Thursday, July 14, 2005

The Lincoln County Fire Sale

In this case, the fire sale in question is that of the Lincoln County Fire Department, who have evidently decided that the best way to selll themselves is to proe their worth, who knows why. Maybe they are up for funding, and are after increased funding. Maybe somebody figures some of that extra money could be diverted into investments in cockfights, or a brand spanking new Meth Lab, the capital venture of choice for all prospective Eatern and Southeastern Kentucky entrepreneurs. It muist be something like that, becuae after all, The Lincold County Fire Department is a volunteer fire department-suppossedly.

So why then, do thee hootzpahs go around setting fires, which they then arrive too late to put out. That's another thing guys, if you're after extra funding, and you want to prove your worth, it might help were you to show up on time to actually put the fucking fires out before they get too out of hand.

Of course, thee could be somethign I'm missing here, but I don't think so. They have been pretty much caught red handed, and as many as seven of the volunteer fire fighters seem to be involved in this scam. But to what end? There must be some reasoning behind it. Surely there si more to it than tying to cover up the theft of some expensive tools and some antique furniture. But maybe not. I forget sometimes, I am talking about Crab Orchard Kentucky here, one of the many communities where people have collapsed their local economies by voting their towns dry-in other words, alcohol is illegal. Of course, boot legging is rampant, the economy is shot to hell, there are dozens of drunks on the road at any given time making the long haul to wet areas to purchase their booze, which of course they then drink while in the process of driving on the Interstate on the return trip home. And if anybody wants to do anything for fun, other than go to a Church to hear some jackass preach about the evils of alcohol, then they are going to make yet another trip to a wet area, where they then contribute to that local economy, while other businesses in their own hometowns either go belly up or barely make ends meet.

A good many others simply move out of these towns, and live where their jobs are. As a result of all this, state funding is piecemeal, and frequently insufficient. So you got these bozos going around setting fires. What can you say?

The tragedy is even now of historic proportions, literally. As one of the three houses that is known to have been purposely set by the Lincoln County Volunteer Fire Department, is-or was, rather-get this now, an historic landmark. Yep, that's right, in fact, not only was it one hundred and fifty years old, but it is believed to have been a house which prior to the days of the Civil War, functioned as a stop on the famed Underground Railroad, which of course, was a euphemistic term to describe places where runaway slaves, on their uncertain way to freedom in the north, were allowed to hide out, in order to rest, get some food and sleep, maybe a clean change of clothing, and some much needed supplies. After a few days, they would be on their way. Now, all that is left of the house, besides a pile of burnt out rubble, is a set of concrete steps that were a part of the property.

It's really a shame. Or, as the present day owner of the house said, "It takes a prety low down person to do something like this."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think that's just a fucking shame. Makes me sick. Now, WHY do you live in Kentucky, again?
I'm a drug addict( unashamedly...ok, mostly shamedly, but willing to admit it) and I happen to know that OP's (online pharmacies) won't even deliver to Kentucky becuase the Fedex trucks keep gettin highjacked and the drugs stolen. Crazy world....

SecondComingOfBast said...

I was raised in Kentucky, and though I haven't always lived there, I do now. The reason I live in the part I now live in, unfortunately, had to do with the declining health of my mother, so I came here solely for the purpose of helping her. Well, and I was also a little tired of Covington at the time. Believe me though, all places in Kentucky aren't that bad, and there are a lot of nice people even in the so-called "Dry Counties" (I say so-called because thanks to the prevalence fo bootleggers it isn't really all that dry)

Anyway, these's good things about Kentucky, it's just that certain things about it make me come close to blowing blood vessels out of my eyes.

I'm sorry to hear aboutyour addiciton problem, Meowcat, I hope you have the problem under control, or will get it so. I know it's hard just from my own problems with Nicotine. But don't give up. Maybe you can find you a support group that can help, if you haven't all rady done so. Well, I'm afraid I might be starting to sound a little preachy here, if so I apologize. Talk to you later.