Fire Dept. access....

[schmism]

while chatting with the local chief of the volinteer fire dept about the upcomming trainning they will be having on my house....

I asked about any good stories.....

they included ones about 2 relitivly new guys showing up for a call at like 4 am, being the only 2 to respond in 10 min they took the pumper truck to the sceen in town.....

only to find out that neither one could get water out of the truck..... The chief that showed up on sceen about 10 min later was NOT happy!

 

[VABlue]

i "I'm going to speak up for the rural fire fighters."

Nobody was picking on them, save for my radio battery failure. (Sorry, that is just not defensible - they (FD, police, ambulance - anyone) should never leave the area on their own without a working radio.) Its not thier fault they couldn't find my house, that one goes more to the county services (commissioners?). The sheriff and state police knew how to get there for the same call, why not the FD? That I don't understand... Maybe the county needs to spring for a FD GPS system?

That said, I've known several fire fighters and ambulance crew in rural areas for many years (including relatives). It's something I'm not inclined to do, so I'm grateful someone will.

 

[Rara Avis]

I'm going to speak up for the rural fire fighters. Most are volunteer, no matter what age. They don't really get paid for a fire call, it's more of a tip. And here in SC it's about once a month. They receive very little formal training. Most of their training is OJT. They put their lives on the line for every call they go out on, not just the house calls. Just look at the ones in California right now. I was one when I was younger, and an EMT, both at the plant and at home. I can tell you from first hand experience, that they do the best that they know how to do each time out.

Flame off (sorry)

Well volunteers in VT train at least once a week...and a large portion of the active force are minimally Nationally Certified FireFighters I...which matchs the same training as the big city...the only difference is the amount of equipment available to the various departments and the area of coverage...50 square miles vs 20 city blocks...