The Social Network & Community JUST for Firefighters
Fortune Tellers
In my last blog titled “Dig In.” I talked about the importance of story telling in the fire service and how it serves as a means of sharing experiences, traditions and values from generation to generation. In this article I try to tell a story, and in that story, I hope you can find a lesson to share for generations to come.
Almost every firefighter I meet speaks of how they always knew, from the time they were a very young boy or girl – that they wanted to be a firefighter.
I was one of those kids. I call them the “run to the curb” kind of kids.
The Evans Center Fire Hall (as we called it) was just down Bennett Road and around the corner on Route 5, maybe a few hundred yards away from my house, as the crow flies. Closer than that was the rear entrance to the sixteen acres of fire company property, directly across the street from our driveway.
Growing up so close to the firehall, it was an obvious choice as a place to hang out with my friends. We played baseball on the ball fields the fire company leased to the Little League for a dollar a year. We helped out at and patronized the carnivals and other fund-raising events. When the fire company added on a large banquet hall in 1971, we helped the contractors move supplies and materials. My initials are carved in the concrete sidewalk they poured. I was eight.
And of course, we ran to the curb whenever the fire siren went off. It was loud and it seemed to cycle forever. With the windows open on a warm summer night you could hear a siren from a fire station ten miles away. It would wake me up out of a dead sleep, trying to figure out the direction and thus the firehouse it was coming from.
Read the rest of the blog at: www.tigerschmittendorf.com
Tiger Schmittendorf is chairman of FASNY’s Recruitment and Retention Committee and serves the County of Erie Department of Emergency Services (Buffalo NY) as Deputy Fire Coordinator. He created a recruitment effort that doubled his own fire department’s membership and helped net 525+ new volunteers countywide. A frequent presenter on the subjects of leadership, incident management, safety, recruitment and retention, he is a Nationally Certified Fire Instructor and has been a firefighter since 1980. Visit his blog at www.tigerschmittendorf.com.
Almost every firefighter I meet speaks of how they always knew, from the time they were a very young boy or girl – that they wanted to be a firefighter.
I was one of those kids. I call them the “run to the curb” kind of kids.
The Evans Center Fire Hall (as we called it) was just down Bennett Road and around the corner on Route 5, maybe a few hundred yards away from my house, as the crow flies. Closer than that was the rear entrance to the sixteen acres of fire company property, directly across the street from our driveway.
Growing up so close to the firehall, it was an obvious choice as a place to hang out with my friends. We played baseball on the ball fields the fire company leased to the Little League for a dollar a year. We helped out at and patronized the carnivals and other fund-raising events. When the fire company added on a large banquet hall in 1971, we helped the contractors move supplies and materials. My initials are carved in the concrete sidewalk they poured. I was eight.
And of course, we ran to the curb whenever the fire siren went off. It was loud and it seemed to cycle forever. With the windows open on a warm summer night you could hear a siren from a fire station ten miles away. It would wake me up out of a dead sleep, trying to figure out the direction and thus the firehouse it was coming from.
Read the rest of the blog at: www.tigerschmittendorf.com
Tiger Schmittendorf is chairman of FASNY’s Recruitment and Retention Committee and serves the County of Erie Department of Emergency Services (Buffalo NY) as Deputy Fire Coordinator. He created a recruitment effort that doubled his own fire department’s membership and helped net 525+ new volunteers countywide. A frequent presenter on the subjects of leadership, incident management, safety, recruitment and retention, he is a Nationally Certified Fire Instructor and has been a firefighter since 1980. Visit his blog at www.tigerschmittendorf.com.
Add a Comment
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Comment by Tiger Schmittendorf on September 8, 2009 at 10:16am
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Thanks Bill -
I don't have a problem with those looking for "what's in it for me."
We just need to get better at promoting all the great positive things that are in it for them. And we need to demonstrate those benefits with the same passion and enthusiasm that have come to us as a benefit of being associated with the greatest job in the world.
Stay safe. Train often.
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Comment by Bill Brierton on September 8, 2009 at 10:04am
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Now a days there is no siren. There used to be. If I didn't hear it the wife did. If we didn't hear it the dogs certainly did. Now a days its all pagers and of course it depends on their range. When my old department had a siren I could tell ours from the other "downtown" station.
It's hard to figure out how to get more people to join when a majority are looking for a pay check or what's in it for me. I have no problems with somebody becoming a career fire fighter but in many areas there are volunteer fire departments who need every able, knowledgeable, body they can get.
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She changed her name. It's now Kali...
I know what you meant.
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Comment by LadyChaplain on September 7, 2009 at 5:59pm
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I miss the siren :-(
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You're not alone Joe -
Now we just need to figure out how to get more people to join us...
Stay safe. Train often.
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Comment by Joe Stoltz on September 6, 2009 at 10:56pm
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Wow. I thought I was the only one who ran to the corner to see where the fire trucks were going. When the local siren cranked up I went to the front porch to watch the firemen coming down the street with their blue lights blinking. As I got older I could pedal my bike up to a corner where I could see where the trucks were headed.
I could tell by the sound of the siren which fire department was activated. On a quiet night I could hear fire companies in Amherst, Cheektowaga, and Tonawanda Town. Some of them had different horn and siren sounds for fire and first aid, as EMS was called back in the day. I could also hear the Federal Qs on the Buffalo FD rigs.
At work I still try to (discreetly) run to the window to see where Rochester's Quint 4 is going.
Gee, I don't feel so alone now, Tiger. Thanks a million! :o)
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