To the editor:

I have not heard any city commissioner say that the decision to go to three-person fire crews is because this is the best practice. All I have heard from our commission is other communities run three-person crews with no problems, yet. There has been pushback from our fire protection professionals. The only people who think three-person crews are a good idea are the people paying for them. I wish the commission would acknowledge this decision is nothing but a fiscal expediency. They have trouble balancing the budget.

These safety standards are the result of fire protection professionals developing the best ideas to protect life and loss. Then these standards are constantly updated based on massive amounts of field data and experience. These standards were developed by the best minds in this field because people died.

Commissioners, to borrow from a TV show, Are You Smarter Than a Fireman? I’ll answer: No. We are talking about incredibly hard, dangerous physical work. I’m sure situations can change quickly and if that crew of three gets knocked down to two, bad things can happen.

If Lawrence truly needs two additional fire stations, they cannot be funded by safety cuts. There can be no higher priority for our city commissioners than our community’s safety.

Lawrence is a first-class community. We don’t need to do things on the cheap.

Don’t ignore the experts. Don’t take chances with my family and friends.

Steve Braswell,

Lawrence