Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by willy952 on September 13, 2007 at 4:15pm

dude no matter what you do there will always be that all about me fire fighter in the company.

Permalink Reply by Bambi on September 26, 2007 at 3:29am

there is a great chance that we volunteer because we like to... if we didnt then what would be the point?? you can always tell when you go on calls whos in it for the name sake or whos in it because they love it! the ones in it just so they can say "im a firefighter" are the ones who do not show up for wrecks, fires, first responder calls, meetings or trainings.... i have been in my dept for a little over a year now, for about 9 months i wasnt able to go to trainings or meetings because of school, when i did get a chance to go to a meeting, i wouldnt know 1/3 of the people there... some of which i have never seen on any type of fire call or training...
maybe they should start making the ones who never show up for trainings or calls to show proof of where they were, (like work or something) all they are doing is wasting the depts equipment so that someone who is really interested in it cant do it....

Permalink Reply by Ray Crane on October 21, 2007 at 10:40pm

We put a clause in our by-laws that if you don't participate at a certain percentage of runs, meetings, training, and work sessions that you are available for then the Officers can put you on probation for 1st warning and evict you for 2nd offense. You have to be careful though because you have to make sure they were available and just didn't show up. Our policy says 70% and I make about 60% percent of the combined requirement. But I don't go to many work sessions because (A) I suck as a mechanic and (B) I spend a lot of hours every week coming up with new ways to get training set-up for the dept. As far as fire runs though, the only reason I miss runs is because of my work (I can't miss, be late or leave early).

Permalink Reply by Ray Crane on October 21, 2007 at 10:42pm

Besides GLORY HOUNDS tend to fade away when they are left out in the cold.

Permalink Reply by Scott on October 28, 2007 at 2:07pm

We have at least one of those glory hounds on our department. Funny thing is that everyone knows he's just there for the recognition. When they do show up for a call this person seems to find themselve the odd person out. They never show up to trainings, they make a few meetings (when the department provides dinners), rarely shows up for truck checks, and if they don't like the company level training they don't show up.

When comes to fire calls, they don't know which station to show up to. Which is not tough to figure out, when we have a report of a working fire, smoke alarm, or water flow alarm every station responds. If they read their SOG's or showed up to a meeting they would know that. I will admit this is sure is fun making fun of them. The best was when their instructor was at a training and they were fumbling around trying to connect a Storx fitting. The instructor told them that he would take back their certification if they didn't get the hose connected in a minute, after about fifty seconds they finally made the connection. It was a storx fitting for God's sake, its even better to watch them struggling to reload the quick connect, and them struggling to connect the male and female ends. Marbe that's why they are left to only get tools or stand in staging for the entire call. It's probably better that way!!

Thanks for the chance to reflect. I'm sure it affects every department, but it helps to get it off my chest.

Permalink Reply by Captain Hays on November 23, 2007 at 1:44pm

My department seems to have same issue that you all speak about. Not really want to complain about the firefighters that are glory hounds or the look at me guys and gals. I could complain for hours. Instead i would like to send A very BIG thank you, to you all that are volunteers, that leave your homes at 2:00am on that smoke call, or the minor injury car wreck that is in the rain at 4:00 am. That train for the big call that gets people killed.. Thank you all that dedicate your selves to the community you serve and the things you leave behind and miss out on to accomplish that feat. You are all hero's and my brothers, in my book.
Stay strong and safe.

Permalink Reply by Rhonda on November 27, 2007 at 2:10am

I know that our small department has them also. If have 30 members but you can only count on 10 to always be there. We have those that just got on the department so that they could have a radio so that they can be in everyones bussiness more than they already are. It is nice though to shove your way right past them because they stand there with a dumb look on their faces.

Permalink Reply by bgblackie28 on December 2, 2007 at 2:29pm

The Glory Runners is what we call them at our station.They are everywhere and they always will be around.Like it has been said on here......they WILL fade away.I LOVE being a VOLUNTEER.Besides,I have already made more at my job this year than a paid firefighter will make in 2 yrs in some places.Not bragging but,that "paid" job does not pay enough to do it.I work almost the same kind of shift they do and I get paid more.Don't get me wrong,they are still our Brothers and Sisters and I respect them too,but they don't get paid enough for what WE do for FREE.

Permalink Reply by gary doyle jr on March 29, 2008 at 9:55pm

I can't what for the call to help some one .My wife don't under stand why i would get p at 2am to go on a call i told her i love doing that job.

Permalink Reply by Alan Shaw on October 11, 2009 at 7:20pm

This is mostly a generational problem. That makes me feel old just typing that. Many of the newer members we are getting now, were raised with values like instant self gratification and challenging authority. These values directly contradict the history and traditions of the fire service.

Can these attitudes be changed? I am not sure. We have people who's parents and grandparents were the hippie radicals of the 1960's. I can not imagine getting away with some of the stuff these kids do or have done in school. Most of them do not see why we have rules at all, the few that do, see them as something to ignore or at least only follow when it is convenient.

This is what leads to the current run of Glory based members. The reason for joining wasn't to do something good for someone else, it was do do something good for themselves. Think about it, would we have been discussion paid per call, tax incentives, or volunteer benefits in our stations 20 or 50 years ago? The things that drive and motivated the previous generations are not the same as those that brought us our current crop.

Now this was not a sudden change. It was very gradual, however I can assure you that as much as I see it in those junior to me, those senior to me see it in me. The erosion has been like that old story of a frog in a pot of cold water, that will not notice being boiled alive.