Hi everyone! I'm an Australian volunteer firefighter in Torquay, a small town on the Victorian west coast. We attend incidents ranging from bushfires to structure fires, hazmat and rescue.
We also participate at cool events such as the recent Avalon Airshow.
You can see more photos at Avalon Airshow Aces.
Look forward to hearing about what's happening in your town.
On February 15th I posted that we had created a National Clearinghouse for Fire Fighting Equipment at www.FireFighterFund.org We have moved the site to www.FreeFireGear.org The FireFighterFund will still be in operation to help firefighters and their families deal with legal issues. But if you have a need for equipment or have extra gear, please visit www.FreeFireGear.org. We are pleased to also announce affiliation with the International Fire Relief Mission. You can visit there site at www.ifrm2007.com
Hey all. I'm from a small community with a big fire district in Cardigan, PE Canada. Us small town departments have so be so versatile and adaptive because you never know how many or what volunteers are going to answer any specific call and we might not have the necessary tools to do the job but, we all manage somehow. I think this makes us all very unique and I love it!
Hello all, I am from Riverside, TX just outside of Huntsville, TX, operate 7 trucks, 2 stations, with 21 tactical members, we cover roughly 40 square miles inside Walker County.
I would like to correct a typo from my first post, the square miles is actually 164. I was trying to type 140 and the one did not get typed...oppss, sorry!
Hi, I'm Tiffany from a small fishing village in rural Alaska. Our winter population is roughly 280, maybe 350 during the summer months. We have 1 fire truck, 1 ambulance and 1 rescue truck. We only have about 15 active volunteers in our department. Some do both EMT and Fire.
Hi, I currently serve on 2 volunteer fire depts in rural Saskatchewan. My hometowns population is about 800. We currently have 1 engine and 1 rescue with 16 volunteer members. The town I currently live in has a population of approx 1300 and has a dept with 20 members, 2 engines and a rescue. The 2 towns are only 16km apart so I am able to stay active with both depts.
Tiffany, as a flight nurse based out of Fairbanks for two years (and working for the State of Alaska EMS Unit for three years before that), I have visited many of Alaska's remote villages. Kudos to you and your fellow bush responders for providing a vital service in some of the toughest conditions on the planet!
Thanks Mike! I always get asked "Why do you volunteer?" My answer, Why wouldn't you?? In these small towns, that is the only way to keep them up and running. My husband is our Fire Chief, and we currently have no police officer in town. He started going on police calls because there was no one else to do it. Sometimes you just gotta step up to the plate and do what needs to be done.
Yup. Unless you've been there, you really don't understand, lmao! Beautiful place, interesting people, unique challenges, but WAY too friggin' cold! : )
I am glad to be back in the desert, but I wouldn't trade my Alaskan experiences for a million bucks.
It will be interesting to see what the winter brings. I've seen rescues done in sleds, and since we are landlocked and can only get in by boat or plane, we've gone days without access to our Medi-vac planes. Looking forward to the challenges that the village life brings.
Does anyone have any thoughts as to the bias of the AFG towards small volunteer departments? We cover aa 156 sq. mi. area with 4 pieces of apparatus that avg. 15 years old. It seems to me that requiring (or at least recommending) 100% FFI and FFII certification is a little unreasonable for a volunteer organization. The 200 hours required for this certification is a lot to ask of people that are volunteering. What about the members that don't want to go into a burning building? You have members that want to pump engines, work MVAs, and be support for the interior attack teams, are they just as valuable to your organization? Somebody has to perform these tasks, do they need to be certified to do it? I don't think so. What are your thoughts?
Hey mike i feal u me an my dept. Cover an area of 846 square miles with 6 trucks that range 46 years apart i dnt feal required traing to volunteers is rite all my guys work at least 40 hours a week and on top of that in our free time we are doing mantiaincense at the fire house
We are in Southeast Indiana, cover just over 100 square miles with 7 trucks and 20 guys. Mostly rural, but there is a private lake community, total population 5,000 to 7,000 according to the season.
I'm from a small town in central sounthern Illinois bout 75 miles east of St Loius. We have a town of 700 and 6 trucks. We are a firefighter and First Responder ( ems ) house. There were 147 calls last year and 98% were ems calls.
I'm from a smeel town 30 min north of Springfield Illinois. We have 1 station : 3 Engines,1 Brush unit, cascade unit,Command car,2 Tankers, and a broken aerial. we ran 256 calls last year. We Provide fire , ems , and first responce medical. 22 firefighters, and a 97k$ budgett
Due to the need to be safe. we here require Illinois FF2 within 2 years of being apointed. FF2 is just THE MINIMUM NEEDED TO BE SAFE ON THE FIREGROUND. We as a community MUST strive to be the best. our guys go to class 1 night a week for 4 hours. the FF2 program takes 6 months. but when they are done they know what they need to know when they have a call.
I work For a small growing department on the kenai peninsula in Alaska. We cover 2200 square miles with 5 stations. With 3 stations only manned by one person. We have 33 career guys on the line. Only takes one call like a MVA and we have to recall other shifts for personnel. Gotta say it's a great place to work and even better to be apart of young department that is growing every year.
LODD:Sunday, March 4, 2012 We regret to advise you that a Firefighter from the Colby (WI) FD was killed in the Line of Duty this afternoon-while on a mutual aid fire call. The fire was in the Abby Theater in Abbotsford and is reportedly a major loss-it started around noon. At some point during the operation, several Firefighters were injured when the roof collapsed. EMS units as well as a medical helicopter transported. The Firefighters were taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield and 1 of the Firefighters has now succumbed to the injuries. We'll provide more as it becomes available and have posted video on our home page. Our condolences to all affected. RIP.
Small, but growing town in Northeastern MD, last yr we did between 500-600 calls(not counting EMS), the towns sq mileage is around 2 maybe 3 miles, our first due is 58sq miles, three stations, four engines, one truck, one rescue, a tanker, a brush, rehab unit, 3 ambulances
I am firefighter,truck driver,Captain fire police officer, purchasing, and a fire district commissioner with the Truxton Fire Dept. central New York state. about 25 members with 14 active. we have 52 square miles of district. two engines 2000 freight shaker, 1975 Brockway, two rescues 1984 Ford heavy, 1977 light rescue, one 1990 international tanker, one 2012 super duty brush truck.
I am a firefighter in Westcliffe, Co. It's a tiny town between two mountain ranges and I have seen everything from wildland to mva's to structure fires.
My videos and pictures have been used multiple times in local newspapers and the affiliate ABC news channel has used my fire videos often to highlight the fires from many small town fire departments in the great seacoast region of New Hampshire
I am from Elkhart Lake, WI volunteer FD. We deal with everything including lake rescue and dive. We also now have MABIS which are cards that designate mutual aid response.
david sullivan
Feb 19, 2011
Alison Aprhys
We also participate at cool events such as the recent Avalon Airshow.
You can see more photos at Avalon Airshow Aces.Look forward to hearing about what's happening in your town.
Mar 10, 2011
mike chappell
tell them mike sent you...
Apr 12, 2011
Tim McConnell
Apr 13, 2011
Michael David White
May 14, 2011
Rebekka Arcand
May 22, 2011
Roberta Torres
May 31, 2011
Cody Martin
Jul 7, 2011
Patti Walz
Jul 7, 2011
Cody Martin
Jul 7, 2011
Lee Ashby, Jr.
Jul 12, 2011
Patti Walz
Jul 12, 2011
Lee Ashby, Jr.
Jul 13, 2011
Lee Ashby, Jr.
Jul 13, 2011
Tiffany Haller
Jul 14, 2011
Brandon
Jul 14, 2011
Mike Branum
Jul 18, 2011
Tiffany Haller
Jul 18, 2011
Mike Branum
I am glad to be back in the desert, but I wouldn't trade my Alaskan experiences for a million bucks.
Jul 18, 2011
Tiffany Haller
Jul 18, 2011
Jeff Taylor
Aug 23, 2011
Wilbur Garrison
Aug 23, 2011
Clarksburg Fire Department
We are in Southeast Indiana, cover just over 100 square miles with 7 trucks and 20 guys. Mostly rural, but there is a private lake community, total population 5,000 to 7,000 according to the season.
Jan 24, 2012
Greg Mcvey
hello all new to this group hope to a chance to talk to some of you
Feb 3, 2012
Laci Knight
Feb 22, 2012
Laci Knight
Feb 22, 2012
dan streeter
I'm from a small town in central sounthern Illinois bout 75 miles east of St Loius. We have a town of 700 and 6 trucks. We are a firefighter and First Responder ( ems ) house. There were 147 calls last year and 98% were ems calls.
Mar 4, 2012
Joe Snodgrass
I'm from a smeel town 30 min north of Springfield Illinois. We have 1 station : 3 Engines,1 Brush unit, cascade unit,Command car,2 Tankers, and a broken aerial. we ran 256 calls last year. We Provide fire , ems , and first responce medical. 22 firefighters, and a 97k$ budgett
Mar 4, 2012
Joe Snodgrass
To Mike and Wilbur.
Due to the need to be safe. we here require Illinois FF2 within 2 years of being apointed. FF2 is just THE MINIMUM NEEDED TO BE SAFE ON THE FIREGROUND. We as a community MUST strive to be the best. our guys go to class 1 night a week for 4 hours. the FF2 program takes 6 months. but when they are done they know what they need to know when they have a call.
Mar 4, 2012
Jake Lamphier
Mar 4, 2012
Charles Stilwell
My Uncle George R.I.P. was the civilian Fire Chief for the Naval Station on Adak, Ak back in the 70's
Mar 4, 2012
Justin Stepien
LODD:Sunday, March 4, 2012 We regret to advise you that a Firefighter from the Colby (WI) FD was killed in the Line of Duty this afternoon-while on a mutual aid fire call. The fire was in the Abby Theater in Abbotsford and is reportedly a major loss-it started around noon. At some point during the operation, several Firefighters were injured when the roof collapsed. EMS units as well as a medical helicopter transported. The Firefighters were taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield and 1 of the Firefighters has now succumbed to the injuries. We'll provide more as it becomes available and have posted video on our home page. Our condolences to all affected. RIP.
Mar 4, 2012
dan streeter
R.I.P. Brother Thank you for your service
Mar 4, 2012
Cody Patrick
Small, but growing town in Northeastern MD, last yr we did between 500-600 calls(not counting EMS), the towns sq mileage is around 2 maybe 3 miles, our first due is 58sq miles, three stations, four engines, one truck, one rescue, a tanker, a brush, rehab unit, 3 ambulances
May 16, 2012
ORBIE (TWEETER) YANCEY
hey i know where knotts island is i grew up in south mills and volunteer at moyock for a little while. now im in georgia in walthourville
Jun 7, 2012
ORBIE (TWEETER) YANCEY
well life in this small town is still going. gets boring sometimes but its all good.
Jun 16, 2012
Kaitlin Reick
Unless you live in Northeast nebraska or have heard of Bluebird Nursery I suppose you have never ever heard of Clarkson Nebraska
Oct 25, 2012
Timothy John Dodson
I'm a member of the Silverhill VFD in Silverhill, Alabama which is located approximately midway between Mobile, Alabama and Pensacola, Florida.
Nov 1, 2012
brian rogers
Our community is very small, just around 35 people live in the community . Our coverage area is 406 sq. miles.
Feb 26, 2013
brian rogers
30 volunteers along with about a dozen on the Ladies Auxiliary
Feb 26, 2013
brian rogers
we have a website.............. www.waylandvfd.com
Feb 26, 2013
DAVID GONZALEZ
www.sjbfd.com my fire department
Feb 26, 2013
DAVID GONZALEZ
@Teresa thank you very much.
Feb 26, 2013
Robert L. Bibbee
I am from Ketchuptown S.C. small community 45 min. from Myrtle Beach.
Jul 6, 2013
mountain firegirl
Hot Sulphur Springs, CO
Aug 5, 2013
Judson Vickery
I am firefighter,truck driver,Captain fire police officer, purchasing, and a fire district commissioner with the Truxton Fire Dept. central New York state. about 25 members with 14 active. we have 52 square miles of district. two engines 2000 freight shaker, 1975 Brockway, two rescues 1984 Ford heavy, 1977 light rescue, one 1990 international tanker, one 2012 super duty brush truck.
Aug 12, 2013
Jordan Elizabeth Andrews
Im from Deep Run NC, and now I live in Grifton NC. Both small town fire departments.
Aug 21, 2013
Ambria Lane
I am a firefighter in Westcliffe, Co. It's a tiny town between two mountain ranges and I have seen everything from wildland to mva's to structure fires.
Oct 4, 2013
Paul M Dolnier
Not a member of a fire department but I do have and operate a youtube.com site that is dedicated to the fire service by posting fire incident videos
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDmoHiCo4V_zzF4QJG6HOkA
The link is the above link
My videos and pictures have been used multiple times in local newspapers and the affiliate ABC news channel has used my fire videos often to highlight the fires from many small town fire departments in the great seacoast region of New Hampshire
Nov 11, 2015
Tracy Luljak
Dec 9, 2015