Thinking of joining the local rural dept. Any advice? Recommendations?

 

It is very fun and can be rewarding. I joined because I like to help people. It is exciting going out on some calls where it is such a big incident it is in the newspaper. Sometimes, it can be a drag. Going to a party with your truck full of friends and your beeper going off for a call thats about 3 miles from where your at....can be a bummer Especially when the next closest guy is about 20 mins out . Although it's kinda cool because I have strobes and such on my truck and plan on getting a siren soon enough and my friends think it's pretty cool what I do. And it is cool to have on a college transcript or resume! Your local VFD should have "meetings" every so often. We have meetings on the 1st and 3rd monday of every month. We either do some training to keep the skills up to date or keep working on the station since county funds are in the crapper. Just last monday we pulled the Jaws of Life out of the squad vehicle (2005 F-550, very cool to drive with the lights and sirens blaring!) and learned how to use them, proper holding techniques, etc. If they have a meeting, go check it out. Keep us updated!

 

it is an addiction. I have been in 3 years going on 4. It truly is a brotherhood. Like Raptor said, just go to the local department and check it out.

 

let me ask you a question: why do you want to join the VFD?


if you are joining then plan on spending some long hours for very little thanks if any. join as a way to give back to the community and to help people out.


like those above me have suggested go to a couple meetings and talk to some the people who are on the dept spend a couple weeks hanging around watching, then decide if it's right for you.

 

There have been a few threads on this in the past, you may want to try a search for them.

I will too echo a few things people have said in this thread before me.

Do not join for the lights and sirens, it gets old after a few years. Do not join because you are an "adrenaline junky" and think that EVERY call you are going to be running into a burning house or be seen on the news cradling a baby in your arms as you exit an inferno. That also being said, firefighting is a TEAM SPORT, running around trying to do the "exciting" stuff cause somebody gets off on adrenaline will get you or someone else killed.

More often than not you will be re-setting false alarms, clearing out smoke from burnt food on the stove or helping Joe Citizen in some form that few would call "heroic."

You will have to have thick skin. Your first years with the Dept. will be filled with torture, ridicule, teasing, and practical jokes. This is normal and all part of being a "rookie." Don't worry, someday you can do the same to someone else.

You will have to be able to take orders and follow direction with precision. Hopefully the leaders of your dept. gained their rank due to knowledge and experience, not because they buy pizza and beer for everyone. These people will tell you what to do and how to do it, respect them and their tenure.

You may have to be a part of fund raising activities, like someone said, the "funds" are in the crapper. This includes, working bingo's, fish fry's, carnivals, raffles, etc... oh, and by the way, you dont get paid for this.

Sorry for all the doom and gloom, but, it is reality. As said before, this is a fraternal organization, one that it is a privilege to be a part of. There are times, few, but they exist, on when you truly do "save a life." But, we are not "hero's." Hero's do not come back to the fire house, if you know what I mean.

Here is a list of them, 93 to the date:
http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/applications...eath_year=2008

Click on their names and see how they died. Some with honor, some due to stupid and preventable reasons.

Get in shape, eat right, you can't help others if you can barely walk up the stairs of a house yourself. Wear your seat belt, drive with due regard. Driving like NASCAR in a fire engine has time and time again proven to be a deadly combination, you are of no help if you yourself are in a crash and therefore cause another emergency on top of the one you are responding to.

Again, I apologize for the reality, but it is what it is. I have seen many people come sign up and find out it isnt what they thought it would be and then leave, especially after 9/11.

Any questions, post them up, good luck with your decision.

 

my father was a volunteer firefighter for almost 40 years. he loved the job and helping the community. thats how my parents met mom was a e.m.t while she was attending nursing school and dad was a firefighter.

 

I was a volunteer firefighter back in NC before I joined the military and absolutely loved it. 3 am and you beeper goes off for a fully involved structure fire or vehicle accident with a pin in.. but like they said also there are some things you just never forget and some things you wish you could.

I went to a house fire one time and we ended up staying out there for a while but a few days later when I was walking around in walmart this lady came up to me and said, " arent you a volunteer firefighter that went to my house the other night?" so I told her I was and she told me thank you. That was probably the most memorable thing just to have somebody remember you and say thank you.

Good luck dude and definately keep us updated on how it goes

 

Thanks everyone for the comments. I'm going to proceed and see if they are interested in me. Only one way to find out if it's something I can do or enjoy or not. I'm not wanting to be a hero at all, but I do liking helping out when and where I can. I think this would be a great opportunity for me if I was accepted. I live right in the middle of the 90 square miles that the rural area covers. The link to the specific area I'm interested is: http://www.swfire.org/

I still need to get a copy of my drivers record and criminal record so I will have all the required info to turn in with my application. I will keep you updated as things proceed.

I didn't even realize that they would let a 'citizen' have lights and whatnot on their personal vehicles. I was under the impression you had to obey all the rules of the road until you get to the station and get to an official vehicle???

So, to check it out, I can just show up to the local station and ask them if I can attend a meeting sometime or just hang out and talk to the guys or whatever? Figured I would ask some questions when I turn in my application.

 

You do have to obey all the laws as you normally would....just because you put lights and sirens on your personal vehicle does not mean you can drive it like an emergency vehicle nor does it qualify as one. Just FYI.

 

That's what I thought. I guess I mis-understood an earlier post above. My bad-

 

Thats true. In reality, even a firetruck, or "fast-attack" trucks we use are to obay all the laws just as the little old lady in the Grand Marquis going to wal-mart does. the only thing i think they are allowed to do is a max over 10 over the speed limit. when it comes to red light intersections, you have to slow to like 5 or 10 mph, triple check all traffic stopped, then make that PowerStroke sing!

our department does not like the POV lights. albiet i have them, no one else does. just a few weeks ago one of our members was on his way to the station for a person passed out at a gold kist chicken plant due to heat stroke. he was going a bit fast and went off the road and into a tree. our station actually had to skip the heat stroke call and go to the accident of our own member! hes still in a neck brace, but back on the roster with a few hospital visits. and i'll agree on the lights and siren thing. ive been with my station for a few months and its old. usually the guy riding shotgun does the navigating with the map book and also controls the sirens. most of the time we dont even wind them up. we just roll through town flashing the reds unless we have some idiot not getting out of the way, then we'll blast him with the air horn.

 

You have a lot of great responses here and a lot of great advice. Keep in mind what Pgh_Medic said about your first year there. It's going to take a while for them to trust you. In this line of work trust is the most important thing.

If you do decide to join on consider getting your Fire1 and Fire2 certifications along with EMT-Basic. It will help a great deal and could save someones life one day. When the **** hits the fan it's a great feeling to know what do to. And in the rare case you don't have a senior member on you will be a great asset to the service. The training you receive from those classes will help you be a better firefighter and serve your community better.

A lot of rural services don't require these certs and they just do an on the job training type thing. It's something that I never agreed with but I guess someone higher up seems to think it works.


I'm amazed they let you do this. When I worked out in MN (I just moved back to MD) It was illegal to run just lights without sirens. Of course when your in a residential neighborhood at 3am a few blocks from being on scene we wont run them. But anytime we're on main roads both need to be going. Interesting to see how different states vary.

 

Well, after tracking down my driving record and criminal record I had everything complete to turn in my application. I drove by the place on Tuesday and Wednesday nights after work but no one was there. Last night however, there was several cars there. They were getting ready to have a meeting. I was able to drop off my application and talk to several members. They were very friendly. They saw my address and were very interested in having me join the team since it's an area that doesn't have many members. In fact, one of the 3 total stations that is about 6-7 miles away from my house currently doesn't have any volunteers! They invited me to the open house this Sunday to come and meet some more people and check out the station and whatnot, so I'm definitely going to go check it out.

Timeframe-wise, he told me up front that I won't hear from them until the beginning of next year. They wait until the beginning of the year and half-way through they year to take on new volunteers and make sure there is enough newbies to go through the training classes, which are Tuesday nights from 7-10pm. I'm pretty excited - can't wait to check out the open house and talk to some more of the volunteers. Like I said, they were very polite and friendly people.

Now I just have to be patient and wait a couple more months and hope they give me a ring in January!

 

I've never been a member of a VFD, But the last time I saw them in action, I was very impressed. The training they had showed its self very well. The equipment they had was very impressive also.
I had noticed in the news paper more and more, about grants they had received for meeting certain standards. They were as professional as any Department I had ever seen. There was also adrenaline there. But it was because those Guys were pumped up and ready.
I life outside the City Limit, but always had a contract with the City. But now I also pay rural dues.

The training would be worth the time.

 

Any update on this? Did you make it JD790?