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What do I do?? (Town 800 People) 50-60 fire calls last yr. I think
I’ve been a Volunteer 1.5 yrs I just got my FF1. Some on my department think FF1 is a waste of time, But done the class I think the rest of the department should make time to do FF1 class It is worth the time, in VT it is 147hr long with a practical and written exam. They think if your ears get hot back up, Old school, back woods, do what works. My K4 Asst. Chief 2 yrs on the department (He was voted as K4) he has seen 1 "type 5 structure fire" and it was out before he got out of the truck.
If at a fire sene if it is just K4, me, and 2 others (Do I listen to him? I would not feel safe knowing he dose not have the experience to command a fire sene.)
Do I listen to his command?
If at a fire sene if it is just K4, me, and 2 others (Do I listen to him? I would not feel safe knowing he dose not have the experience to command a fire sene.)
Do I listen to his command?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on
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Here is my take on classes.
They are important. They will widen your base.
However; don't saturate yourself with classes. You won't get all that you can out of them.
Take a class. Give yourself time to apply it and then take another class.
Don't "take everything you can". You will have difficulty retaining it.
Listen to the older guys and if it isn't contrary to what you learned, then let them have their say.
You don't get hurt and they feel a little respect.
TCSS.
Art
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Permalink Reply by reece on
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I agree that any class you take is worth it, and as for not trusting your K4, you need to follow the chain of command and let somone know that. Dont wait till you get to a scene to go against his decision, cause that is when the public will see this and then its to late to fix and then you know who will be to blame.
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Permalink Reply by turk182 on
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We use to have that in our department and we decided to redo our by-laws and and made a training officer and also made it so classes are brought up at the meeting and the training officer sets it up.
Because we would ask for classes and it was hard to get any of the one we wanted set up.
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Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on
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Well let me put it this way....Your Department better have great insurance on everyone...if you are fighting interior attacks and no-one has at LEAST FF1 then it is a matter of time until someone is seriously hurt or killed...not if it will happen but rather when...Unfortunately for you yes, you should follow the Chief's orders...He is the man....or rather the one that will pay for something stupid down the road....it wasn't long ago that a Chief actually went to prison for manslaughter because a Firefighter got killed ay a fire...Unless your department is like one we used to deal with....their idea of fighting a fire is to drive up and shoot water in the windows...."cellar savers".....My advice....find another Department to work with.....Stay safe, train hard...and remember to keep the faith......Paul
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Permalink Reply by ASSTCHIEF173 on
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Try to , But the main thing is make sure you go home alive... Try to redue your bylaws to make it so everyone has to have at least FF1 to go into fires.
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Permalink Reply by firechief911 on
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# 1 who put this guy in charge ? Was he the most qualifed to be asst chief ? To be in charge of a secine would be one thing. But your sop's should require that to be an asst chief he have at least some kind of officer training or schooling or experance . Maybe the chief should have yours and others concern brought up to him . Maybe how he got there was a buddy thing . Be carefull dont shoot your self in the foot. On the other hand i have not been through ff1 but have been through first responder /sar/ emer driving /extracation 1/2 /pump opps /cpr aed/instructor 1/ thats just what i can remember i have had much more . I can not take off my day job for 7 weeks to go through rookie school or ff1 . I have been in many structure fires and would never instruct anyone to do what i hadden done in the past . Every situation is diffrent you have to read the secine quick and accurate . Never think we had one just like this last month no 2 are ever the same . Make sure you protect yourself talk to the chief .
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Permalink Reply by roy yoder on
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FIREFIGHTER 1? not to discourage you but you haven't gotten to the starting blocks yet with 1.5 yrs. its a good start and if you stop training you need to quit the service. i started in 1980 in Va. and had a thick folder of training being both paying {vol.} and paid when i moved to Ga. and they would only reconize module one. so i started all over again. in that time frame i had to forget some of the training because of the changes in techonolgy but the fire service is always changing. had the same thing happened to me in Ga. to the point that i was told by my chief that was voted in and did not even have mod 1 the very basic class required for firefighters in Ga. that fires burn different in the county than they do in the city and i need to leave my city firefighting in Va. turns out that the bylaws were not being followed for elections and other matters and when i talked to a few others and that changed he no longer was chief. this took about 4 years so hang on for the ride. in that time i still had to listen to his command and if you watch you will see that the majority of the time these men will command to their level of training and be in a defensive mode. SAFE. just to give you an idea of what it was like, i had a couple try to throw me off the dept. because two of us placed a 200 foot preconnect on 2nd due engine. we had went to the chief (the one that replaced the 1st one) and he give the ok but they contended that they didn't vote on it and we needed throwed off. i have fought for years for LDH and only have it on one dept. and that chief says its not because of friction loss but for ISO rating. does it matter? we still have it. you see training is a dangerous item to play with. IT WILL CHANGE YOU EVERY TIME. and command is a very lonely place with a lot of responsiblity, accepted or not, so respect the position and try to become his friend and learn what you can from him for if you ask him for advice he will be more receptive to you. you don't have to use his advice but by building his ego you will gain great jumps into the others in the dept. also. I KNOW THIS I DID IT BOTH WAYS. lol roy
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Permalink Reply by Blane Lee on
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I dont really want to tell you what to do but if it were me I wouldnt look at it as I know more than you because I have training but if you dont feel safe listening to him then be careful but if you dont listen to him and do something wrong then you better be able to have everything in order to explain your self or even if you dont listen to him and you dont then you need to be able to say this is why....
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Permalink Reply by Christopher J. Naum, SFPE on
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Go to the NIOSH web site, (http://www.cdc.gov/NIOSH/FIRE/) start reading through the FF LODD reports...see how "training" plays a mission critical role in LODD and injuries REGARDLESS of rural, suburban and urban settings. Go to these sites also and see how and why training is so important..
http://www.firefighternearmiss.com/
http://www.firefighterclosecalls.com/
http://www.iafcsafety.org/
Also, Michele's earlier post on the National Fire Academy (VIP) Volunteer Incentive Program.program offers; http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/nfa/resident/vip/index.shtm Check that out...great opportunities.
Bottom line...training is crucial IF you're serious about the profession of firefighting, (large of small, vol or career)...Work through your system...watch your back and stay safe....and take the FFI class, its a great starting point for a long and safe fire service career................
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Permalink Reply by The T MAN! on
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I look at it like this.... NOTHING you learned in FF1 class/cert is useless knowledge. The reason they make such certification is to further your knowledge in basic fire ground ops and safety. I think it should be mandatory for ALL departments... VOL OR PAID .. to have atleast FF1. IN my department (which is a paid department. Run about 30,000-40,000 calls a year on average) we came out of rookie school with FF2. Now as far as whether or not to listen/carry out the commands of your very "unexperienced" chief is a tuff one. Considering you have a higher level of training, i would listen to what He has to say... and add it to what you know and come up with a solution. But thats definitely a tuff one.
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Permalink Reply by Robert Owens on
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Anyone who tells you that taking a class is a waste of time is a moron and should be treated as such.....The fire service is an ever changin proffesion (it is a proffesion volunteer or career) and the only way to do it right is to constantly educate yourself and pass your knowledge along to those who may not know it.
That being said these less than educated individuals are in charge (doesn't it always seem to go that way) so you have to listen to them unless the order is unsafe, illegal, or imoral.
Good luck brother and keep fighting the good fight.
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