|
|
Article: How to run a fire service; Firemen.(Are Britain's firemen value for money?)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- November 30, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
The real question about Britain's fire service is not pay, but who should provide it
CAN you put a price on heroism? Yes--and you can manage it sensibly or wastefully too. Britain's firemen's strike is highlighting not only the hose-wielders' remarkably cushy working hours, but also the sharply different ways that other countries arrange things.
Fire costs (which include losses, the cost of fire service, insurance administration etc) are about 1% of GDP in most advanced countries. Within that, there are wide variations, which reflect differences in climate, sense and money. Cold countries like Norway (where direct fire costs are 0.3% of GDP) suffer more ...