California fire disaster wake-up call: New Jersey is next without action

Joe Hankins is the vice president of the New Jersey State Firefighters Association. He joined me on the air to discuss the need for more firefighters in New Jersey.

We've seen the horror show unfolding across Los Angeles and can only hope and pray that we can prevent a similar disaster in the Garden State.

Although there is a lot of information about how the fires got started and how they destroyed so much so fast, much is still speculation and opinion as we don't have all the facts yet.

That said, we do know some things that are irrefutable. We know that California has been repeatedly accused of not managing its forest areas effectively and have been warned for years that even a small fire could balloon into a huge crisis. 

We also now know that many are blaming the hiring practices implemented with the so-called DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) policy prevented many qualified firefighters from joining the force because they were white.

We know that the reservoirs were low, dams were taken down to protect some fish, and that fire hydrants ran out of pressure. 

The bottom line is that we need to keep the environmental wackos in check so that we are managing our forests, keeping our reservoirs filled and stopping overdevelopment, which has a negative impact on water pressure and infrastructure potentially making it much harder for firefighters to do their jobs.

The state needs to encourage and empower local fire departments to recruit young people into the departments and eliminate harmful mandates that keep recruiting down.

All firefighters, both volunteer and career, should receive free cancer screening and Chapter 78 pension reform should be struck down until overall insurance costs are brought down.

Part of the challenge in New Jersey is that the state puts so many mandates onto the insurance companies. For example, forcing companies to cover abortions. That cost goes onto you as a ratepayer. And if you are on the state health plan, your percentage share cost is much higher than it should be with middle-class taxpayers covering the rest.

Politicians in Trenton want to pit public workers against the private sector as if it's us vs. them.  What they have completely wrong is the "us" in the equation are all middle and working-class families,  whether you're working the public or private sector. The "them" in the equation are the back-room Trenton insiders who have been profiting on our backs for far too long. It is the real us vs. them and it's time we hold them accountable and take back Trenton government for us.

We were also joined on the show by Morris Plains Mayor Jason Karr who called in to thank his 55 volunteer firefighters who handled 400 calls last year alone.

Hankins talked about the need to encourage more recruiting by enabling EMT and firefighter certification starting with juniors in high school.

We took the opportunity to honor firefighters and encourage recruiting throughout the state for the rest of the broadcast.

Ask your local fire department if they have a junior program. Let's stand up for our firefighters and make sure we thank them in advance for the sacrifice and commitment that they are making and will make on behalf of the rest of us.