In these tough economic times, everyone is tightening their belts, and the City of Milwaukee is no exception. One way that the city has proposed reducing spending is by cutting one of three fire trucks serving the Marquette area.

Under the current plan, the station located at 711 W. Wells St. will lose Engine 20, but will keep Ladder 2 and Engine 2 ready to respond. (To clarify, an engine provides the water and hose, while a ladder truck provides the ladder and vital tools such as generators, lights, jaws of life and battering rams.)

Typical response times will likely not change because a response requires only one engine and one ladder truck. However, problems could potentially arise if more than one fire is occurring at one time. Under this scenario, the trucks' response times would be significantly longer because firefighters would have come from a station further away, while trucks that normally respond are already being used.

Since Marquette has had its fair share of fires and has an abundance of false alarms in the dorms, this could prove to be a problem.

Trying to dissuade the city from cutting one of the trucks serving our area is likely a futile effort. The city needs to save money and it has identified fire trucks as one area in which to do it. With that in mind, we would like to take this opportunity to remind students of fire safety.

Fire safety has been drilled into our heads since "stop, drop and roll" lessons in first grade, but as college students, we no longer have anyone forcing us to think about this important topic.

First, if you don't already have one, purchase a smoke detector. If you took the batteries out of your smoke detector because it goes off every time you make toast, put them back in. Yes, it's annoying when the detector beeps with every burned pizza, but it is far better than the alternative.

Second, plan your escape. Are your windows big enough to crawl out? Do your windows have bars on them? Always know at least two ways to get out of your residence in case you ever face an emergency situation.

Third, keep an eye on smokers. Provide ashtrays for those who may choose to smoke in your residence, and run water over cigarette butts before you toss them out. This may seem like overkill, but careless smoking is the leading cause of fire deaths and is the cause of approximately 1,000 deaths and $400 million dollars of damage each year in North America, according to a University of California study.

Finally, to the dorm residents who are under the impression that pulling the fire alarm at 3 a.m. is a funny joke: It isn't. False alarms divert resources that our fire station can no longer spare.

Fire safety is something we have all heard before, but the Tribune feels that a reminder is in order considering our station's loss of an engine. Every student should take steps to ensure they are prepared for emergencies.