Episode 424: How Much Is A Firefighter Worth?

Enlarge this image Caitlin Kenney/NPR Caitlin Kenney/NPR

Note: This episode originally ran in December 2012.

In this episode, we visit Fire Station Six in Contra Costa County, California.

Firefighters don't go to fires as much as much as they used to. That's because, thanks to modern building codes, fires are much less common than they used to be. Yet the fire department is still set up the same way: Big trucks, lots of fire stations, and lots of firefighters who retire with lifetime pensions. In Contra Costa, that's led to questions about what we want from government--and how much we're willing to pay for it.

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