With the decision by Republicans in Wisconsin to lockdown the Capitol in an effort to end the more than two weeks of protests against Governor Scott Walker's union-busting, it was only a matter of time before public safety was imperiled:
Security is so restrictive at the state Capitol that firefighters were denied access to the building during an emergency call Tuesday, one of the firefighters said Thursday.
Dave Trainor, a Madison firefighter, said he was part of a crew dispatched to the Capitol on a call that someone was trapped in an elevator. Firefighters were denied access at one of the building's entrances that is being guarded by police.
Firefighters then had to make their way through a crowd of protesters outside the building and drive their 100-foot ladder truck to the other side of the Capitol to get inside.
Fortunately, it was not a medical emergency. This time. But the firefighters didn't know that, and as Trainor pointed out:
"We lost crucial time on a call we didn't know anything about," he said.
Today it was someone trapped in an elevator. Tomorrow? Who knows?