Help me out with the volunteer fireman thing

[J.A.K.]

Don't get me wrong, anyone volunteering for the public good is commendable. It's just that every VF I've known is pretty much a tool with a scanner and emergency lights on their vehicle so they can get a front row seat to some mangled wreckage. Why not just be a fireman?

Anyone here a VF? If so, can you educate me to what your duties are?

[blinden84]

i hope you die in a fire.

[J.A.K.]

[ QUOTE ]
i hope you die in a fire.

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???

Seriously, I drive by wrecks all the time where some young guy is standing by his pick-up with some makeshift light flashing not doing anything. The cops are directing traffic, the paramedics/firemen are doing their thing...what is he there for?

[downrange]

Because the guys who see the dork at the scene are the same ones that decide who to hire. Would you want to hang with this guy if you didn't have to?

[blinden84]

they send the younger, trainee firefighters to do salvage and cleanup on wreck and fire sites.

thats what they are there for, these are people that work without pay to do a great service to the community, there are a lot of people worth picking on, these aren't some of them.

[Skoob]

I believe the whole purpose of the "volunteer" thing is to assist smaller municipalities who could not otherwise afford to pay for a full-time fire fighting force.

Volunteering for the public good? Yeah, that's ghey. Sitting on your fat ass making fun of good, generous, self-sacricing people on the interwebs? Totally awesome.

[cbloom]

It's very hard to get hired as a fireman. Despite what OP might think, lots of people want to sacrifice for their community. Being a VF can help you get hired. A lot of guys have to be a VF + Paramedic for a few years before they get a full time fireman job.

[delta k]

wow, OP. i was prepared to give you the sn of a volunteer firefighter turned real fire fighter who posts here, thinking you wanted advice. turns out you're just a gigantic [censored] and, to echo the words of blinden...

I hope you die in a fire. WTF is your problem?

[J.A.K.]

Blinden/Skoob,

In the OP I stated that the ones I HAVE KNOWN were tools which led me to the question of what do they do? I also stated that helping out the community is a good thing.
A camaro with a red light going 100+ mph to get to a wreck to stand around is not necessary IMO.

If they are firemen in training then that makes sense. The few I have known were not planning on being firemen.

[blinden84]

volunteer firemen ARE firemen, they don't plan on growing up and BEING firemen, they already are. I don't know where you are from, but in non major metropolises, the municipalities don't have enough funds to actually pay career firemen. These guys do it for the good of the community, and they work very hard to raise money for their dept as well.