Minister of the Interior Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) said the National Fire Agency should reduce the workload of firefighters by handing over the responsibility of handling pests such as hornets, wasps and snakes to the Council of Agriculture.
Yeh made the remarks during a meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee on Thursday, at which Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hung Chun-yi (洪宗熠) said 13.2 percent of firefighters’ operations nationwide over the past three years were classified as “miscellaneous,” more than firefighting (4.8 percent) and earthquake rescue (0.7 percent), with medical emergency response constituting the remaining 81.3 percent.
Catching snakes represented the largest part of miscellaneous operations at 33 percent, followed by the handling of hornets, wasps and other similar insects at 26.4 percent, Hung said, adding that such pest control tasks should be transferred to other government agencies.
“Our firefighters are overworked and understaffed. The Ministry of the Interior should let them focus on their professional duties,” Hung said.
The agency in September transferred responsibility for cat and dog rescue missions to the council, Yeh said, adding that it plans to transfer hornet and snake control duties within two years.
Pest control is to be handled by units established at the local government level that are to be on duty around the clock, Yeh said.
However, during questioning by lawmakers, Forestry Bureau Deputy Director Yang Hung-chih (楊宏志) said that the bureau had not agreed to take over pest control operations from the agency, adding that talks between the two organizations failed to reach a consensus.
Firefighters have been responsible for dealing with dangerous animals for many years, Yang said, adding that the agency is better staffed and equipped to handle such tasks than the council.
“The council has a significantly worse staffing problem than the agency. There are less than 50 dedicated forestry personnel available nationwide, including local governments, while there are more than 13,000 firefighting personnel,” Yang said. “Therefore, the bureau refused to take over the responsibility.”
Later on Thursday, the bureau made an official recommendation that the agency employ contractors for pest control.
“The council should do the contracting. Why must the agency take care of everything?” said one firefighter, who asked for anonymity.
Duties related to catching snakes or removing hornet nests have led to the deaths of two firefighters and the injury of 14 since 2007, agency Disaster Rescue Division Chief Wu Wu-tai (吳武泰) said, adding that the incidents had led to troubling issues over proper compensation for firefighters.
The Ministry of Civil Service refused to fully compensate the deceased firefighters, because it does not consider pest control an official duty as stipulated by the Fire Services Act (消防法), Wu said.
As a result, the families of the deceased firefighters received about half of the compensation issued for firefighters killed in the line of duty, Wu said, adding that the difference was as much as NT$7 million (US$219,147).
“The feeling among rank-and-file firefighters is that if going the extra mile means they might be killed or injured without proper compensation, why should they bother in the first place?” Wu added.
Additional reporting by Wu Hsin-tien and Yao Yueh-hung
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