NO TIME TO STOP!

Comment

Comment by Lisa Marie on August 15, 2010 at 11:12am

What the hell is a traffic light!? lol great stuff combs! but will anyone learn from this? pfft, no. Stubborn firemen.

Comment by Paul Combs on July 29, 2010 at 2:50pm

Thanks, Captain - sometimes you just gotta smile and let it slide on by. I'm sure I offended this person with my response - perhaps they need a serious Dr. Phil moment:)

Comment by Paul Combs on July 29, 2010 at 9:30am

Thanks, Keith!

Comment by Paul Combs on July 29, 2010 at 9:28am

William, I received an email from a concerned (anonymous) firefighter yesterday that said my depiction of the fire apparatus was inaccurate and misrepresented the fire service. In their words, no fire apparatus could ever go so fast, to leave the road, as I have drawn. Further more, the civilian in questions is not demonstrating enough pain - because being hit by a fire engine would obviously hurt and gives people the impression that they don't have to move for a speeding vehicle. They closed with "your work is negative and condescending, it makes me feel bad about my role in the fire service".

Going against my nature to respond to comments from anonymous writers, I wrote this: Though I appreciate your concern, I believe you are missing the whimsical and satiric nature of an editorial cartoon. Thank you for voicing you thoughts, but if you want a cute and cuddly message, buy a greeting card - editorial cartoons are supposed to bite. Regards.

So, William, are you trying to get me in trouble with your suggestions? Obviously, I'm upsetting some of our good brothers and sisters out there with my exaggerated depictions:)

Comment by Keith Farris on July 29, 2010 at 9:21am

Great work as usual Sir! You always have a great message and your artwork i9s phenomenal. It was a pleasure to have met you at FDIC. Kepp up the great work trying to help us stay on track with our responsibilities to our customers!

Comment by William Hoehn on July 28, 2010 at 9:13pm

Paul, You didn't draw with enough speed. It didn't knock his socks off, just took one shoe. Driver mush have missed a gear, or has been practicing "skip shifting" to save fuel.

Comment by John K. Murphy on July 28, 2010 at 6:16pm

Not meaning to pile it on and insensitive to the issues, but let’s look at the tragic loss of the fire chief and firefighter in Virginia. Response speed was a factor as fire apparatus do not roll over multiple times and land upside down by themselves. The formula of: Heavy Fire Apparatus + Speed = Trouble, is important as the fact remain that incidents of excessive speed involving fire apparatus has lead to the death of firefighters, death of civilians, damage and destruction to fire apparatus and litigation with generous settlements. This will continue to occur until we SLOW DOWN.

There is a 2005 case in California where the firefighter driver was charged with Vehicular Manslaughter related to the death of a firefighter after a fire engine rollover. The criminal charges were eventually dropped but it did not bring back the deceased firefighter and was a tragic loss for the family, department and community.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE - slow down. Getting to the scene faster does not generally change the outcomes and attempting to alter the time/space continuum by driving faster to the call will only get you and your department into trouble.

Drive Safe and Be Safe

Comment by Paul Combs on July 27, 2010 at 10:57pm

Oh, I've been guilty of this one myself - especially during my first few years on the Dept. Thought trucks were like nozzles, all the way on or all the way off - Stop, or 90 mph!!

Comment by John K. Murphy on July 27, 2010 at 10:52pm

You are so right on. Thanks for this illustration - hopefully a teachable moment

Comment by Paul Combs on July 27, 2010 at 10:04pm

LOL!!!