The Social Network & Community JUST for Firefighters
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ALL THE REAL FIREFIGHTERS
Is it just me or has the commitment of the younger firefighters these days just gone to pot? Now don't get me wrong there are some young guys and gals out there that still go get it but they are a shrinking breed. Out of 20+ applicants to take our last agility test only 5-6 passed the rest just quit because they were tired out. We have a working fire at my volley station and 1 cylinder of air and they are laid out in the yard wipped out and the house is still burning, and one last thing is this, it's all about "me" thing, only looking out for myself instead of whats best for the crew or the dept.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Joel C Kelley on
-
This topic caught my eye, and I was ready for the old "when I was your age we did n't even use SCBA" speech. Instead I found a bitch session about today's youth. Okay then. Here are my words for the birds.
The fire service is the toughest job in the civilian sector short of police work. Anyone coming into it should be aware of that at the outset. When I started out in 1991, it was never a question that when you go on a call, you do what is required to get the job done safely as a team. Nobody in my department was out for their own glory. The success of the team was the baseline for success in general. On my first working fire, I went through three bottles, then spent the rest of the day at the stations getting trucks back in service. Tired? HELL YEAH!!
But proud of the accomplishment? Pride made up for the fatigue.
In sixteen years, I have never been paid for running calls, nor do I expect to be at age 39. I will spend the rest of my days as a volunteer, and I am happy with that. So when Generation me comes in and asks what is in it for them, I can only laugh and say "whatever you put into it." This aint' no Nintendo or PS3 game where you can go take anap when you get a cramp in your dainty thumb. This is hot, sweaty, uncomfortable, challenging, dirty, physical WORK, and if you aren't down for that, well maybe you can find a good video game. If you want to get paid for it, then work for it. The fire service offers no reward without effort, but if you put in the effort, the rewards are far beyond just a paycheck.
We need to remember that half of our job title is the word SERVICE. We serve, plain and simple, and if you go into this job looking for anything besides service, paid or volunteer, you are in for disappointment.
-
Permalink Reply by Elizabeth on
-
Joel i could of not said it no better Well about the three bottles well i was fine with one and still had some lol Just playin> The Pride in in knowin that you did something that help someone and you helped yourself all in the same time . Don't get me wrong i want to be a paid ff only because i don't want to do anything else this is what i want to do and i know i have to work to pay the damn bills lol but vol. is fine with me . But i do expert a lot when it comes to do what you have to do . I want no reward because this is a reward for me . And thank you goes a long way. So I want to thank you all that work ur ass of a put in 150% of everything you have even when the dead bets are in the yard and we are still fightin just know you do have people with you that are helpin u even if we all are not there we are helpin u THANKS SO MUCH
-
-
Yeah, the uniform is cool. The first day I want to the station to join up, the assistant Chief took me out and issued me my first set of gear. I can't tell anyone how cool I thought that was! That was a Saturday, and on the next Tuesday, I got my gear dirty on a propane training, and my life has never been the same since! That was about the coolest thing I had ever done, and the thrill of the shiny new bunkers was quickly put to bed by the hard work of doing evolutions and cleaning up afterwords. I was taught how to dig deep for the extra stuff you need by a former Marine outside the fire service, and it turned me into a true human being. But as proud as I am of the uniform, its what is in it that makes a firefighter!
-
Permalink Reply by Brian Richardson on
-
I agree with you. The last group of new guys that we hired have no ambition or drive to do anything. They think that they can come in and just lay on there butt all day long while the rest of us have busted ours so we could pull our own weight around the station and on the fire grounds. I am sick of it! Like you said there are still some younger guys and girls out there that have the true want to to do this job. Just wish we could find some!
-
-
Ok let me see if i sayin this right are you sayin that we are the one's who made these kids lazy ? not understandin . Well if they want to belong then do some damn work thats all Don't sit on ur ass and get up and do something . Its not about us listenin to them it's them listenin to us when been in it we know what to do they need to understand that this is a job and we all need to work as a team . And the old man you said everyone hates well that old man have saved a lot of ass even if he is an ass hole He knows just what he is talkin about !!!!
-
-
Bravo!!! That is the challenge before all of us, isn't it, to become good leaders before the old farts die off or retire or whatever. Whether it is lazy rookies or struggling departments with no money for equipment, or drinking in the firehouse, all of these issues are about good leadership!
I will be the best leader I can be, and I hope everyonr else will too. The goal of every firefighter should be to become the best at what you do, not because you will get promoted, but because you want to be the best, promotion will follow, no matter how hard you try to avoid it!
-
-
Now you pick something i always love a challenge . And for what you know i do lead and i follow i do what is asked of me me and if i dont understand it then i ask . no one is better then another what i'm sayin is you lead and follow and they are still lazy put them out . Im sayin if the have been there for 6mon and cant tell you what truck is what and you dont know how to use some of the tools then what. Life is about learnin right you have a mind and if you wanted to be in the dept . DONT STAND IN THE BACK OF THE CLASS pull your share . No one expects anything they try!
And to you we could not read minds so we asked you never learn anything if you dont put something into it .
-
-
Ok this is not goin anywhere we can do this all year long the fact is If you don't want to do the work then why are you here that easy we are talkin about ff not wantin to help out it is a big diff. if you just joined but most of them have been in it for a time so y are they still not doin anything . My responsability is to help anyone but you cant help someone who does not want it. Im a head strong women so i feel everyone needs to give thats me leadin .
-
Permalink Reply by Wildfire on
-
This is my first season, there is no losing love here. I just won't try volunteering at the local department again since they would take me with no experience and the Forest Service did.
-
Permalink Reply by Bull on
-
Rather have them quit at one bottle,,then to force them to go in again and have something happen to them,,and then have to go resue them.
just sounds like they need more training
-
Permalink Reply by turk182 on
-
I have been in the fire service fortwenty years and I am a volunteer and the assistant chief i take charge of all the new firefighters coming in and train them and get them ready to fight fires until they can get into a fire school. we do not let them go in until they get at least an essentials class and a structual burn class under their belts. I am very active in training new people and the the other guys an gals in my company. But you still even with training them get the younger firefighters who do not want to do much of anything. I have a new firefighter when I was teaching them hose rolls and hydrant connections bitching because the hydrant wrench was heavy and that the hydrant was hard to open. I told them try putting a little effort into it they do not open as easy as a faucet. so what i am trying to say is it is not that they don't know what to to but they have a lack of effort or a lot of laziness they will not go and do something that they know neds done but wait until they are told to do it.then I love the people who not only fire fighters but regular people who ask how much volunteers get paid and hour so the running joke is we tell them we get paid sixty minutes and hour no more we actually had one person say how much over time do you get and how much.
© 2024 Created by Firefighter Nation WebChief.
Powered by
