Volunteer Fire Fighters

Tomorrow I'm planning on going up to the fire station with a buddy to see about being a volunteer. Does anybody have any experience as a volunteer or any advice, or cool stories

 

me, dont get cocky and find somebody knowledgeable and experianced to take you under their wing. and never let your training let you down train alot and train hard, and always practice the basics. oh and my training from this weekend

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8wglzsUiUw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

BINGO!!! The cocky FF's are almost ALWAYS the ones that get their shit handed to them (or seriously hurt).

 

thanks, one question i had was how do the hours work, is it just come up when i want?

 

and dont be afraid to point out something unsafe and dont do anything you dont feel comfortable doing. If it dont feel right it probably aint


the hours depend on your department, mine you show up whenever you want to, some people never show, some show up alot, same goes with training, some have 200+ hours some have 700+ and some are getting kicked off for failure to get 36

i know of another volly depth that has a 24hours on 48 off schedule and fills in gaps with paid staff and the rest is volly if they need extra help

 

im not the type to get cocky, but i def know how to be a smart ass when its needed and can speak my mind pretty freely, and get along with most people. I just have some extra free time, and i think it would be good to do for a while and see how it works out, the one concern i have is supposbly around here you have to pay 300-400 for books and supplys for training, which i dont know if im down to drop that much money to volunteer

 

At my fire department, We train one day a week and some weekends. We are required to have a minimum number of training hours per quarter. Mine is pretty small compared to most though.

 

what books do you need, i may have an older edition/one you can borrow.


and does that dept not have a library you can check out books from for rookie school?


lol i pay out my butt for training/college

 

I'm a VFF and love it! Here where I live it's a totally volunteer thing so if can can if no can no can. We have monthly meetings that go over training, wet drills, fundamentals, etc, we got issued REAL turn outs, brush gear and accessories. Weare issued a pager and if something happens we get p,aged with directions and just head out

 

I went and talked to the recruiter earlier, and she told me background checks, books and everything shouldnt cost more than $60. The only thing that kind of shocked me was that theres a huge delay in the class. The next class isnt available untill fall. Theres a minimum of 24hrs a month, and its a 2 year commitment. Ill filling out all of the paper work, and need to schedule an appt with a physician so i can take the physical test on saturday. which looks pretty simple, idk how heavy the gear is but doesnt look to bad, hears a link with a video if anybody wants to check it out
http://hampton.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?clip_id=1689

 

our class is held 2x a year. unfortunately in my local area they dont teach much past ffI&II and to get further ed you have to go outta town on your own pocket

 

Wow you have to pay for your books!? We don't pay for anything here, all our books, accessories, brand new turn outs custom fitted to me, brand new brush gear, helmets all free. I mean we are already volunteering our time we shouldn't have to pay for anything.

 

i hafta pay for my training and all the new kids get new turnouts when im the last person wearing the old stuff...also everyone else gets training paid for

if you fall in a clique you usually get perks lol

AKA politics are a bitch, try to stay outta them

 

Well don't say anything smart ass or anything to a paid firefighter, ever.

 

24 hours a month is what we started doing at our rescue squad last year. Now it's less because of all the bickering....Very hard to get dedicated members these days. I see it all around us.

So, what if you break the 2 year agreement or you don't get 24 hours/month?

 

well i don't think i have my ffI&II's. . . im the worlds worst for going to a class for 4 weeks in a row and then forgetting about the last night where we test lol. . . . me and my dad and brother go to a lot of classes but not always the tests to get certified. we go to lots of calls and they know they'd be idiots to kick us out so im not worried haha. . .

but back on topic - OP it doesn't have to be expensive. i've never spent a penny myself. but like i said, i don't get certified for every little thing. if your plan is to learn a ton about some super cool shit (extraction tools!!!), serve your community, and work and learn with local members of your community, you'll be fine.


now fill up those damn bottles you newb!

 

I was on a pay on call dept. for 6 years before I joined the AF. To this day I can say it was the most rewarding thing I have ever done. I joined a dept. out here in DE but was only on it for a short while. I didn't feel very strongly about there practices or a lot of the members. It seemed if you weren't born a local, they kind of just ignored you, even though I had worked more fires in my 6 years then a most of their officers. I even tried implementing a RET "rapid entry team" idea, that got shot down the moment I brought it up by some Red Neck that said and I quote "I don't need someone babysitting me while I'm doing my thing". OP if you want to make some great friends and help your community while getting a great rush then do it by all means but you have to do it completely not half ass.

 

I was in the same boat last year. I just walked into my station and "interviewed" in front of the existing members. They voted to keep me on probation status. I made it through that and got on as a full member.

Our station is totally volunteer so we were invited to come to anything and everything, minus medical unless we had medical training.

If you want people at the department to respect you, keep your mouth shut and be ready to learn. Be eager to get as much training as you can and be active. Help with odds and ends. Go to calls and follow protocol. Don't try to be a badass and improvise.

I've had fun ever since and constantly taking classes since the department pays for it.

We aren't paid at my station (some vols at other stations are paid per call they get 'toned' to), so it's really just everyone helping everyone and doing it because they care for the community and each other.


PS>

we have about 30 members, county pays for most stuff including physicals (Dept covers the rest), we have lots of classes available in county and around neighboring counties.

wait until you have to carry the dummy (or as we called him, Rescue Randy) around with the gear on....180 lbs don't seem light around navigating a burn building several times with him, even with a partner . Charged hose lines aren't anything to brush off either, haha....

...but, You can do it!

 

not to thread jack or anything but i was wondering, does have a tattoo effect your chances of getting hired?

 

i guess it depends on the tat and who hiring, but mines on my back where they cant see it