First Published 1/25/04

That’s right! Right here/right now. Once and for all; the final word on this age-old argument is…..

A question!

Aren’t both types of firefighters critical to our fire service efforts?

Of course they are!

Grab a snack before we tiptoe through this minefield together, because quite frankly; I am going to literally try to rationalize out loud why we have to argue one against the other in a “who’s better” debate for what; bragging rights?

Day Two. I haven’t moved from my desk since my last sentence. I must draw on all my strength and background as a volunteer firefighter for a perspective.

When I got into the fire service as a volunteer, our fire department didn’t have a library of reference materials from which to learn. The only fire magazine we got was Fire Chief and the chief wouldn’t share it (Rank has its privilege!). The training officers for the fire department at the time were twin brothers who worked for the local telephone company. Great guys! They could find a bad phone line and could affix a button to a fire phone and have it blow the fire siren, but they didn’t know beans about SCBAs or fire behavior. Their knowledge of building construction consisted of helping the one build the other’s garage!

So, where did a volunteer go to get their much-needed introduction into firefighting?

Neighboring department? Well, sometimes, but basically, they had the same problems.

Fire marshal’s office? No; they set standards, curriculum, the DATES of the training and certified training through testing. Weekend dates back then were non-existent. Weekdays or weeknights; usually during the hours when volunteers were at their paying jobs.

Fire service institute? Ding, ding, ding! That’s where it started for me and can anyone take a wild guess at who taught the classes? Career firefighters!

And it intimidated the HELL out of me. You know how they always said, “In my classes, there are no stupid questions”? Well, I wasn’t willing to take the risk, so I sat silently; listening, and in total awe of the knowledge of my instructors. I didn’t even want to hear about friction loss or hand tools. I wanted to hear the stories about the “big ones”, the rescues and using ladder trucks. Even when my early instructors were telling me their war stories, I was learning from their experiences that were gained every duty day that they worked. You aren’t going to learn that kind of stuff from someone who hasn’t had an occupied, structural fire in three (3) years! You can only get it from a career smoke eater who is willing to moonlight as an instructor. If some of you don’t think that career firefighters don’t care about volunteers, then why do so many of them teach us?

Fast forward to today. I am no longer intimidated by career firefighters. They taught me well. Some of my very best friends are still career or retired from career. And they will always have my gratitude, respect and friendship.

I can remember a time when some career fire departments had a “no fraternization” policy with volunteers. Back in the day and before sensibility prevailed, volunteers were right up there with dirt under the fingernails! BUT THOSE DAYS ARE OVER!

Why does the air get so charged with negative energy when someone mentions a career/volunteer issue? Whether it’s interoperability, mutual aid, funding, promotions, health and safety, fire tactics and on, the discussion immediately deteriorates into a flurry of insults and insensitivities as soon as someone attaches the labels of career or volunteer to their reply with such pronouncements as “volunteers; we do it for free” or “career; nobody does it better”.

From the volunteer perspective (mine), I think some of it is manifested in the attitude that we see when the discussions turn to benefits, wages, unions, fire standards, fire training and legislation that addresses career firefighter issues and excludes the volunteers from much of it. It appears that the focus moves away from public service to one of self-serving. Look at the discussion of the Niles, OH FD and Weathersfield FPD. It took a New York minute for that FH.com thread to turn into a career/volunteer “fist fight”. Volunteers were screaming that they would have gone out of their district-some said by “jumping” the call-to put the fire out. Of course they would have, because many small departments are salivating to catch a working, structural fire! That’s part of that jealousy that exists between career and volunteers. Career FDs without any doubt catch more structural fires on the average. More vehicle accidents; more rescues; more HazMat and MORE PUBLIC ATTENTION. There are very few volunteer or combination departments in the U.S. that have more call volume. They are the exception.

WE choose our career paths. Some chose to go to full-time fire departments. Others, like me, chose to go to work for a company and then volunteer their time on a fire department and as I said; we chose that.

But it’s our communities who choose what type of fire protection that they want. Full time coverage will most likely cost more and taxes paid will bear that out. Volunteer coverage might be less expensive, but with some drawbacks, such as manpower, rapid response time, age and condition of equipment and level of experience/knowledge of the firefighters. Let’s be honest; many volunteers question the abilities of their officers and vice versa. Again; career firefighters choose their career paths and are promoted to rank by training and testing. Volunteers are, in many cases, still being elected, selected and by entitlement, are aspiring to their rank. But that is being addressed in many departments and is a topic for another article!

Whenever there seems to be a push to get ALL firefighters to a level of firefighting skill that will insure an appropriate response to mitigating an incident, it is usually the volunteer sector yelling “foul”. We can all, and I do mean ALL, train to the minimum standards, but will always lose the “in-service”, continuing education and the on-the-job hours to the career departments and that’s a fact!

Let’s switch to the career perspective; also my perspective.

Some career firefighters still harbor attitudes towards volunteers that date back to the early ‘80s. And we will not change that attitude. Don’t try! You won’t penetrate that crust with a jackhammer!

The majority of career folks knows and understands the socio-political reasons for volunteer firefighters and their skill levels, because they are still training them. If I am an instructor, I will take it very personally if my classes of volunteers were not adequately trained. But that’s the ones who will show up for class, ready to learn.

They know that we all do what we do for the same reasons. I am tired of that well-worn cliché that says career or volunteer-we are all professionals. Well, “professionals” do not treat each other with so much disdain. They treat each other with respect. And we know that respect is not given, but is earned; everyday and not just when the tones drop. There has to be respectful dialogue and honesty between us. Respect for the fact that, even we, as firefighters from different career paths, are “a different tool in the fire service tool box”. And it’s the communities who select “the tools”. That may over-simplify it, but the point is that we employ our skills when advancing on a fire in the same way with the goal of suppressing the fire. Being effective is not a career/volunteer issue, but is all of our duty.

Career personnel have to do it right and do it better with every work shift. The law of averages says that if they don’t, then Murphy’s Law will get them. I don’t think for a minute that they are “jealous” of the volunteers. Quite the opposite. I am somewhat jealous that they can “live the dream and even eek out a living at it. Most are just like the rest of us; saddled with mortgages, car payments, college tuition and taxes that are too damned high! Yeah; I’m jealous of that!

I would be remiss if I didn’t address the “other” segment of career firefighters; those who started out as volunteers. I can feel nothing but unmitigated pride for them. They remember their roots and they are quick to give credit. And that can only help to bridge the “old” arguments and perceptions.

In closing, I will use the analogy of athletes and firefighters.

I know that there were better athletes than me in my high school class, just as I know that there were better firefighters than me. Isn’t our goal to always work towards getting better?

What it comes down to is natural ability, desire, practice and the right attitude. Working hard with a “losing sucks” mentality. Getting everyone on the team to believe in themselves for the sake of the team. And then going out and beating the snot out of the opponent; in our case, fire.

And, as a volunteer, I will say that being on a rural, volunteer fire department doesn’t make us the Farm Team!

Sorry. I couldn’t resist one last time.

And be safe above all else.

The article as submitted is published under The Adventures of Jake and Vinnie© umbrella and is the intellectual property of Art Goodrich a.k.a. xchief22 and ChiefReason. It is protected by federal copyright laws and cannot be re-printed in any form without expressed permission from the author.