Where is the fire?

If anyone thinks that they see a pattern on this blog, they may be correct if they have guessed that we are opening discussions on every department in the city of Alexandria. In the spirit of self-analysis, I will admit that I am off-base on some things, but I am going to throw a ball fairly often or I would be a lazy pitcher. I am looking for you to call 'em when they are bad and throw your two cents in. No offense intended and none taken.
Now to the subject at hand. I had visited a fire station a couple of years ago and discovered a very sad, but interesting circumstance. After some small talk, I was shown a pumper truck with a hole in the tank that was not allowed to be repaired for budgetary reasons. So, you say, big deal, just hook up to the hydrant. Great advice except that the adapter (est. cost $120.00) to connect the supply hose was kept on the ladder truck and, by God, the city was NOT going to buy another one for the pumper.

The firemen on duty were fairly satisfied with their pay and scheduled raises as their union has been fairly good negotiators at the state level and taken mandatory pay raises out of the hands of local officials (which was wise). To me, the Fire Department appears to be well staffed, trained and equipped. I form this judgement because I do not hear anything to the contrary. I will admit this is a faulty way of making a judgement because that is what I thought whenever the story about the adapter was relayed to me. I was also reminded that failure to perform as intended leads to loss of life in their business. Any observations?