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Do you have to buy your own gear?
After talking to a few ff's on this site, some were saying that they had to buy their own bunker gear. I was really surprised to hear this seeing as I was outfitted with a full set of gear when I was put on my dept. Now of course, I have changed some of my gear in these last two years. New gloves, radio strap, leather boots (although the dept. paid for the boots) etc... you get the idea. I dont mean stuff like that... I mean your original set of basic gear. Did you have to buy it?
Granted the gloves and boots I started with were not great but I was able to safely combat a fire.
Do you think its a good thing that a ff would have to buy his/her own gear?
On one hand, when someone buys their own gear, they realize how much it all costs and therefore may take care of it better. On the other, people that want to be ff's may not be able to simply because they cannot afford to buy a full set of gear. A new set can get awful expensive. 500-800 for pants 800-1500 for a jacket 250-800 for a helmet 150-400 for boots. Nomex, gloves etc... your looking at an easy few thousand dollars
Granted the gloves and boots I started with were not great but I was able to safely combat a fire.
Do you think its a good thing that a ff would have to buy his/her own gear?
On one hand, when someone buys their own gear, they realize how much it all costs and therefore may take care of it better. On the other, people that want to be ff's may not be able to simply because they cannot afford to buy a full set of gear. A new set can get awful expensive. 500-800 for pants 800-1500 for a jacket 250-800 for a helmet 150-400 for boots. Nomex, gloves etc... your looking at an easy few thousand dollars
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by paula beckham on
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all of our gear is supplied and maintained by the service
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Permalink Reply by Timothy Ricks on
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If I had to buy my own gear i guess i'll would be running into put out a fire with shorts, t-shirt, and shoes, with a hat on backwards and most likely not come back out due to the fact i can't afford the gear we are issued. So thank God that i'm at a dept that has gear for me
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Permalink Reply by Jim on
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Requiring firefighters to purchase their own gear - sounds somewhat illegal to me....NJ has laws requiring the employer to provide all necessary protective necessary to safely to the job, which applies to any job with recognized hazards. I would be surprised if most, if not all, states didn't have something similar.
I've been with departments that wouldn't allow a member to bring in his/her own equipment unless they essentially "registered" it with the department, so the department knew they had it and were aware that it met applicable OSHA/NFPA/NIOSH requirements. This is mainly for the dept's protection in case the firefighter was injured and the non-issue equipment was a factor...
Oh, and the law applies to all employees, paid or volunteer - regardless of paycheck, you are an employee.
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Permalink Reply by Bill on
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I think it is crazy that someone would have to provide their own gear. What kind of dept would make their employees buy there on gear. Sounds kinda shady of the side of the dept. I was issued gear when i was hired and they replace things as they wear out ( under normal use). Now I could see the dept making you pay for something because you didn't take care of it but not right out of the gate.
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Permalink Reply by Dustin J. Millis on
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Thnx for all the comments guys... yeah buying your own gear sounds a little shady to me too. Again, thats why I was suspicious when I heard some guys tell me thats what they had to do. Im not sure if that type of practice is illegal or not, however; I'm sure alot of the real small dept's around the country are doing quite a few things that arent exactly legal or OSHA/NFPA compliant
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Permalink Reply by Anita King on
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We do not have to buy our own gear. We are issued full gear by the dept. New members wear the older black gear during their six month probation and then they are issued a set of the newer gear if they make the cut. You are expected to keep it clean and take care of it. All issued gear must be returned if you leave the dept.
If someone does not turn in the issued gear, then they would be required to reimburse the cost.
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