St. Phatty
Active member
I didn't know where to post this.
I do wish that incredibly hard working group of people well.
Could have posted in Toker's Den ... but the subject is kind of a Buzz-kill.
Just saw this in the news back in November -
"On Sunday November 5 we lost another wildland firefighter to the suicide epidemic."
"After completing his shift that morning at CAL FIRE’s Station 20 in El Cajon, California Captain Ryan Mitchell took his own life at the Interstate 8 Pine Valley bridge in San Diego County near Pine Valley."
http://wildfiretoday.com/2017/11/07/we-lost-another-firefighter/
Then, reading more, I found out that Captain Mitchell's death was not a rare event, very unfortunately.
2 more articles on the Grim Subject -
http://wildfiretoday.com/2017/11/04/suicide-rate-among-wildland-firefighters-is-astronomical/
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/10/wildland-firefighter-suicide/544298/
I talked with a retired urban firefighter from Wisconsin today, at the gym. He said the wildland firefighting job is very stressful with super-long shifts.
One of the most painful physical conditions I've ever had was lung pain, from not using proper ventilation while learning to carve stones and gems.
I mentioned that to the firefighter and he said that lung-pain from smoke inhalation doesn't make it any better.
I figure a major pay raise might help.
In the fire in Ventura-Santa Barbara, 1500 of the 8500 of the fire-fighters are prison slave labor.
http://www.newsweek.com/california-...hters-who-are-battling-flames-southern-748618
They are doing total ass-busting work defending million dollar homes. Working 24 hour shifts.
Anyway, it's more than a little problem when the people our civilization needs to fight wildfires, are checking out - and our backup is prison slave labor.
If I was Governor Brown, I would visit the family of Captain Mitchell, give them some extra money, and try and find out what was eating him.
The only other thing I can think is, possibly some of the people for whom wildland fire-fighting is an appealing career, are more prone to suicide.
If anybody here has lost a family member, I apologize for broaching a difficult subject.
I do wish that incredibly hard working group of people well.
Could have posted in Toker's Den ... but the subject is kind of a Buzz-kill.
Just saw this in the news back in November -
"On Sunday November 5 we lost another wildland firefighter to the suicide epidemic."
"After completing his shift that morning at CAL FIRE’s Station 20 in El Cajon, California Captain Ryan Mitchell took his own life at the Interstate 8 Pine Valley bridge in San Diego County near Pine Valley."
http://wildfiretoday.com/2017/11/07/we-lost-another-firefighter/
Then, reading more, I found out that Captain Mitchell's death was not a rare event, very unfortunately.
2 more articles on the Grim Subject -
http://wildfiretoday.com/2017/11/04/suicide-rate-among-wildland-firefighters-is-astronomical/
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/10/wildland-firefighter-suicide/544298/
I talked with a retired urban firefighter from Wisconsin today, at the gym. He said the wildland firefighting job is very stressful with super-long shifts.
One of the most painful physical conditions I've ever had was lung pain, from not using proper ventilation while learning to carve stones and gems.
I mentioned that to the firefighter and he said that lung-pain from smoke inhalation doesn't make it any better.
I figure a major pay raise might help.
In the fire in Ventura-Santa Barbara, 1500 of the 8500 of the fire-fighters are prison slave labor.
http://www.newsweek.com/california-...hters-who-are-battling-flames-southern-748618
They are doing total ass-busting work defending million dollar homes. Working 24 hour shifts.
Anyway, it's more than a little problem when the people our civilization needs to fight wildfires, are checking out - and our backup is prison slave labor.
If I was Governor Brown, I would visit the family of Captain Mitchell, give them some extra money, and try and find out what was eating him.
The only other thing I can think is, possibly some of the people for whom wildland fire-fighting is an appealing career, are more prone to suicide.
If anybody here has lost a family member, I apologize for broaching a difficult subject.