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Explorers/Jr’s Calling them selves Fire Fighters?
Maybe I am the only one who sees it this way but am I the only one who gets rubbed the wrong way when these young kids who are on an explorer post. walk around claiming to be fire fighters. I mean don’t get me wrong I think explorer posts are a great program. I used to belong to one, and it helped me a lot. But you but your butt, if any of the members of the department heard an explorer refer to them selves as a fire fighter and not an explorer that your butt would be walking out of the station looking like an idiot in front of the entire department.
When I was an explorer, we didn’t get pagers or billboard T shirts with the department name. We were there to be seen and not heard. We were there to clean trucks, hand jack hose, clean the bay, incident reports ETC…. and if you proved that you were willing to shut up and learn maybe get to do some structural drills, auto extrication training, and class room training.
Yet when did the title of fire fighter just start getting passed around. I work for a paid department. I spent 14 weeks in the academy, I’ve spent the past 5 ½ years working 24on 24off training my butt off, running master alarms, EMS calls, auto accidents, and working fires. I did my one year probationary period cleaning toilets, mopping floors, stand-bys in the alarm room, stuck on OT during the holidays when every one else was at home with there family’s. I have earned my right along with many other great men and women to be called fire fighter, and half the time when people ask me what I do, I just tell them I work on the base, and leave it at that. I don’t want my back patted and told how good of a job I do. I don’t want people coming up to me and thanking me every Sept. 11th. I just want to go do my job, help people and come home to my family the next day. I don’t know maybe it’s just me.
I know this is probably going to make a lot of the posters mad cause from the grammer and spelling errors I see in most of these posts I would be willing to say about half the people who post on here are kids. So how do you feel about it?
When I was an explorer, we didn’t get pagers or billboard T shirts with the department name. We were there to be seen and not heard. We were there to clean trucks, hand jack hose, clean the bay, incident reports ETC…. and if you proved that you were willing to shut up and learn maybe get to do some structural drills, auto extrication training, and class room training.
Yet when did the title of fire fighter just start getting passed around. I work for a paid department. I spent 14 weeks in the academy, I’ve spent the past 5 ½ years working 24on 24off training my butt off, running master alarms, EMS calls, auto accidents, and working fires. I did my one year probationary period cleaning toilets, mopping floors, stand-bys in the alarm room, stuck on OT during the holidays when every one else was at home with there family’s. I have earned my right along with many other great men and women to be called fire fighter, and half the time when people ask me what I do, I just tell them I work on the base, and leave it at that. I don’t want my back patted and told how good of a job I do. I don’t want people coming up to me and thanking me every Sept. 11th. I just want to go do my job, help people and come home to my family the next day. I don’t know maybe it’s just me.
I know this is probably going to make a lot of the posters mad cause from the grammer and spelling errors I see in most of these posts I would be willing to say about half the people who post on here are kids. So how do you feel about it?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Christopher on
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I see that when the rest of the old timers started steping up the young bucks stoped posting. Come on now. Keep posting, I wana here what every one has to say.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Sullivan on
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I agree, I have seen some Juniors put in more time and effort in the FD than the Senior members. I have nothing but the best respect for our Juniors who have earned their right to stand right next to us as equals !!
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Permalink Reply by amanda on
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i understand where you are coming from but like in my deptment the jr firefighters are just that jr firefighters in training they still do hands on stuff they go to calls with us and help us out there if is an ems call or a structure fire they are there to help us out so at least with the kid in my deptment if they wanna call themselve firefighters is fine with me things may be different in ur deptment but this is just my opinion
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Yeah im at work right now so I realy dont have any thing better to do till the tones ring.
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Permalink Reply by Tony P on
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As with our poster from Canada - here we can have junior members, they don't set foot on the fireground, not at all. As soon as they turn 16 they can join as a full member and are then allowed to go to calls. Allowed to go to calls after they've finished basic wildfire training that is. No pager issue until initial traning is finished either. Nor proper PPE, and even then they get only wildfire PPE, structural PPE is issued after they've completed more training.
What are our juniors called? Junior Firefighters. The Explorer system doesn't exist; Scouts are Scouts, they can come and visit the Station.
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Permalink Reply by united 289..{Dave} on
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Chris. I really don't think you want to know what this old timer thinks. To me You are still a rookie that has a attuide that a few paid firefighters has that will get you bit. I said a few paid. I just hope you don't get a brother or sister hurt. I can say this because i have been all over the state of ohio. I have been in several paid departments. I have ran with paid departments as a rider for the experience. 99 % has a great attuide. Theres that 1 %. I have been in several states and visited many departments. Again 99% has a great attuide.
In the Volunteer service. We are glad to have the explorer, Jr, or cadet out on the scene to help with fire ground duties when safe to do so. Like changing out air bottles. Fill air Bottles. hooking to hydrants, Assisting at fill sites. Oh yea at the fill site we have the old firefighters. All duties of a firefighter. Or have you forgotten that? They do this as properly trained fire personal. They know what they are and are not allowed to do. So Why not call them firefighters? They are performing the duties.
With this attuide you are doing nothing but discourging them. They are our futher brothers and sisters. They may be someday the ones that might save your tail on a mutual aid call.
One other thing Chris. I know I have said some things they you may not wanted to hear. You did want to know what everyone thought. I leave you with this.
Thanks for your service.
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By all means, like I said earlier I don't have an attitude issue its just some thing that rubs me the wrong way. Kind of like when I come on duty and the pack straps are not pulled all the way out. It seams like every one is getting realy defensive about this issue.
And no sir, you comments are not offensive or hurtfull to me. I am a firm believer in listening to every ones comments and taking them into consideration. The hole conversation came up while talking to one of my crew members who also is a volley. They had an explorer running around town claiming to be a fire fighter, begging for discounts, stole some billboard shirts and was galavanting around town pretending to be some thing he was indead not.
On the note about me still being a rookie, I agree 100% I have 8 years as a full timer 1 year volley service before that and 5 years as an explorer. My father, my grand father and my great grand father were all fireman. And yes I do believe I am no were near being " one of the old timers" To be honest with you I believe that all fire fighters are in some way a rookie. For the simple fact, that the day you feel you don't need to learn, you don't need to train, you become a hazard to me and my crew, and you can walk out the door before you get me or one of my guys killed. So yes your comments and opinoins are noted and accepted as constructive critasisum SP? I would love to be able to sit down one day and pick your brain, some thing I tend to do a lot. And thank you for your service as well.
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Permalink Reply by Renee on
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Wow, this is quite a topic! I was an explorer in high school and that is what we were, we learned the ropes and if we were lucky we particpated in a drill or actually responded to a scene. And I feel that has brought me a long way into my thinking now. I am a second generation firefighter and even lost my oldest brother to LODD three years ago. That was one of the hardest things that I have dealt with in my fire/ems career. We have great group of junior firefighters, and I am proud to tell anyone that they are just that, firefighters. My guys train and have the certifications that all of the others have, only difference is that they are not able to leave high school and sit in the academy for 6 weeks. So they have the dedication to spend their evenings and weekends to be trained and they are required to complete the ems classes for their state license. There have been many times that they work side by side with the senior firefighters to pull mangled bodies out of cars. I think that credit should be given where it is due, they are not paid career firefighters. But that does not make them any less of an important part of the brotherhood. I wouldn't trust just anyone with my life but I know a few of my junior firefighters that I would have no problems with.
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I can certainly agree with You on the rookie commit. About in some ways we are all rookies. With the every day changing of way we fight fires we need to keep up with and training on new techiques.[I know that is not spelled right]. Example. The teaching of more defensives fire fighting instead of the traditional Offensive.
The fire explorer that was doing this. Should be dismissed from the service
I did not intend to be hurtful or offensive. I just wanted you to have something to think about.
You for sure have a good back ground for the fire service. Just being around with your family you have picked up and have alot of knowlege that most won't have statring out the way you are.
The attuide that i was getting was I am it. I am a professional. No one desreve to be called a firefighter unless you are in that class. But then again I have known Vol with that to.
I would be glad to chat with you.
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Oh no by all means I got my start in the volley service. I mean its always been a big running joke between my department and the volleys we run with. Im not saying its an issue of paid or volley, im saying the guys who are dieing, paid or not, the guys who are shoveling the body parts ETC. The stuff your not gona send a kid to go look at. Now mind you the defenition of kid is open to sugestion hell I got guys on my crew older then me I wouldnt trust unsupervised with a fork, but when I say kid I mean a young mid teens.
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Permalink Reply by meagen on
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Im a jr and i am proud to be one, and sometimes when im at school the kids will say why are you a fire fighter and i do tell them i am only a jr .
But why is it bad that i would want to call myself a real fire fighter i do just as much training if not more training than most of the members on the dept. i actually show up for fund raisers and i work them all day while everyone just sits around. and as for juniors going to calls and working them i dont see a problem with it cause my dept is a small rural volunteer dept and the members cant always come to every call, i mean i dont think we shoud just run into a structure fire but assisting the ones that do i think is ok. i go to MVA's and i am aloud to help but i just not anything to do with the people in the accidents.
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Your 2 cents which your entitled to but you aswell can not seem to take your blinfers off. If you had read the hole forum you would know what you were talking about.. Im not judging Jrs/Explorers. You just automaticaly jumped into a defensive mode. Read, Think, Post. Try that next time.
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