The new town I moved to has a volunteer program that caught my interest. Just wondering what life is like as a volunteer. I know the initial training takes a lot of time, but I'm curious what life is like on a "normal" non-training time, as far as calls required, being on call, emotional toll of seeing certain things, camaraderie between fellow firefighters, etc etc. I have plenty of time to think on it, the next academy doesn't start for a year but I figured I'd give it some good consideration in the meantime. I was interested for awhile in being a LEO, thought about joining the military but never did any of those. I was thinking something like this would be a good compromise between doing something exciting and rewarding and balancing the "dangerous" factor to keep the wife happy. Anyone?

As a side note, it's a good possibility that by the time everything gets started next year we'll have a little one to take care of too, so that's another consideration.

 

Well I can tell you this being a volunteer is more fun, before I moved to topeka I was on fire dist 4, I started when I was 16, I trained at the department attendad tons of classes and meetings, I was on till I was 24, plus doin my army gaurd as well. If you have a week stomach orcant bear to see the site of a suicide car wrecks with body parts everywhere in the car mutalated remains its not for you, I went through the acadamy when I got back from boot camp and ait, being in shape is one thing you will want to be in. If you do decide to cross into this feild and join I can tell you more what to expect. I've seen people that wanna be and people that do it great, there will be tons of sacrifice from you and your family. One thing to remember every call is different some will suck and some will scare you. Being on call is a 24 hour thing you always don't have to go but being a probie you will need to go for year straight. Pay attention listen to who has done it and you will enjoy hope these few words of advice help and don't scare you at the same time. The reward of helping others will be the greatest thing you will ever feel

 

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. I don't have any desire to turn it into a job...if I decide to go down this path it will be strictly a volunteer thing. I keep vacillating, some days I get really excited about it and some days I think it may take too much time away from the wife and future kid(s). I'm going to call the local fire dept next week and see if I can talk to anyone about the local specifics and if I can get myself on a ride along or something.

 

Its worth doing, go and check out the local dept and they can give you a good run down on how things go each dept is different, ask questions and don't be afraid to put some gear on, 100lbs about for full bunker gear and air pack

 

My step dad is an EMT and firefighter, you can still have a life and volunteer. It really depends on the schedule they have but can be really rewarding. If my local FD was volunteer and I didn't work 60+ hours a week I'd do it.

 

I can tell you that every department is different. When I was in Linn, I was on their department. Weekly meetings/training, now I'm back in my home town, monthly meeting/trainings. Usually meetings here only take about 20 minutes, in Linn they were an hour+.

Talk to someone on the department, get an idea of how much time everything takes, and if it's something that you can swing.