’ve talked about this before, haven’t we?

The other day, the inner-prankster in me started thinking up some counter-attack strategy that I would use if I was in charge of getting the message out for a department that was practicing the rotating closures or shut-downs.  First, I’d take the video camera out and do some pre-shoots of the scenes that I’ll be using, and then I’d get the brownout schedule and be all set to show these to the affected neighborhoods:

• Open with a view of the firehouse that is closed that day with a voice-over identifying which station it is and its location while announcing that it is closed that day.  Then a shot of the “hours of operation” posted on the door of the neighborhood library.  Then the advice:  Your firehouse is closed today, but the good news is that the library is still open.  If you have a fire or medical emergency today, call your library and ask them to send somebody over with a box of books to throw at it.
• Scene opens with view of shuttered firehouse.  If you have a fire in your house today, nobody from your nearby firehouse will be coming to help you.  That’s because there is nobody here to drive the fire engine or put out your fire.  Then show the pre-recorded scene of the parks employee operating a riding lawnmower (preferrably one of those easily found views of three other city workers standing around watching him work) while the voice-over continues:  But the good news is, the lawnmower still has a driver.  If you have a fire, give them a call and maybe they’ll come by and cut your grass while your house burns.  

Sure, all that seems extreme and a big silly.  But the point is, we need to get the taxpayers attention and point out to them what the priorities in their local government are.  If they’re happy with putting lawnmower drivers ahead of firetruck drivers on the list of priorities, so be it.  But at least make them think about it and decide  for themselves.  They’re the ones who choose their office-holders.

Ok, it’s Saturday, so we’re allowed to have some fun today.  First though, let’s get this equipment checked out.  I’ll get the coffee started.  We’ll meet back in the day room and come up with some more strategy.

Back in August, Asst. Chief Wayne Kewitsh of the Richfield FD in Minnesota sent out a request to our readers for some help.  His department is planning a new 2-story station and they were looking for any good information on whether pole, slides or stairs had the highest injury rates.  He got several good comments and emails from readers with some valuable information and leads to some documented studies on the subject.  (You can read the original request and the Comments for it HERE.)

Chief Kewitsh has asked us to pass along their decision as well as his thanks to everyone who took time to write in and help:  The research the readers led us to along with some other stuff led the powers that be to “allow” us to have poles in the new station.  We did speak with a CalOSHA representative in Los Angeles and he said that he’d prefer a pole over slides and stairs also.

So there you have it, in case you’ll be faced with a similar decision soon.

*  *  *

One of our friends sent along this humorous but sad story (HERE)  from a village near Cincinnati that seems to be content electing incompetents to the Village Council.  Their village fire department, which is all-volunteer, needs a new fire engine.  They have two and every ten years they replace the older of the pair, moving the 10-yr.-old pumper to reserve status and putting the new one on the front line.

But now the Council doesn’t want to buy a replacement pumper.  They never planned ahead, you see, by setting aside some funds annually for their capital replacement obligations.  And now the older pumper, age 20, is shot and unusable entirely while the front-line piece is entering the era of constant maintenence if it continues to be used daily.

What is particularly silly are their ill-prepared public statements at the last village council meeting.  After the fire chief explained that if their remaining fire engine needs a repair, they have to rely on neighboring towns for fire coverage, one of the Councilyokels brilliantly piped up and said, “I cannot support the purchase of a new fire truck, a second fire truck, for a volunteer fire department.”  Still another Councilyokel chipped in, “If [the FD] were full-time, I could understand it.“   Supposedly, the Fire Committee has been studying this issue for a year now, according to still another Councilyokel.  And after a year of “study” nobody ever explained to them the concept of leasing?  Did this committee ever hold any meetings?

When the fire chief explained that national standards call for a minimum of two pumpers, regardless of the size of the department, another gem of information was dropped into the minutes-of-the-meeting when one of them proclaimed that the citizens would be safe if the village had no fire engine in service because they would receive service from all the other nearby communities.  Now you wonder how “all the other nearby communities” feel about being volunteered into expanded coverage without anybody asking them first.

Lately we’ve been seeing a few similar examples where elected officials are willing to shuck their responsibilities and leave fire protection at the mercy  of neighboring departments’ willingness to pick up the extra coverage with no remuneration or contract to do so.  So what’s going to happen when everybody shuts down and waits for the nearest good-neighbor to arrive?  They just might be 50 miles away.  Sure, that sounds ridiculous, but not nearly as ridiculous as this irresponsible village council in Ohio sounds.

We’d better get this equipment checked out now, even though it’s not yet 20 yrs. old.  And I’ll get more coffee going before it gets 20 minutes old.   See you in the day room.