Letter to the Editor: Safety equipment

For about as long as I have been alive, a helmet has been required for anyone participating in tackle football. There could be a self-selection effect with football; anyone wishing to play without a helmet doesn’t have enough material worth protecting inside the cranium to bother with.  Sturdy boots, nomex pants, a fire shirt, gloves, safety glasses. a hard hat, and a fire shelter are all standard issue for wildland fire-fighters.  Could you picture a crew person saying, “No boss, I’m more comfortable in a t-shirt, board shorts, and flip flops?”

Then why would anyone ever decline a free vaccination, and adamantly refuse to wear a mask, when they know there is a highly contagious respiratory virus going around?  Noticing that Plumas News has publicized the tally from the county health department: nearly a hundred cases have been identified in the last week.

Gene Nielsen

Crescent Mills