Volunteer in US?

Hi..

I was wondering if some of you guys can come with examples of the the volunteer department works in YOUR area.
I am thinking about moving to the US for a couple of years, and could be very nice to know more about the volunteer fire services.

In Denmark you have to both live and work close to the fire house, as you have 5 minutes from the alarm to get to the fire station, change, get in the engine, and get out of the station.
When going from your job/home to the fire station you have to obey all trafic-rules such as speed limits, rule for overtaking, red lights etc.

How it is "over there" ?

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Permalink Reply by Damo on October 12, 2010 at 1:55pm

Only certain people are allowed lights in their POVs in my district. But, we do have a kick ass booster with plenty of lights. F350 with a 6.5inch lift and big fat tires, it is pretty awesome. The boys in the house wanted it lifted higher with bigger wheels, but that is the normal reaction for Rednecks.

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Permalink Reply by Matthew on October 12, 2010 at 5:35pm

Sune, I believe you will find that the U.S boasts a very diverse Fire Service in both the career and volunteer arenas. Different parts of the country have their own ways of doing things, and the people who are involved in the service are just as diverse. So wherever it is in the US you end up visiting, you are bound to see some pretty cool stuff and hopefully you will leave as much knowledge in the U.S as you take back to Denmark.

Now, being a Southerner myself I am slightly more prone to grandstand for Ole' Dixie and the way we Southerners handle things, as compared to our Yankee brothers :P

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Permalink Reply by Chris Weber on October 13, 2010 at 4:28pm

We Yanks thrive on the ice and snow!(Occassionally anyway)Nothing quite like thawing out frozen couplings,tire chains,keeping pumps from freezing and sliding around on icy ladders.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Weber on October 13, 2010 at 4:30pm

Lights on POVs too.Nothing personal against the south though.Have to agree with the good looking women part;)

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Permalink Reply by Scotty V on October 13, 2010 at 9:57pm

Google prince georges county fire department i think they have some sort of international program if im not mistaken, if its not them sorry but some department in the d.c area have out of state/country requirements....also nothing against my dixie boys but all the fires are up north and the women in jersey are the best :P

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Permalink Reply by Stephen G.Kelley on October 13, 2010 at 11:04pm

We live with in the boundaries of our district which is a 6 mile radius from the station. We don't have a set amount of mins to get there esp. since people work a varity of job and shifts. Sometimes our staff runs thin that is why we have mutual aid with other departments in the area to help cover each others short falls. Seems to work well. One of our mutual aid station is a paid one which is manned 24-hrs.

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Permalink Reply by Vic Silverfish on October 14, 2010 at 3:10am

Sune,

It sort of depends what you want to do. My old department (Prince George's County, in Maryland - on the Eastern border of Washington DC) has some very busy departments and will give you a once in a lifetime experience, but will also show you one of the worst sides of the United States. Many of these departments have live-in programs so you would actually have your housing taken care of. You'd need to work out your training, so I'd contact a bunch of departments and see what you can work out.

Here are a couple of links to departments that have live-in programs:

http://www.kentland33.com/
http://www.cpvfd.org/
http://www.bhvfd14.org/
http://www.hvfd.com/

Feel free to drop me a line and I'll answer your questions to the best of my ability. I left the US a few years ago, so anything I say will be a bit out of date.

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Permalink Reply by Sune Schønnemann on October 14, 2010 at 4:40am

That sounds a lot like something we have a bit of in Denmark.

(Only talking first-line responders/municipal departments here) In Denmark about 10% are full time employed, 80% are part time on call (they get payed like 50USD a month to be on call, and MUST live and work near the firehouse and have permission to leave their workplace).
The last 10% are volunteers. They don't have shifts and such like the part-time workers.. When the alarm goes of they just come if they can - Sometimes you can get 50 firefighters and sometimes 4..

But the vast majority are part-time workers who have 5 minutes.

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Permalink Reply by Sune Schønnemann on October 14, 2010 at 4:41am

Sounds sweet.. I will google them later to find out more!
Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Sune Schønnemann on October 14, 2010 at 4:44am

Thanks a lot Vic.

I have looked a bit at the prince georges county fire department Scotty told me to google..
- You can bet I will send you a PM later on with questions (But first of I need my, as my old fire chief calls it "Firefighter nectar" (coffee)!) (It's 7AM here)

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Permalink Reply by Sune Schønnemann on October 14, 2010 at 5:43am

I have a question for all of you..

Most departments say that applicants must have a high school diploma..
In Denmark, our college starts at what is equivalent to senior year (Ie. I only have what is equivalent to junior year - Graduated at age 17)..

Is that going to be a problem?
- I mean, is the high school graduation requirement a state/government requirement or is it up to the individual department to decide?

Volunteer in US?

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