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I have a question and any volenteer agancy can anwser. When my pager goes off for a call I have problems of being released from work to respond to the calls. The biggest share of the crew work out of town and I'm the only one who works in town. We have a big response area, so the question how can I convence my boss that I have to respond. If someone could give me some advice on what to do. Thanks.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Robert Eichenberg on
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I am in somewhat the same situation, I am one of just a couple guys that work in town. I have worked at two shops in town and I worked out an agreement in advance with both employers. I only leave for major calls (structure fires, mva, large woods/grass fires) and will come back into work and make up the time if needed. Ultimately, your day job pays the bills and being that you work for someone else it affects their bottom line as well, so try to make an agreement but remember what needs to come first.
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Permalink Reply by sean lindsey on
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Thank you Robert for your reply, but i've already tried to make agreement with my employer, but with the recent situation at work where one side of the business was on fire and being threaten to be shut down because of deisel and gsaline barral next to the building I propablly won't have any problem, but thank you for your reply.
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Permalink Reply by Don Catenacci on
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I once had an employer who wanted to make the policy that no one left for fire calls. I went in and tried to explain why it was important for us to go. He was having no part of it. I said "Okay, but understand this. If this place catches fire we will all be standing across the street with the rest of the employees, not fighting the fire." He said "You can't do that!" I said "if we can't fight nyone else's fire we can't fight yours." He shook his head and said "Just punch out before you leave."
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Permalink Reply by Jim Conrad on
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I am very fortunate to be self employed. The decision to go is completely mine. I have heard people around here use the same reasoning as Don used to varying effect. We have a POC ambulance and all volunteer fire dept. in my town. Same as the town down the road. The town down the road has a lot of trouble with employers not letting the ambulance crews go. Some have had luck trying to reason, some have not. It is very hard for me to agree with employers who do not let volunteers go. I would try to respectfully persuade your employer. Let them know that they may need your services someday and if someone else's employer feels the same way your boss does, they might be out of luck. Good luck.
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Permalink Reply by Norm Tindell on
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Hopefully you can make an amicable agreement with your boss that will allow you to respond to calls. If not, remember where your paycheck comes from. I am now retired, but when I was working full time I promised my boss I would never leave work when I was doing something essential to the operation and would return as quickly as possible if I did respond to a call. He went along with that.
We have a policy at our department: The best reasons not to respond to calls are work, school, family and church (not in any particular order). Your work comes first.
Be nice to your boss and good luck.
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I would like thank all of you for your response. With the recent fire at work and how much damage it did, I think he is propablly going to change his mind. I work for a greenhouse in my town and when they had the fire, they almost lost there product, because of the fire being close to the greenhouse. so thanks for the response, If anyone would still like to reply to the question fell free to do so.
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Sorry to hear about the fire at the nursery, but glad your boss had a taste of reality. Sometimes we have to place our hand on the stove before we're convinced it's hot!
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I have 2 qeustions ... 1 I will be moving to a city and I would like to know if it is hard to go from a volunteer firefghter to a full time fighter, and ... # 2 I would to become a engine boss for our Dept. what training do I have to do.
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(1) Yes. Depending on which city you apply to you will have to complete an academy in the department or in the state and compete with others for a position. Knowledge and physical stamina both play big roles in the process.
(2) Start with NWCG S-130/S-190/I-100 Basic Wildland Firefighter, get at least 2 years of experience doing that on any seasonal state or federal crew, move up to S-131 Advanced Wildland Firefighter and get at least 2 years on an engine crew...then complete Single Resource Boss and Engine Boss training and the ENGB task book. Wildland fire academies in Arizona and Colorado are widely known for excellence. Consult with your local training officer.
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