En Fuego

An outside auditor recommends that 1/3 of Pittsburgh fire stations be closed (Post-Gazette coverage here and Tribune-Review coverage here). The report will prompt a flurry of indignant letters to the editor. There will be outrage and bluster from usual suspects, including the firefighters' union boss, Joe King. Right or wrong on the particulars, though, the recommendation is the sort of truth-talking that the region needs: A city the size of Pittsburgh can't afford (and doesn't need) public services on the scale that it has them now.