With the recent death of 17 year old Roy Smith III, a volunteer firefighter for McGayhesville and Shenandoah, VA, it raises the question of minimum age for full membership on fire departments.
So, what are some of the MINIMUM requirements for membership, including the age of the candidate?
And please take a moment to remember this young man whose dream was to work for FDNY.
TCSS.
Art
Thoughts and prayers to the family and friends. What a tragic situation.
Here in west Texas, our minimum age for Fire and EMS both is 21. But that is because of insurance rules for our city. They will not insure anyone under the age of 21 to drive a firetruck or ambulance. We have no Explorer groups here, we at one time had a Police Explorer group, but no longer. Also, our fire department is strictly volunteer, and our EMS is partially full time/partially volunteer.
And in a different country? In my State, a person can join as a firefighter at the age of 16, with written parental permission. From 16 to 18 they can train and perfom any task for which they are qualified, but this has to be with a qualified adult mentor. At 18, you are an adult.
Driving an appliance lights and sirens has extra rules, you must hold the relevant heavy vehicle licence and have been licenced for at least three years - as the age for driving in Victoria is 18, that means you'll be 21 before you can drive a vehicle with lights and sirens.
Art,
In OH, WV & KY the minimum age to be a certified firefighter is 18 yrs old. Cadets/Explorers/Junior members start at 14 or 16 yrs. One of our firefighters went through fire training @ the local vocational school. He wasn't of age yet but he had to wait until his 18th b-day to TEST.
So, I still haven't seen anyone come here and state that a person can be less than 18 years old.
Who allows 17 year olds to be full duty firefighters on their fire departments?
As Gonzo said: are we that desperate for firefighters that we need CHILDREN?
Question: in our discussions about worst calls, what is the hardest call to take? The answer is the one involving CHILDREN. So, you couple the fact that you have an LODD of a CHILD and what is that going to do to your firefighters?
I realize that age should be just one of the factors, but how many 17 year olds are emotionally strong enough to deal with what we have to deal with? How many of them can harness their adrenaline?
TCSS.
Art
In my little corner of the world an individual must be 14 years old and have permission from parents to join as a junior firefighter. Also an experienced firefighter must sponsor them. These young folks are very limited in what they may do. They can only ride in the enclosed part of the apparatus, no jump seats. They must maintain a 'C' average in school. If they fall behind then is bye-bye to the fire company until the grades are back up. Must be 18 to become a senior firefighter and 21 to drive apparatus, after appropriate training.