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Why ask paid or unpaid??
I don't understand why we ask things like that or should women be on the fire ground. If we ask these questions then we must be going into it with a predetermined idea. I have been both a unpaid and paid professional fire fighter and I just want to say all my fellow fire fighters I don't care why you do what we do I am just saying thank you for doing it.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bob on
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You make some very valid points Tom, but isn't it up to the towns themselves whether or not they up their tax rates to support a full time department? After all, it is the public that has to foot the bill either way. Here in Mississippi, volunteer departments are tax supported by a set millage that is determined by the state legislature. Unfortunately it rarely is enough to keep a even a small department viable, and we have to resort to fund raisers and boot shakes to pay the basic bills.
As far as who I'd like to have put my fire out, if I had a choice, I'd love to have an FDNY house within a mile of my place. But the reality is that I have a municipal department that is in a shambles due to posturing by wannabe officers that are unable to provide leadership to the agency. They also refuse to expand their fleet to support the square miles of a volunteer district that was annexed into the city limits. The average response time for city apparatus is in excess of 10 minutes while the volunteer squad had a response time of half that. The Volunteer has a better response history, a better save rate, and much less BS within the department. Perhaps that's the anomaly here... Most towns don't have the internal strife that mine does.
By the way, in the weeks after KATRINA, I knew the cavalry had come when I saw an engine company from the FDNY and an NYPD ESU squad rolling along the city streets. The FD guys were absolutely amazed at what the volunteers were able to provide and the knowledge we had of not only tactics, but our ability to improvise and adapt in the face of the country's largest natural disaster.
And, learning being a two way street, we picked up a truckload of knowledge that we have been able to adapt to a rural firefighting team. In my feeble mind, that's the way it should be... we learn from each other. There was no denigration about receiving a paycheck, or being a whacker in hick-land, or any of the many arguments about ISO "equivalents" or academy horse hockey There was a job to be done in a devastated area and it was going to be done... period. And we did it together.
Could we have made it without city tactics? Certainly. Without the outpouring of supples, equipment and support that we saw? Hell no!
The fact is that both professional and volunteer forces are needed throughout the country, and that need will never go away. We as Firefighters need to respect each other for what we do. After all, aren't there enough Mutts out there without us making more within our own ranks?
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Permalink Reply by Spanner 122 on
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Well said and most definitely agree. I actualy read this whole thread even though I have heard the same arguements hundreds of times. We are NOT the same. There are many differences, but yes, the job requires us to fight the fire the same way, extricate the same way, rescue the same way, etc, etc... The training may or may not be the same, the hours put in may or may not be the same and the response times and abilites may or may not be the same... but why, oh why do we have to argue about it. Do that many people really have a chip on their shoulders, shall we all just hall out our balls and see who's are biggest?
Sigh... long day I guess, but this "we're just as good" "they think they're better" "show me your certs" crap gets really annoying.
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Permalink Reply by Chiefy on
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When a form asks for occupation, the answer is Firefighter. Not Professional, not Paid, not Volunteer,.......FIREFIGHTER.
If your a Brother; then your a Brother. I couldn't possibly care less about your pay stub. If a Brother is down, I'm going to help. Paid, or willing to do it for free, anyone who packs up, grabs hose and goes through the door........earns my respect and gratitude. Period.
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Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on
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I agree with you....We all put our butts in the same fire/so to speak ....The beast doesn't give a rat's butt whether you are getting paid or Volunteer, it will bite you in the ass either way if it can.......My certification doesn't say anything about it.....the questions on the fire ground is/or should be...are you interior qualified ? Not about your sex or type of job you have.....
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Permalink Reply by hambone22 on
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I agree with some of what you say. I still give up my holidays and anniversaries and other family time. I love every second I am on a tour. I give 110% even though I get paid. I still can't beleive they pay me for a "job" that I love. I do get paid to do the one major thing I love. I can think of a couple hundred other people that do too. They are called professional athletes. I don't think anyone gets involved in the fire service to "collect a paycheck". I am not saying that each department doesn't have at least one guy with (and here it seems at least one per shift) some amount of discourse for the job, or the chief, or the FNG's.
I won't hesitate to get involved and I never turn my shoulder to vollies. I came from there and I don't burn bridges and I definately will not forget where I came from.
Thats my two cents.
Stay safe everyone.
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Permalink Reply by Brian Farris on
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Whenever I "buff it" by stopping at a fire station I never tell them what type of firefighter I am (I am a paid call.) I always tell them I am a firefighter. If you go in "looking" like a vollie with the "I fight what you fear" shirts, yeah you may get treated a little differently. Now most of my t-shirts are fire related (mostly work shirts), and I wear them all the time. I have had a few bad experiences with both full time and vollie guys, and had some great experiences with both. All depends on the day I would guess. One thing I have found, that if the full time guys are allowed to vollie somewhere, they treat you a little better (FDNY for example).
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Now isn't this "special"....I happen to also be a Professional Registered Nurse.....I do this 60 hours a week for about 50 weeks a year....does that mean I should look down on you "PAID" medics because I do it 12 hours a day every day and NOT when it happens occasionally...Be real....More than 60% of Fire Service in the US is done by Volunteer Departments....Just because the one you were with was made up of slugs doesn't mean the rest of us are too.....YES, we have a small department.....about 35 ACTIVE members...BUT let me tell you this right here and right now....I will put them up against anyone anywhere to fight a fire under the conditions that we have to work with.....AND BY THE WAY....a few years ago 2 of our members were honored by a neighboring (paid) department for rescueing 2 of their men that got lost in a structure fire.....ask those guys what they think of "VOLLIES".....Maybe you need to get off the truck and make the coffee....seems your "attitude" goes with that mentality...thought that went out the window a few years back.............Have a nice day.................
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Amen sister. I totally agree. Why is it that most volunteers say i have to leave at dinner, or I respond on Christmans day? How many Christmas Days have you worked? I have worked everyone since I started. I was a little leary on saying the stuff you did, but I do agree with you. I started as a vollie but I haven't looked back since. Stay safe sis! Hope to see you round here again!
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Permalink Reply by Terry Lambert on
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You know, last time I looked, we are all firefighter's. Paid or volly, we do the same job. So why does it matter if you get a paycheck or not. bottom line, we are here for our communities.
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Permalink Reply by Mark Trotter on
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I've worked with both and it's like every thing else, there are good firefighters and some not so good. It doesn't matter if thier paid or volunteer, I only care if they have my back when we go in. Being paid or being a volunteer doesn't mean your better of worse than the other. We all Love what we do and just need to go home safely that's the bottom line.
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