Most of the 42 victims whose lives have been claimed in the devastating wildfire perished on Thursday when a bus brought in to evacuate people got caught in the fire. The bus was carrying members of a Prison Service guards’ course who were heading to the Damon jail in order to help evacuate inmates.
On Friday, the remains of a Police Commander who was killed while on his way to rescue residents were identified. Lior Boker, age 57, was head of police operations for Israel’s northern region. Police had gathered a search party for Boker, who was thought to be missing, on Thursday. He apparently was caught in the fire while trying to identify the location of the bus of prison service guard students. As always, our condolences to all affected.
The Mayor claims the layoffs will not affect response times and that things will continue to run smoothly. He added that the budget cuts will save the city more than $2 million. "No services will be affected," the Mayor said. "These are individuals who have served the city for over 25 years, have their pensions completely, have their insurance, have all the benefits that they have earned, and we thank them for their years of service."
Mario Pico, president of the Hialeah Association of Firefighters, said the decision actually will cost the city money because some firefighters will have to work overtime to fill the gap created by the layoffs.
"He actually dismissed our senior firefighters: 3 Chiefs, 3 Captains and 8 Lieutenants," Pico said. "You can’t replace that on the streets. There is no school for experience."
Every year the list of dedicated men and women who serve in their communities and in the military is posted. The letters received in response back from those serving overseas clearly show it’s a very big deal! We encourage Secret List readers to send a card or email (see below) to let these ‘double-duty’ personnel that we appreciate what they do for us.
Whether we have family serving overseas or not, we have a responsibility to support U.S. and Canadian troops overseas and even more so if we have firefighters who are serving in the military overseas.
Take Care-BE CAREFUL.
