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Growing Pains
So I have been with my volly dept. for almost 10 years and I think it may be time to move on. When I started my dept. there were no people under 40 and very little training. Firefighters would fight wildfires in blue jeans without fire shelters and the was no red card or pack test. On the structure end we had no firefighters able to pack up and preform interior searches. I remember on my first car fire being told that my s.c.b.a. was not needed and spending the next day sick from the toxic smoke.
That was then. Now everyone has to have the wildfire training and line personel the pack test. S.C.B.A.'s are worn even for overhaul and many more members have been trained to the FF1 standard. I personally worked my way up to the rank of Deputy Chief but then it all changed. We started to have poor response to training and calls and lost many of are younger members. The overall feel of the dept. is now a social club and there seems to be no pride in what we do. I was pushing the dept. to become more professional but was told that they are only vollys and it's to much to ask.
I therefore quit as the Deputy and went back to being a Engine Capt. Since then I have felt a rift grow between me and my dept. I know of many volly dept. that are very professional so I don't by into the "there only vollys" statement yet they dept. dosen't seem to want to change. What should I do? My first thought was change the way my dept. thinks but after ten years that dosen't seem to work. My next thought is it's time to move on. Have I out grown my dept.? I love the fire service and plan to work in the field till I can't do it anymore but I currently feel stuck.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Fabulous Heather Days of Summer on
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Aaron - congrats on your new job - and your new adventure in a new State.
I know a bunch of the guys who chat in the Single Fire Fighters group are from Michigan - you should wander through the last 30-40 pages of the main chat in there and track those people down - maybe some of them are in your new neighborhood.
I am very proud of you for taking a big leap of faith and pushing forward with your career despite repeated barriers. You are a strong courageous man and I am excited for you to experience new adventures and new step in your career !
Make sure to stay in touch and take your FFN family with you ;-)
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Another interesting thing I learned about places like Michigan - especially Detroit... cheap or free houses are being sold by he government...
Some are a few thousand dollars... look it up - could be another fun adventure while i Michigan...
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You can go to Realtor.com and search for homes for sale in any city in the U.S., and you can specify a certain price range. If you search for Detroit homes for sale between $0 and $1,000, you'll find that there are 74 homes for sale in that price range, including the bank owned bargain above for $250, with estimated monthly payments of $1. There are 4 homes for sale for $1. If you search for Detroit houses for less than $5,000, you'll have almost 1,000 homes to choose from! -
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Permalink Reply by Aaron Mandel on
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Thanks Everybody for the advice, support and congrats. I'm really excited about this but at the same time I'm kinda scared sh_tless. I'm so use to being the big fish in a little pond it's kinda scary to go back to being the small fish. I'll let you all know how it goes. Thanks again all and Lady Heather a special thanks to you for all the support. Extra big hugs to So. Cal. for you girl.
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never the small fish - just a new ocean...
stay strong !!!
YOU ARE AN AMAZING FIRE FIGHTER AND AN AMAZING MAN WITH A LOT OF VALUABLE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL... THEY ARE VERY VERY LUCKY TO HAVE YOU !!!
GO KICK ASS BIG BOY !!!
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