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Permalink Reply by Dustin Ross Hopper on February 25, 2012 at 4:37pm

Hi Justin, I too am a volunteer fireman. Our department incases 16 stations and over 130 personel. At any time I could be out of my stations territory and will run with other stations. My gear is kept in a gear bag and is usually on the outside of my truck. You have the choice of where to keep your gear but I keep my gear on me at all times to insure my quick response to any calls around the county.

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Permalink Reply by Derek J Sinesi on February 25, 2012 at 11:05pm

We keep most of our gear at the station. I keep my gear in my work vehicle because i work long hours and out of town this way i don't have to drive to the station or call someone to throw it in the rescue. I do also have a set of gear at the station. Here is the reason most of the gear is at the station. If everyone had it in their cars they would all go to the scene and that's a problem because no one brought the trucks! I am lucky enough to belong to a department were our guys can have a extra set of gear if they really want a set in there vehicles. We also have a washer and dyer at our station with the proper soap so our guys can wash their gear. After a MVA we make sure anyone on the scene around any fluids washes there gear or a structure fire. At around $2000.00 a set of gear we try to make sure it is taking care of.

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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on February 25, 2012 at 11:15pm

Leave it at the station.

 

First and foremost, it takes both rigs (equipment) as well as personnel to mitigate an emergency. This means that people will have to respond to the station to get the rigs and to roll to the scene. Having gear at the station means that FFs can not just go to the scene and await resources which may not be coming....whereas if they go to the station, they can roll the needed equipment too. Whereas, if keeping gear with the FF, then there can be a tendancy to respond directly to the scene expecting someone else to bring equipment.....that helps no one. Who is to say that the equipment will roll or not?

 

If one is sure they can't make the station prior to equipment rolling out, then there should also be a means of alerting others to throw one's gear on the rig. I've done this a number of times....at least you know people were going to show as opposed to getting to the scene and waiting for equipment.

 

Another aspect is having gear at the station allows the dept to more easily inventory and check for upgrades, recalls, or needed repairs, as opposed to leaving the gear in a bag or home and forgetting. Besides when showing up to train, gear should be at the station. 

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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on February 26, 2012 at 12:41am

Does your department have facilities in which to wash your gear?  Do you have an extra set of gear to carry while one set is being washed/dried?  If the answer is NO and your department is expecting you to carry contaminated gear in your POV then I would refuse to do so.  On the other hand if you can wash your gear and/or have another set of gear to carry with you, then why not?

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Permalink Reply by Charles Walker on February 28, 2012 at 11:00am

Our Chief requires us to keep our gear at the station. We have hooks to hang coats and helmets on while our boots are folded down for proper donning procedures.  We have 2 sets one structure and one wildland gear.  My wife and I are waiting the arrival of complete sets of bunker gear that we ordered and paid for ourselves to keep in our vehicles since we both work out of town on different shifts. And our chief has no worries about that cause we live 2 blocks from our main station and are typically the first two out. But the second set is used and that's why we bought them cheap and keep on our POV. 

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