It was not a fire truck vehicle show.
It was not a “park a fire truck downtown” training exercise.
It was not a group fire truck vehicle inspection arena.
And thankfully, it was not because of a fire in the downtown area.
The firetruck gathering on Travis and McNeil streets was to allow Shreveport firefighters to attend the Shreveport City Council meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 14. This was the meeting that featured over 100 firefighters, police officers and other city works all seeking a pay raise.
Whether or not the police officers and other city workers were on the payroll was a question not asked by the council and not known. But it is known that the crews of five fire trucks and two fire department SUVs were on duty, unless the fire department now allows fire vehicles to be checked out for joy rides.
Yes, these firefighters were on duty and could have responded to an alarm.
But where should the vehicles have been parked around the city?
How much additional response time would have been incurred to make a call because the fire vehicle was downtown versus the assigned neighborhood location?
The next council meeting is Monday, Dec. 27. If there is another fire truck display, one can count on at least once concerned citizen complaining to the mayor, the fire chief and the council.