Why “firefighters” is being discussed
The most recent Hacker News stories and comments contributing to this topic's mentions.
Neither does firefighting. The point is if we don't need as many firefighters to fight the fewer fires we have, there are more cost-effective ways of maintaining a group of firs…
by mhb · Oct 21, 2026
And even when a fire truck responds to a house fire (for example), they may still potentially need to treat and/or evacuate people who have been injured in the fire. Cross-…
by duskwuff · Oct 21, 2026
One hopes fireproof homes and idle firefighters are not the genesis for Ray Bradbury’s dark prophecy.
by dewarrn1 · Oct 21, 2026
A building only has two statuses, as far as firefighters are concerned: - There is no uncontained combustion on the premises - There is uncontained combustion on the premises "s…
by samatman · Oct 21, 2026
> We're facing the issue in Ontario where firefighters are bored out of their minds and are being used as first responders for anything and everything. They show up to random fe…
by kube-system · Oct 21, 2026
I don't think they're sending firefighters as first responders because they're bored. The idea of a first responder is you send whoever is closest to get there and render aid. I…
by jp57 · Oct 21, 2026
Interest
Proportion of Hacker News items mentioning "firefighters" over time.
Mentions
Total number of Hacker News items mentioning "firefighters" over time.
A firefighter is a first responder trained in public safety and emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical emergencies, road traffic collisions and other emergencies that threaten life, property and the environment, as well as to rescue persons from confinement or dangerous situations and preserve evidence. Read more on Wikipedia