Unit 7 Writing Assignment

Volunteer fire departments everywhere have staffing problems. If you take a drive past any fire department you will probably see a volunteers needed sign. A fire chief in Pennsylvania stated “I would like to have a greater turnout of firefighters on scene than what we currently have,” he said. “We have a lack of volunteers who are able to respond during daytime hours” (Shawgo, 2014, p. 17). There are several reason that there is not as good of a turnout as there used to be. Back in the 1970s and 1980s the thing to do in town was to hang out at the fire house. There was not as much going on as there is today. People today want to spend more time with their family and go out to the movies or mini golfing, things that family’s did not do as much back in the day. The average amount of training that a volunteer must go through is about 130 hours. Most people see that as too much time to sacrifice. Also, in today’s economy many people work a second or even third job in order to make ends meet. There are also more single parent households then there used to be, which does not allow for hardly any time to volunteer. Due to the reasons stated above it is very difficult to properly staff fire trucks in volunteer departments. The average age of members continues to increase. The few people left who still find time to volunteer often work a regular job during the day, which makes day time emergency calls even harder to respond to with proper staffing. The typical fire truck holds 6

Throughout history men and women have devoted their lives to serving their community in the fire service. Innovation in technology and ideology has shaped today’s fire service. From St. Florian and Ancient Rome to The Knights of St. John and the Crusaders; from the ashes of The Great Fire of London to King Saint Louis of France and the guet bourgeois; from the colonial Bucket Brigades to Benjamin Franklin and his Union Fire Company; From the inferno of the Great Chicago Fire to those lost in the attacks on the World Trade Centers on September 11th, 2001; the fire service continues to evolve to meet the needs of society and answer the calls of those in need. Although many changes have occurred throughout it’s evolution- courage, honor and duty connects the past to the present day firefighter.

The fire service is a institution intertwined with tradition and bravery. The men and women in this line of work are worth of praise and a raise but is it all for the right reasons? Does the community want a firefighter willing to kill him or herself for their empty buildings or a fireman willing to work with the community to prevent the fire from ever taking place? The ideal hero in American society is often one that flirts with death day in and day out but that is not a safe mentality to demand. The firemen themselves can often get caught up in the moment and decide that lights and sirens mixed with daring rescues and jumping out of flaming windows is going to be their lifestyle.

While paid departments have members on duty twenty four hours a day seven days a week, there are many downfalls to this. One of the major downfalls is the cost to man the station, or if it is a larger department many stations. This can cost residents thousands of dollars every year. Another major downfall is that members are often not required to live in the city of the department. While volunteer departments generally require their members to live within city limits, enabling them to respond to calls more quickly, paid departments often do not which can be a problem when there are large fires or calls that require many people, beyond those on duty, to respond. While paid fire departments may also have their perks such as uniformed staffing, volunteer departments generally work better

The Whistler Township Volunteer Fire Department is finding itself with an increasing amount of tasks to do, but fewer people to accomplish those tasks. Nolen Fenwick has been charged with the task of recruiting new volunteer firefighters by setting up a new marketing plan.

What is a firefighter? He or she is the person next door. He or she is just like you and I, with all the worries, stresses, and unfulfilled dreams. Yet they stand taller than most of us. They are, after all, a firefighter. Men and women who can make holding your hand feel like it’s the biggest thing in the entire world when they’re saving you or your loved ones. They have a gentle touch because they have seen the unbelievable power of violence out of control. They respond to a child 's laughter with joy because they, themselves, have held all too many small limp bodies that will never laugh again. In order for them to do the brave and heroic job they do, these men and women need special equipment to help keep them safe in the line of duty

Eight different fire departments were called including the one I work for. Some departments were assigned to evacuate people out of the cities and move them into shelters until the fire could be controlled. Others were sent to take out the fire. Since I was still a rookie I had to make the decision between getting people away from the disaster or taking down the thing that was chasing innocent people.

Have you ever thought about the extremely harsh conditions that the firefighters from today experience. And the fact that every time they suit up they know that they are about to risk their lives for someone else. Well for my career I know that I want to do this for someone else.

Volunteerism is dropping for emergency responders, and it is affecting how emergency services can be provided to local communities. Looking for reasons why volunteerism is dropping and what options are available for these volunteer companies and communities in order for them to effectively continue protecting the people and property within their communities is very important to me. If local fire companies no longer exist, how are people in the community going to be protected? In addition to fire suppression, firefighters are called on to assist with numerous other situations including auto accidents, downed wires, flooding, emergency medical service, hazmat incidents, and various rescue operations. There is simply not enough money to fund career fire departments for every community. Even in the

Facing the Future written by (Knight, 2013) highlights that due to the effectiveness of prevention activities, firefighters are responding to 40% less incidents than a decade ago. Notwithstanding, this decrease in calls has not been met with a decrease in firefighting services and expenditure.

In the fire service, we often preach the importance of being pro-active. The pro-active engine company, ladder company or a pro-active approach to training and education. On the larger scale, fire service organizations are often more reactive than proactive i.e. something isn’t changed until someone gets hurt… We all know the dangers of being reactive and hopefully you and your crew take steps to maintain a proactive environment in the firehouse and on the fireground. With emphasis placed on being proactive in the manner in which we carry out our jobs, we need to have the same mentality with respect to our careers.

Today, firefighter safety is a focal point and hot topic of discussion throughout the fire service. With new research and data pointing to alarming cancer rates among men and women on the job, more efforts need to be done to protect our heroes. The 16 Initiatives platform is built and maintained to accomplishing just that. As a collection point for data, research and informational publications and guidelines for success. The National Fallen Firefighter Foundations is facilitating tools for success in firefighter safety; it’s up to the nation's departments to take advantage of this information and implement the necessary changes.

Fire fighting is one of the most essential duties for civilians safety. Without them Wildfires would burn out of control, no one would be around to save burning buildings, and bomb threats would be and even bigger concern with no one to defuse them. After knowing this it is essential that we hire the best qualified candidates for the job. After looking at multiple studies the conclusion had been made that the men candidates would be best for the firefighters positions.

The world around us is constantly changing, and so is the fire service. The fire service is built off of tradition, but sometimes new traditions need to be made. Over the past thirty years the fire service has adopted new techniques and training to improve the outcome and safety of calls. The fire service has seen changes in their personal protective equipment, safety and performance advances of the apparatus and changes of residential fire dynamics.

Because of insufficient staffing in Los Angeles, lives and property has been lost. Eighteen fire companies, nine paramedic units and four ambulances was lost due to budget cuts within the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD). Brian Cummings, which is the LAFD Chief has single mindedly inflicting a treacherous plan to remove firefighters from twenty-two truck companies. The United Firefighters of Los Angeles County (UFLAC) and the Chief Officers Association (COA) has boldly disputed this plan. It is being opposed because of the increasingly risks firefighters face day to day and that of public safety. A conference was held by UFLAC and COA to discuss staffing cuts. Los Angeles is not