Fireman???

Question

Do you think VOLUNTEER DEPTS. are adequete?

Answer 1

I am both a career firefighter and a volunteer firefighter. I think with all the requirements that are being placed on us these days it is getting much harder to be a volunteer. A little about my volly dept... When I started in 1989 we ran only fire call(house fires, brush fires, car crashes etc.) Back then we ran about 350 calls a year. Over the years we have added more services, such as EMS to keep up the communities demands. With the addition of EMS is pushed our run total close to 1700 calls a year. About 10 years ago we had to supplement our service with 8 hr a day paid people to keep up. Eventually, the daytime firefighters became 24 hr a day staff. I can't speak for every community but I know that it is getting much harder to meet our volunteer commitment here. I hate it because my VFD saved me from trouble when I was younger and it gave me a career that I love now that I am older. I whole heartily encourage anyone to support their VFD... If you are like me you will turn around and the next thing you know 18 of the best years of your life have passed. So I guess my answer would have to Yes I think a VFD is adequate in the right community.

Answer 2

Whether or not a volunteer department can provide adequate protection totally depends on the needs of the community and how the volunteer department is managed.

In many small communities, the traditional volunteer fire department model provides more than enough protection. By this, I mean that call volume is low enough that members of the community can leave their work or home to handle calls without undue burdon and without sacrificing response times. It's important that call volume is low enough to prevent burnout, which will hurt the number of volunteers that will respond to calls.

As communities grow, they must keep pace with that growth in the services they provide. Often, this means adding career firefighters. This doesn't mean that the volunteers weren't good enough, it simply means that the system in place couldn't keep up. This is common across the country.

Some volunteer departments find new and innovative ways to maintain involvement of members, get apparatus on the road quickly and handle a large number of responses. One way that VFDs accomplish this is by having duty nights, live-in members and by building clubhouse facilities to bring members to the station to hang-out so they can be ready to respond when dispatched.

So, to answer your question, if volunteer departments can provide enough people to handle an emergency and they can do it in a timely manner, than they are very much adequate. However, if they cannot meet those goals, then alternatives must be explored.

Answer 3

Volunteers in such fire departments are outstanding people. I have known a bunch. That said, here in Pennsylvania the public does not adequately support their fire departments. Also, disreputable sorts find items such as portable flashing lights relatively easy to get, allowing them to impersonate emergency personnel.

I grew up on the west coast where fire departments are strongly funded by taxes and personnel are well paid and receive good benefits. I like to see such strong public support.

Again, this is not a comment on the people who do volunteer. They are great!

Answer 4

They have been for a long time. I've always thought that volunteers are more dedicated to their work since they are willing to do it for free.

Answer 5

yes i do i was on one for 4 or 5 years and we did just fine we did the same work and the same training and had the same tools and it was real fun I'm thinking of joining up again