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Originally Posted by VINMAN
My dept is a suburban dept. Mid level housing density. Some farms. and horse farms. Light industy.Many strip malls, Large shopping mall. Has two major highways and a rail freight line running through it.
Another thing people need to realize is that the role of the modern fire dept has drastically changed. Nowadays, actual fires play a small part of most depts duties.
Besides your traditional structure fires, we handle MVAs, vehicle extrication, wildfires, confined space rescue, high angle rescue, water and ice rescue, animal rescue, storm response, dewatering assignments, etc, etc.... So for those that think most paid fire, depts just get paid to sit around and wait for something to burn think again.
Sure the amounts of fires in this country have been drastically reduced over the past few decades, mainly due to better constructon , and education, Fire depts do alot more than you think.
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I live in a big suburban on the fringe of he country area that sounds similar to this. We have a big semi-volunteer fire department. The department is run by the volunteers and with some sort of grant money, but pays the career guys during the day while the volunteers are at work.
I did a recruitment night with them 3 years ago to see if I wanted to do it.
They require a massive commitment of the vols here. You work every 6 days... So work on Monday, work again this Saturday..must find your own replacement. You come in at 6 pm and stay till 6 am. They have a lounge, beds in semi private rooms and whatnot. This isn't the drive around in your pick up with a cell/scanner and show up when something is burning. It's a real actual job with training at the fire academy. You must complete the training within 1 year of joining since it does cost the company.
Like I said, I did one night...It was fun. I got there and they gave me a T shirt and a helmet and we went to dinner. Then we stopped off at fire extinguisher and they showed me how to run the cannon and the hose and how it's all rolled up and what not. We went back to the station and they showed me around and several calls came in:
- Drunk dude took a corner too fast and wiped out in his Honda.
- Supposed kitchen fire in a townhouse community (aided other company)
- Rear ender accident on the main road around here.
It was interesting how each was approached. They were all serious, but when the call came in on the supposed structure fire, stuff got serious. The dude that I rode in the back with got all quiet and suited up. We raced that massive truck to the community and I could feel the adrenalin pumping. I smelled burning and it turned out to be the trucks brakes.
The other company handled it and we went back.
The worst was the rear ender accident. There was no real damage, but there was a little baby and they had the baby seat out in the street. Kid was fine, nobody hurt. They just wanted someone to come and the fire truck made it first. The crew chief told me that whenever you get out the truck, take something. So newbie me jumped out first with this big ass flashlight. They don't know I'm the "recruit/trainee" ... I just got out of the big truck that showed up. They started coming towards me. It felt awkward since I didn't know WTF I was doing. We then grabbed brooms and swept the broken parts into the weeds.
The guys told me that they handle all sort of stuff....barn/hay fires that stink to hell and take forever to get under control. Random calls, car crashes, hazmat spills. They had training on how to cut the roof of a hybrid car.....where are the wires? They told me what kind of house fire they won't enter because of possible collapse after a certain point (new homes). It's more than just squirting water.
I didn't commit after that night because of the time commitment as well as the car accident aspect. My cousin is a big time volunteer, assistant chief in suburban Philly. He's visited scenes were people are breathing their last breath, etc, etc. It's not something I can do, though I sort of feel guilty about it...I pass the firehouse here every day and they are always recruiting. I don't know what retention is like for the vols.