FireLink

Well I went from living at the Fire Department. The only life I had to, only being able to be there once or twice a week as a volunteer. I went from teaching many classes to not having the time to be there at all.Has it bothered me....Oh Ya! What can I do ....the best I can. I now have a full time plus job and a family to be there for. Is there a difference betwen Career and Volunteer. I don't really think so. We both have second or third jobs and families that want our time. We all need to train like our lives depend on it. We respond to the same calls. I want to count on them as much as they count on us. We are all Brothers and Sisters looking to do the same job. Fixing the Emergencies that Joe Public provides us. Just remember the emergency has already happened we are only there to do the best we can to make it better.

Be safe and stay strong.....count on each other no mater what your title is....a title is only words....we are all fellow brothers and sisters 

All firefighting is a career!  It's not just a 'job' but more of a 'calling'.  It makes no difference whether you receive a paycheck or not.  All firefighters essentially do the same thing and that is respond to and clean-up after John Q. Public's mistakes.

For who I am, I have always been one that has always wanted to help people in some way or another. I started out in trying to be an EMT, but gee the states just have to make it so hard in order to become one. So I then went on to be a FF. There are just some things that we are not meant to be, and an EMT wasn't meant for me. I am cool with that, but I still keep all of that training fresh in my mind so that way I can still be of assistance to the EMT's on auto accidents. From there I went on to be a certified nurses aid (CNA) working in nursing homes. I did that from 99 to 04. Things changed in my life that brought me to where I am now. I work for my aunt and I also live with her, trying my best to keep her independent with her MS. Not an easy job at times, but just one thing that I never want to see is one of my own family members go to a nursing home. But all together I juggle everyday, being a mom, a caregiver, home maker, FF, and a wife. There are days that it isn't easy, but it is what I love to do, That is all that matters. However there are so many runs that I end up missing because I am so busy, but I catch the ones that I can.

But the reason that I have told you all of that is for this that I hope that I don't make anyone mad on this part. But there are some that call being a FF is a calling, I can't say that it is. See I could have a career in graphic arts and printing, had a job offer and all, but things didn't fall together to where that I could. I didn't have a car, and didn't have the money to have an apartment. My heart was more in taking care of people, being there for people, and mostly being there for my family. I don't think that it is a calling, it is all in just who we are. How can one call it a calling when it has been in our blood the whole time? I can't, because for me I was just following my heart, and where my heart wanted me. Then also it is more of doing all that we can do in keeping our hearts happy, and continuing to fulfill all of our dreams. It is just who we are. career or volunteer?? No different, both the same.

I came to respect firefighters thru falling in love with a firefighter from Michigan, which is why i joined this site, to get a better understanding of what u guys and girls do, despite the fact that i am in UK and dont have firefighters in my family anywhere!

so i guess u cud call me a volunteer cos its not MY career! but i respect u guys and gurls to the max!

I was a 'two hatter' for a very long time.  I loved being able to make a living at something I loved doing.  Those that call us for help really don't care if we arrive with all volunteers, all career, or a mixture, as long as we are capable of performing the job at hand.  Whoever is ready, willing, and able to 'watch my back'  is my brother or sister, career or volunteer.

I have been privledged to be both a vollie and a paid firefighter in my career.  I've been burned and hurt doing both.  In my eyes the ONLY difference is the pay check.  I loved being a paid firefighter, of all my different occupations it was my favorite by far.  It also provided the most sleepless nights that weren't due to calls.  I worried from Oct to Dec every year when it was budget time.  We all do this for various reasons but the gear we wear and use is all the same. We all jump when the bells hit, get our gear on, jump on the rigs and go to work.  BOTTOM LINE!

Axe621 says ...

All firefighting is a career!  It's not just a 'job' but more of a 'calling'.  It makes no difference whether you receive a paycheck or not.  All firefighters essentially do the same thing and that is respond to and clean-up after John Q. Public's mistakes.

 

I agree with Axe - unfortunaly not all departments feel the same.  My department is a mixed career and volunteer group.  We Volunteers are truely second class citizens.  Alot like buffallo soldiers in the civil war, they will use us but were really not recognized for a whole bunch.

No rank - Union ensure we are shut out of filling seats where paid guys might want it - secondary to all training requiring funding - behind paid guys - no uniform allowances, boot allowances, etc etc.  Basically an aprentice could tell a 10 year volunteer what to do simply because he is paid.   

So choose carefully, if you are with a department that values volunteers and give you what you are looking for go for it.  If you want to make a full time just as fantastic. My take is we call burn and bleed the very same way.  The public doesnt know the difference, the danger doesnt change so we shouldnt treat Paid of Volunteer FIREFIGHTERS any different. 

I'm Curretnly a volunteer with my city. Hopefully to become paidin the next couple of months

IF IT WASNT FOR ALL THE VOLUNTEER'S IN THIS WORLD WE SURE WOULD BE IN BAD SHAPE IF WE HAD TO DEPEND ON PAYROLL PPL IF ITS FIREFIGHTERS OR EMS OR JUST HELPING HAND

dhernandez  YOU SAID IT LIKE IT IS 'AMEN' ON ALL WHAT YOU SAID

Our department is a combination. Our department covers 440 square miles and we have 8 stations. 18 of us are paid to protect our citizens and are assigned to station 1. The other seven stations are manned with volunteers. All i can say for the rest of the 100 firefighters within our department is that there is no way 18 of us can protect our vast area without them volunteering their time to assist their communities. God bless them. I started as a volunteer with the department 15 years ago and was blessed to be hired on after two years of volunteer service. I wish we could pay everyone for their service that they provide.

I am on a volunteer department, and I like it, I don't think that I would do it if I got paid, I do it because I want to help others,I actually signed up because my husband was on it and was gone all the time, so instead of being the one complaining about it, I joined up with him and it's worked out great. We like help others and like to be together and work together and we make a great team. So, I'm lucky, I know that doesn't work for everyone but it does for us. I also think that it's great that people get paid to go out and risk their lives for others, it's worth more then they will ever get, their rewards will be in heaven.

Its not our emergency it's theirs so all be safe and God Bless all!

I too am a volly.  I read all of the responses and am essentially in agreement with everyone.  But there is one point that no one seems to have made and that is, WHY there are still volunteer fire departments.  We still exist because of one simple reason: Economics.  With at least 75% of all fire departments being all volunteer, it is because the economics of all of those towns are such that it simply is not possible to support a full-time paid department.  Estimates vary but roughly, to man one house 24/7/365 would cost about $750,000 per year.  That does not include the building, apparatus, gear or training, just the wages and benefits (here in CT the cost might actually be much closer to one million dollars).

Volunteerism is a long-standing tradition in this country, with many of today's larger cities having started out with an all volunteer dept.  Demographics change and it is no longer feasable to provide adequate fire protection relying (soly) on volunteers.  The switch from volunteer to paid is simply a reflection of changing times and demographics for any given town or city.  It has never had anything to do with the abilities of the volunteers.

In my town we run about 700 calls a year, no EMS.  We get on average about 2 structures per year.  At present there is no justification to support a paid department so long as we are able to put up the necessary manpower for each call.  So when you think about it, besides the obvious 'paid' component, the major difference between volly and career is one of call numbers.  And EMS is a huge part of most career departments and an equally huge part of their total yearly run numbers.  Having said that, there are areas, such as Prince Georges County MD that have some of the busiest departments in the country, and are all volunteer.  Yet could those areas support a full-time department?

So those of us that are vollys, we do it because we love it and we do it because it HAS to be done.  Look at the lists when career departments are hiring, 100's or 1,000's of initial applicants.  In fact the only drawback to full staffing is.....economics.  How many firefighters can or will the city support?  On the other hand, volunteer departments can support as many as they can get, it's the getting part for us that limits our numbers. 

The only thing I would like to see would be an understanding between the volunteer and career side that recognizes that probably the best people for the career side are those that come from the volunteer side.  We hire them, train them, give them valuable job experience and create a man-power pool of ready and willing candidates for the career departments.  If the career side recognized that, then volunteer departments would have a lot more people involved as we would be the direct route to the career side.

While we will always see volunteer departments go combi or paid, there will always be volunteer departments. It's a fact of life (and economics).  I think most career side FF's have no issue with the volunteer side and today a lot of those guys have been or are still in volunteer depts.  As the old dinosaurs (the guys my age) retire out a lot of the attitude will disappear with them.

I would be a double dipper as well. I am a federal firefighter for Veterans Affairs and I am a volly at another dept, and day crew at yet another. but I will agree fire doesn't care about job title. We are all in this togeher playing the same game. No one person is better than the next due to title.

rgaylor says ...

 

I AM A FIREFIGHTER...if you take my pay check away I will still do MY JOB to the best of my abilities. If you are on my fireground I will not leave you behind. We are all doing the same work. If you make 12 calls a year or 60,000 remember every time you pull the apparatus out the door you are representing your organization, your friends, your family, us. Give the customers the best possible care that you can provide.

 

Right on brother! Right on!