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Volunteers with Lights and Sirens
What do you think, should volunteer firefighters be allowed to have and use lights and sirens in their POV ? Should only the Chief an ASST. Chief be allowed to have them ?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by brian morris on
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In my dept which is vol. the chief and asst. chief are the only ones allowed to have sirens but all the other ff1& ff2 are allowed to have lights only because man power is limited and time is of the essense but either way you must obey all traffic laws even if i am driving an engine but the lights do help clear traffic in my pov, the siren would just make things worse w/ the noise coming from all directions
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Permalink Reply by Art Sutherland on
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so what your saying is that ciefs and deputy chiefs are better then fireifhgters. Just to let you know that in our department I have more driver training than the whole deptment together. There is only one other guy that has had driver training and it doesn't even come close to me. Is there any chiefs or deputy chiefs that are as you call them, idiots. A comment like yours is hard to understand. So if a guy is on the department say 2 years and he is put in as the chief or deputy chief and is allowed lights on his pov, does he have the experince to respond with the lights. I guess to you the firefighter that has been responding for the past ten years still shouldn't have the lights, oh because he is and idiot.
I can't believe a firefighter would even use that word when talking about fellow firefighters, unreal.
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Permalink Reply by Charles McElroy Jr on
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In Pennsylvania blue lights are courtesy lights only. By the motor vehicle code the fire chief must issue a permit to the ff's for their pov. Only one vehicle per ff may have a bluelight and must conform to the motor vehicle standards for bluelights. The chief is then to submit to the local state police barracks the list of ff's allowed by him or her to have bluelights. As for red lights and sirens on pov's the code allows for every department vehicle one pov. For example, my department has 8 vehicles, therefore, the chief can designate upto 8 povs. Our department only the 3 chiefs have red lights and sirens on their pov's mainly for when their issued chief vehicle is out of service for maintenance. Fire police captains and lieutenants are allowed reds and sirens if allowed by the chief. We don't allow them, prior misuse has precluded them from being allowed.
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Permalink Reply by Padre Pete on
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- When we find we have intrusted a jerk driver with a chiefs responsibilities (and we all have) his V&T law violations become a police matter.
- We think some few firefighters might once in a great while abuse light priveledges because decades of experience have proven that to be true.
- We have to assume that the people we elected or appointed to lead us are of a sufficiently sound frame of mind to set a good example when responding to calls. We have all been dead wrong in that assumption. Its a chance we take.
- Volunteers we issue blue (ID only) lights to are told they are on their own if they get caught abusing the light.
WHO ARE YOU AND WHO DO YOU REPRESENT?
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Permalink Reply by Erick Wendler on
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in my department we can use lights but only the chief and assistant chief can use siren
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After joining the team at the fire department , I reliaze the importance on being allowed to have a siren and emergency light. The light doesn't have to be read or blue, maybe just white and yellow. Here in Nova Scotia, even funeral cars are allowed to have a purple flashing light as of this year. I understand the public concern regarding miss use. However stiff fines could be put in place or maybe someother kind of penalty. Not having the ability to use emergency lights, really does make my responce time alot slower, and I am only blocks away from the hall. and law enforcene and paid emergency responders are supposed to follow all the rules of the road to.
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Permalink Reply by ChiefGantt on
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The use of Lights & Sirens have a benefit in an emergency situation to aid the first responder and apparatus drivers response time to a call or station. The use of them is a responsibility on the firefighter’s part.
Thinking they own the road could become a hazard to all.
My firefighters are allowed to run them only if they provide driving records, meet SC State law 360 @ 500 ft. visability during daylight, Use of siren at all times and they must have a function that requires faster response. 10 MPH over is the limit unless it is cleared by a chief via radio. Local law enforcement has been notified of our policy.
An inspection of their vehicle prior to use and proof of current insurance. All are thought respect & distance.
If there are any valid complaints, all personnel will loose them in the department. They will inform you of misabuse by others quick. The public is always right!!!!
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Permalink Reply by Firefighter Walther on
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im curious, whats a POV?
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Permalink Reply by Brian Dumser on
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"Far too many out there with the siren switch in one hand, their willie in the other."
I didn't think you could see me through my tinted windows! LOL
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Permalink Reply by Ryan Angel on
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IN Tn the law stats if u run lights u MUST!!!!!! run a siren and all volunteers can run them with the fire chiefs and county sheriffs say so. They must be Red Or Red/Clear. U can run over the speed but must stop at all stop signs and red traffic lights to clear traffic and slow down and be ready to stop at all green lights. Also in the state of Tennessee they ask promission for right of way. But in turn if other drivers do not move over or stop and let u go at stop signs and red traffic lights they can be given a ticked for up to 1500 dollars. That is only if u r using lights and sirens.
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Permalink Reply by Reg Mathis on
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I respond to about 99% of my tones by POV. I can count on 2 hands when it would have been nice to have a set of lights. Maybe in a bigger town with more traffic, I'd have more of a need for them. But here in rural Georgia, I can't justify spending my hard earned money on a new shiney thing...
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Permalink Reply by Lt. Dan (1508) on
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I think it should be left up to the department to decide. What we do here in our small little corner of the world may not work elsewhere, or be effective. If a department feels that it is necessary for their responders to utilize such equipment, then they would provide it, like PPE. We ran in to trouble last year with a member who had purchased and installed the same radio we have in our engines, in his POV. He had a nasty habit of acknowledging pages before he even responded to the house. Subsequently, once the officer arrived, he had to have the dispatch re-tone the call. Drove me absolutely nuts that one of the officers wasn't knee deep in his posterior. I will say that I have a blue light, as allowed in Illinois, but seldom use it.
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