Rural Volunteer Fire Dept.

[tommu56]

I was a volunteer for 25 or so years in 3 different departments chief engineer for the last 15.
It is the same every were they (bureaucrats) and career people keep pushing the training and now a days no one has time now.

I have went to the following schools totaling over 500 hours not counting weekly crew practice business meetings and the wanted more
Fire Fighting I
Fire Fighting II
Fire Fighting III
Fire Fighting IV
Rescue I
Rescue II
Pump
Tanker Operations
Interior Fire Fighting

When I moved I just hung up my coat.
Whenever one of the officers see me they ask when I am coming back its been over 5 years asn I just ain't in to raising money and busting my but for the city slickers that have moved out to the country and still think we all got paid.

tom

 

[deere755]

I think it is just sad that there is less and less interest in volunteering. I have spent a lot of money in the last 24 years as a volunteer,lost time at work, traveling to the calls,traveling to other towns for training etc. But I wouldnt change a thing if I could do it all over again. I get paid every time I am able to help out someone in need. With this job you see people at some of the worst times in their lives. If I can help them out and give them a second chance at life it is very rewarding to me. I have had to call an ambulance for my family a couple times and I was sure glad that someone cared enough to go thru all the training and volunteer their time to respond. Volunteer fire fighting isnt for everyone but it sure makes me mad when I hear someone say well I would do it if they paid me. Volunteering to help your community whether it be the fire dept, Red Cross or what ever is what makes this country a great place to live.

 

[doall]

I've had the same classes that talk about the wal mart truck and such. But in my 20+ years the thing that was the worst in our rural dept., especially the last 10 years was meth labs. I've seen lp tanks, gas tanks, and all kind of B.L.E.V.E's in my time, but the meth labs scared the crap out of me; seeing all those different color flames and hearing all those booms got to me. Not knowing what was making it past my scba or through my turn outs. I may get time to do it again some day, but right now I have a young son that I want to spend some time with. I rarely saw my wife much when I was working full time and the chief. I know I never want to hold another office though. Just man the lines. Walk out the hoses, set up the dump tanks, don the gear, and be a part of the group.
Be safe brothers.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

After reading the responses I feel VERY fortunate to serve in my department. We have a great bunch of people, and we have a steady stream of new volunteers allowing veterans to retire if they want. I'm not officially a firefighter as I run primarily EMS, but I rub shoulders with all of the firefighters. I couldn't ask for a better bunch of co-workers or a better bunch of friends.

Here's the first advice I can give you to get your numbers up... recruit women!!

Some of the best firefighters we have are women. Many of them are stay at home moms whose kids are at school during the day. They can pull a hose or wield a halligan with the best. We have a number of couples that serve together. Fire drill is their date night away from the kids twice a month. We also have women serving in all levels of leadership. It's been that way for years.

I'll add my two bits to the discussion about the differences between rural and urban training requirements. Not only is there the complication of larger buildings closer together in urban environments, but the resources differ. When the urban departments are drilling on hydrants we're drilling on drawing water from the Snake River. When Urban departments are training for elevator operation, we are training on the complications of extrication on farm machinery.

An EMS call is also very different when you know that it's likely the patient won't see the hospital for an hour simply due to travel time.

 

[DavidVT]

I volunteer on a fire dept and fast squad (non-transport medical) in one town and the ambulance squad in another. My focus is more medical but I am a firefighter and do exterior firefighting along with pump/tanker operations.

When I first set up residence here I was a cottage commuter doing web work for a California company. Working out of my house and setting my own hours, I was able to be very active with the local volunteer squads.

Next I had my own business in a nearby town and again was fairly available for response.

Next I needed benefits and worked in town for a large food business. Verbally they supported my responding to calls but when I did the real message was disapproval so my response frequency dropped off.

Next I took a job 30 minutes away. Even if work encouraged it, I will not respond from that distance except for very large fires where they need fresh members to relieve the first responders. Naturally my response frequency dropped off further.

This job sends me out of state and even out of the country for weeks at a time. Naturally those times I am off the grid for the squads I try to support.

When I am home I struggle to make meetings and stay current with my medical training (EMT-I03). I never pursued my interior firefighting training as there just is not enough time. I am fortunate to be in an area where I can be a firefighter without the classes thus far, as my membership went off my military training and that I have a CDL.

I think I am fairly representative of those that want to serve but simply can't be in two or three places at once.

At this point I am fortunate that two of the three squads I am on are doing pretty well. There are never enough volunteers but we are keeping our head above water for now.

My advice: Work hard to present to the community that you have an open squad. Encourage respect between members and work hard to extinguish the volunteer ego problems that so very much discourage new members. Encourage women to join both fire and medical. Seek out the recent retired folks for appropriate positions who are very healthy, full of wisdom, want to 'give back', and can really benefit from being involved. Try to do something with the schools to promote fire safety or medical etc. It may seem like a poor investment to spend a day with children who can't yet volunteer....... they will get older eventually and their parents might like what their kids tell them....

Good luck and be safe!

 

[Mike Costello]

Another perpective on volunteering. I was a police volunteer for many years and got much satisfaction by making a difference for my community. At the time we had about 25 volunteers in our group, both men and women. We did emergency callouts, traffic control, supoena service, document deliveries to the courts, senior outreach services, and much more. In addition, I developed a night patrol program and trained all who volunteered for that kind of duty. Although, defensive in nature, we all took weapons training and various other safety programs in order to protect ourselves if it ever became necessary. Bad guys don't distinguish between volunteers and sworn officers--they just see a badge and you're fair game.

Was it worth it? Absolutely, when you found that missing child and returned her to her worried parents. When you prevented someone from being ripped off because they forgot to close their garage door that night. When a neighborhood got safer because you were "out there". When you administered first aid as a first responder and then provided traffic control in order to prevent further injuries. And...when a senior citizen cried on your shoulder because you delivered a hot Thanksgiving dinner when they had no relatives show up to wish them well and stay awhile. Yeah, I was selfish and got great pleasure by volunteering.

I worked with police officers and firefighters, all great people who would go the distance for others. I had no doubt any one of them would be there for me if I needed them and I would have done the same for them. Volunteering is something that rewards from within no matter what kind of volunteer services you do. My respect goes out to all volunteers. Mike.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

Here's the first advice I can give you to get your numbers up... recruit women!!

If you recruit young attractive women, I'm sure a lot of guys will follow...

 

[SWIMMER]

I have been recruited by the 3 local VFD's in our area over the last few years and have turned them down every time. It all comes down to how much time you have and how much time they want. When my dad was a volunteer, then chief of LBVFD, it was not a huge time commitment, a few hours a week, a rare fire. He was a farmer and could drop everything to respond to calls. If it was a late night at a fire call, no one cared much if he went to work late the next morning. I would love to have the time to do the FF1 classes, but with job, kids, wife, church, acreage.......

I have a job that is impossible to walk out of during the day (pharmacist) without making lots of people mad. I chose to volunteer with a technical rescue team, as all of the training is on weekends, maybe a total of 4-6 hours each month, and usually not even that much. Calls are almost always on weekends or in the early evening, so it works for me to respond. I have had to sit here at work listening to the traffic on my radio as the team responds to daytime calls, it drives me nuts to not be able to respond to some calls, but that is how it works with volunteering.

We do high angle rope rescue on the local cliffs, and I am a captain and rescue swimmer for the surf rescue team. It does give you a warm fuzzy feeling when you make a save, and that is what keeps you doing it. On the other hand it is hard sleeping after pulling a dead kid out of the ocean that is the same age as one you have at home.

I would not change my volunteer work for anything. It is difficult, but rewarding. We get huge support from the local community, even thought it is the tourists, not the locals who are the ones we usually rescue or recover. Maybe when my kids are grown and moved out I will have time to give to one of the local VFD's. Still won't make the daytime calls, but i will do what I can.

 

[deere755]

We had a field /tractor fire today. 3 departments were called, 7 pieces of equipment rolled and around 12 firemen. Kinda sad out of that many departments but it tells me we are not the only department with a problem recruiting members.