Wassup with German Fire Trucks?

foofie, the ambulance was there within one minute, firetrucks within four minutes. why would it ever matter what citizenship those people have? in emergencies, nobody will know until the firetrucks have been there for a good while. I doubt that the firemen deploy after doing a background check on the tenants.... anywhere in the world. it's neither lesser nor bigger incentive, i would think.

I hope no one thinks of me as a redneck. I'm really the antithesis of that.

You don't mind if I always wonder if Caucasian Europeans are xenophobic, they having only learned to live in peace only recently.

Still, I wonder why the thread is getting so many hits.

Hello Stefan and welcome to a2k

As you can see from the vast majority writing here, most of us defended
the German firefighters, they did an outstanding job, as do all firefighters
around the world.

However, as in every country, there are always a few rednecks who
like to rock the boat, but only make small waves. Just ignore them!

High Seas wrote:

Still, I wonder why the thread is getting so many hits.

it's possible there are certain key words being picked up by google...

hello. i'm a paramedic at this area. by what this fire is caused? i have no idea. everything is possible. racistic idiots, technical things, an accident. but what is definitely a fact is that firefighters, ambulace and the police have been there after 2 or 3 minutes. all firefighter were sitting in their trucks because of the "fasching parade" (it was just finished and they all were on their way back to the stations)
it is law in germany that firefighters and ambulances must arrive lately after ten minutes. every arriving and leaving is documeted by a system called fms. so you can see exactly when or where an engine or a ambulance is.
ludwigshafen and the next citys are really big.so i would say that it is impossible- waiting longer than six minutes for the first firetrucks.
it is frustrating doing this job and earning such reactions. no firefighter makes a difference between a german or a turkish
this is a link made at the first minutes. as you can see in the last seconds of this video. in front the ladder is preparing to start and in the left a ladder is already at work(ps. filmed by a turk)
http://www.myvideo.de/watch/3358812

collective guilt of who exactly? all of the germans? the city? the politicians?

weak.

i'm sure there are fire codes, but those are different than in the u.s. you don't see fire escapes new-york style in europe, doesn't exist. get over it.

even in the states it is up to the landlord to make sure that his building is not a fire hazard. i don't know who the landlord of this particular building is, but the colletive guilt is laughable...and that has nothing to do with the second world war (not first world war, by the way)

dagmaraka wrote:

foofie, the ambulance was there within one minute, firetrucks within four minutes. why would it ever matter what citizenship those people have? in emergencies, nobody will know until the firetrucks have been there for a good while. I doubt that the firemen deploy after doing a background check on the tenants.... anywhere in the world. it's neither lesser nor bigger incentive, i would think.

Fine, fine, fine. German firefighters have the milk of human kindness in their veins, in their efforts to save those in fires.

But, since I thought it was fact that Germany, the country (not the people), has been paying Turkish guest workers to return to Turkey, it is not inconceivable for someone, who is so far away in the U.S., to wonder if there is some xenophobia towards Turks by some Germans? If that had even a shred of validity, wouldn't making Turkey a member of the EU be ameliorating even a shred of xenophobia?

But, your point above that you "doubt that the firemen deploy after doing a background check on the tenants" is sort of specious, since you are aware which neighborhoods in your city are upscale or the neighborhoods of poorer immigrants.

You don't mind if I always wonder if Caucasian Europeans are xenophobic, they having only learned to live in peace only recently. And the rowdiness at soccer matches between countries makes me wonder how much Europeans really like each other?

I hope no one thinks of me as a redneck. I'm really the antithesis of that.

dagmaraka wrote:

collective guilt of who exactly? all of the germans? the city? the politicians?

weak.

i'm sure there are fire codes, but those are different than in the u.s. you don't see fire escapes new-york style in europe, doesn't exist. get over it.

even in the states it is up to the landlord to make sure that his building is not a fire hazard. i don't know who the landlord of this particular building is, but the colletive guilt is laughable...and that has nothing to do with the second world war (not first world war, by the way)

Collective guilt of the citizens of towns and cities that have similar old buildings without adequate fire exits. Call them fire escapes, fire stairs, call them anything, but if they exist in this galaxy, it means nothing to claim Europeans are exempt from that level of preventive measures! Europeans also smoke more than Americans. Are they immune from lung cancer? A wrong, is a wrong, is a wrong. You can't have two sets of safety criteria, just because there's a big pond between the two continents. I think what I see are two sets of safety criteria based on the concerns of Americans en masse for all citizens, and something else in Europe that reflects what? Laissez faire? Old buildings with no fire escapes are quaint? There are no excuses, unless one prefers to have two sets of ethics.

Again. No one in that city is guilty for this tragedy. Everyone in all similar cities should feel a collective guilt, for being complacent with poor safety standards in 2008! In my opinion I think that's asking too much from most European Caucasians, since for all the wars in Europe over the last thousand years, were there ever any countries that felt guilty afterwards? I don't believe collective guilt is part of the European Caucasian's social mores. My opinion. No need to try and change it, I'm American, remember!

Let's question why in 2008 a four story building didn't have a fire escape.

Foofie wrote:

dagmaraka wrote:

collective guilt of who exactly? all of the germans? the city? the politicians?

weak.

i'm sure there are fire codes, but those are different than in the u.s. you don't see fire escapes new-york style in europe, doesn't exist. get over it.

even in the states it is up to the landlord to make sure that his building is not a fire hazard. i don't know who the landlord of this particular building is, but the colletive guilt is laughable...and that has nothing to do with the second world war (not first world war, by the way)

Collective guilt of the citizens of towns and cities that have similar old buildings without adequate fire exits. Call them fire escapes, fire stairs, call them anything, but if they exist in this galaxy, it means nothing to claim Europeans are exempt from that level of preventive measures! Europeans also smoke more than Americans. Are they immune from lung cancer? A wrong, is a wrong, is a wrong. You can't have two sets of safety criteria, just because there's a big pond between the two continents. I think what I see are two sets of safety criteria based on the concerns of Americans en masse for all citizens, and something else in Europe that reflects what? Laissez faire? Old buildings with no fire escapes are quaint? There are no excuses, unless one prefers to have two sets of ethics.

Again. No one in that city is guilty for this tragedy. Everyone in all similar cities should feel a collective guilt, for being complacent with poor safety standards in 2008! In my opinion I think that's asking too much from most European Caucasians, since for all the wars in Europe over the last thousand years, were there ever any countries that felt guilty afterwards? I don't believe collective guilt is part of the European Caucasian's social mores. My opinion. No need to try and change it, I'm American, remember!

my oh my, you're mixing it up wildly here.... Tell me, if a building burns down in New York with illegal immigrants from Mexico...and it becomes apparent that fire codes were violated in that building, are you seriously proposing that I should feel guilty about it? And isn't that nice...that when people are collectively guilty, "no one in that city is guilty for this tragedy," to quote you? Foofie dear, it makes not an iota of sense. But right, you are American, you don't need it...