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How far would you go.
If offered a position on a on-call dept. how far would you move? I've been told not to chase a job that it will come to you, but the dept i'm looking at is amazing. great brotherhood(and sister) for me its not about the money or "toys". I have been to this dept several times over the past month and they made me feel like i was a member even just as a visitor. From Cheif 1 to the "newest" FF they are a great Dept.
This is more of a conversation thread because i've made my choice but i am curious what the community would do.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kyle Compton on
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Jack the fact that you have no respect for POC/Volunteer FF blows my mind. for everyone who thinks less of POC/Volunteer you should be ashamed of yourselves. POC FF are doing the exact same things and putting their lives on the line for far less compensation than those FT. You are a disgrace to the fire service if this is how you truly feel and act.
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Permalink Reply by Timothy John Dodson on
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Perhaps Jack needs to be reminded that the vast majority of fire departments in this country are volunteer as opposed to paid/career departments. For a person (especially another FF) to denigrate volunteer FF's and volunteer fire departments is just plain wrong. Our dedication to duty and community service is every bit as passionate as that of any paid/career department, and so is our level of professionalism.
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- 1,190,000 personnel
- 48,800 fire stations across the country
- 8 percent are career
- 5 percent are mostly career
- 16 percent are mostly volunteer
- 71 percent are volunteer
- Almost 845,000 of the 1,190,000 are Volunteer.
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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Jack the fact that you have no respect for POC/Volunteer FF blows my mind. for everyone who thinks less of POC/Volunteer you should be ashamed of yourselves. POC FF are doing the exact same things and putting their lives on the line for far less compensation than those FT. You are a disgrace to the fire service if this is how you truly feel and act.
Perhaps Jack needs to be reminded that the vast majority of fire departments in this country are volunteer as opposed to paid/career departments. For a person (especially another FF) to denigrate volunteer FF's and volunteer fire departments is just plain wrong. Our dedication to duty and community service is every bit as passionate as that of any paid/career department, and so is our level of professionalism.
I don't have to speak for Jack, he is quite capable of that on his own, but I would implore both of you to look back at past discussions as well as look at THIS discussion from the practical aspect, not an emotional one. Both of you delved into the emotional side and jumped to conclusions without looking at the practical sense.
Look at the question being posed..."how far would you go?".....to be part of a POC dept. There is nothing else tendered to the question, no other details nor aspects to consider except just to be part of something that is not a fulltime job, nor perhaps even an educational program towards a degree etc. So looking at the question from a practical standpoint, what does this look like to you? Can you not see how the hobby term or groupie term could not be also viewed?
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I'll give you some more info. I am already almost a year into a 2 year Fire Science Degree and also taking EMT program.
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The point of the matter is given the original question, the only details given entailed essentially relocating just for a POC dept. There was nothing about a primary job, nor education, etc. Instead it really did sound like the ONLY reason to relocate was because how one was "impressed" with a particular POC dept. Given the original question, you seen many responses of not moving at all and then you got Jack's view, of which you took an emotional response to.
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Permalink Reply by Jim Conrad on
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I could see myself moving given the right set of circumstances, none of which are an option for me. I belong to a vol. dept that is pretty progressive, no we dont train as much as I like but we are fairly active. Having said that, if I did not have a career (farm and ranch) and instead had a "job" I could see myself moving to a more active paid on call dept. Might be a good option to be going to school, having a job and and being part of a progressive POC dept. I could see that combination of things possibly lead to a full time gig if one was interested. The decisions I made as a younger man kind of make it difficult for me to move. I did not know how much satisfaction the fire service would provide for me when I bought a farm eight years ago. At least it is a worth while hobby.
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Permalink Reply by Don Catenacci on
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Jim,
Firefighting is NOT A HOBBY! Man that just chafes my ass to hear people say that. The risks, the danger, the fires are all the same whether you are paid or not and frankly anyone that looks at it as a hobby probably doesn't take it seriously enough.
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You're right. It is not a hobby, it is a calling.
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I agree with you 100 perent Don. It was just a misguided attempt to poke a little fun at Jack. I had a chat with the Chief of our dept the other day. We are both farmers/ranchers and we seem to have about the same level of dedication to the fire service. I asked him if he was a farmer who fights fire or a firefighter who farms. We both agreed it was the latter. We both feel a little guilty about that and we will have to square that with our spouses and children someday. So, yes I whole heartedly agree with you Don, I just could not help myself. Some of us consider ourselves professionals even though we dont get paid, so yeah, kinda chafes my backside too.
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Jim,
Being both a career firefighter and a volly/POC FFx2 gives me the perspective from both sides. I am a professional whether it is my livelihood or volunteering in the area I live. To me pay status is irrelevant to attitude and professionalism.
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