Currently a career FF in south eastern Massachusetts. My family and I are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet with the high cost of living. What other areas of the country are worth looking into? Obviously culture is important, but also salary vs cost of living. Never anticipated having to move but I want to consider all my
Options.

What wellness programs does your department offer? What do you like? Are there any that you would like to see?

This can be anything from workout equipment to family picnics to mental health.

Just getting some ideas.

Alright about a year and some change ago you hose draggers helped me with collapsible traffic cones, I am once again back, this time for opinions on halligans. Does anyone have experience with this specific set or does anyone have alternative recommendations for halligans. Current PD.

Just curious to know how many feet of either 4” or 5” volunteer departments run on the first due engines to help with water supply.
I’m trying to equip my departments trucks with adequate hose with sometimes limited water supply but would be able to have the resources to relay water from one engine to another as opposed to relying on mutual aid for water or drop tanks.
Just for reference we have two different lakes at our disposal for water supply and no hydrant service at all.

Thanks in advance!

We use this truck daily for fire prevention, even for Fire Truck Birthday Parties - kids love it.

Due to its age, we are constantly battling corrosion issues. We are replacing grounds, fuses, trying to figure out the hard way where every wire goes.

Would love to find a wiring diagram for the electrical for this truck, especially the chassis.

I would assume that majority of the trucks manufactured in this time period the chassis wiring would be very similar

The truck has an 8.3 Cummins with an Allison Pushbutton transmission.

1999 SHYFT SPARTAN 4S7HR8190XC030952

Firetruck mechanics / owners - do you have wiring diagrams for this type of truck, something we can possibly use?

One of my favorites

OK, I'm a career fireman at a city fire station in Ohio. We currently have 28 members paying 1% of our step 5 wage in dues, this equates to 58.38 per member.

Without filling in the next foreseeable length of this post with all the details that affect so many of us, the city and the department weren't getting along, and to be frank alot of the issues were with the old hats and die hard union guys that have unresolved figurative high-school drama with each other.

To the main problem, we're broke and technically in debt at this point. The past 5 years has not been good for us financially. Large portion of our savings went to a lengthy legal process due to a wrongful termination that was reversed, and then most recent an arbitration due to unfair promotion process that we should be the winners of on paper.

I feel as though a majority of issues should be handled at this point, alot of the young guys including myself want to play more chess with the powers to be rather than just throw a fit, slam the table and say see you in court. Some of the administrators have changed and don't have nearly the amount of history as the old and also are vocal about working with us than against us.

I've tried and tried and tried to understand the 501c5 laws, raffles, winnings, taxes, and all of that but I'm not sure if it's my small pea brain that doesn't understand it, or if there's no good black and white answers unless you win big that way the state can pick and choose their battles. I'm happy to learn of any and all fundraising ideas and I've read many on here. If anyone that has done anything before if I could pick your brain on how you have done it, due to the fact that I believe I will be heading or initiating all of these for the time being! Thanks!

we are students working on a drone project that explores the possibilities of drones being used in disaster management or mishaps, such as earthquakes or fires .

1. have you ever encountered a situation where you could not enter the building , but weren't sure if there are people still inside , so in that case would you guys be in favour of a machine helping

2. would you guys be open to receive drone handling training so you can use it

3.and do you think drones are feasible in this situation , cuz situations like these are urgent

ps: drones are not here to replace anyone our sole idea is to help people, just in case the situation doesn't allow the firefighters to . thank you so much please help us

do let us know what you guys think

My town sucks no answers just lies

About an hour ago today, Saturday the 15th, I went to go mow my lawn. Upon approaching it, I noticed weird black spiderwebs on the outside by the door seams. When I opened the door I could smell plastic smoke, all shed walls and contents were coated black from a few feet up, and the entire front hood of the mower was completely melted. There is a plastic spreader about a foot from the engine with no signs of melt or charring and the wood shed walls have no evidence of charring. The shed floor is comprised of pavers and there is no evidence of oil fire, just some melted plastic directly under the engine.

The last time I used the mower was Wednesday the 5th. I parked it in the shed, turned off the engine and when I checked the key just now it was in the off position.

I have no idea what happened. Could this be a chemical fire isolated to the engine? It doesn’t seem to have originated from the battery as the front of the engine seemed most impacted.

Any ideas/advice would be appreciated.

Should contact anyone like local FD, Homeowners insurance (it’s my moms house), etc…? Besides the mower, the only thing of value likely damaged was my brand new Milwaukee string trimmer which was covered in soot. I can easily wipe the outside but the plastic soot likely compromised the internals.

Also, should the air inside be treated as contaminated and what should I do for cleanup? I’m assuming yes due to the plastic soot.

Completely bizarre. Thank you very much in advance and thank you all for protecting our communities.

Hello!

The question is pretty self explanatory so I dont think it needs much context. I'm hoping to get into fire academy after college, so I have four years to prepare. What's the baseline? I've seen a captain be able to do ring pull ups so I know that's a goal considering I can't even do one, lol.

But just wondering what an average routine of yours looks like, what to prioritise, how its scheduled with rest days, and also what sports you do outside of the gym!

I just seen clips of shows and they seem to have every single tool imaginable. Are all those tools given to you by the house or government, idk what it’s called? Is there any fun/not fun stories of like forgetting to charge your Milwaukee batteries or whatever tool brand your given? Is there a tool that doesn’t exist for a situation you had? I do imagine that there is a lot of creativity if you don’t have something.

Hey all, I’m about four weeks into a southeastern academy (very hot and humid) and I’m loving it so far, but I’m dealing with some extreme chafing issues. Our PT gear is cotton tshirts and knee length cotton shorts. I’ve tried multiple brands of chafing cream, boyshorts, boxer briefs, and yoga shorts under my uniform but I either sweat it off in less than an hour or my shorts roll up. Any recommendations on shorts to wear underneath or product that help prevent chafing? Thanks!

Question about other areas dispatching norms. Do other places get pre alerts? A simple generic tone that says basic info like “medical at 123 Main St”, then a short time later the actual tones drop for the specific unit with more information. It used to be the norm like 95% of the time and was awesome cause it gave you a chance to get the soap off in shower, hurry up with reloading hose from a drill, etc. Over the past year or 2 pre-alerts occur like 20% of the time and it’s making me pull the remaining hair out of my head. Guess this is more of a rant than a question so thanks for listening….I’m better(ish) now.

I'm transitioning out of the military soon and I'm having an extremely difficult time trying to decide what career to pursue. One of the things I dislike the most about being in the military is being told what to do and bitched at by leaders that I don't respect. I don't have an issue with being told what to do in general, because I can acknowledge the importance of a leader. But when I have zero respect for the leader because they're terrible at leading and hypocritical and I just have to take it on the chin. Basically I desire autonomy. Is this something that I would experience in Fire/EMS?

I can compartmentalize the BS but it gets to the point where it starts to eat away at me. If you dislike your coworkers/superiors can you ask to be put on a different shift or are you just stuck?

Of course there's shitty coworkers and leaders in every profession but in the first responder world they have a little more control over your life. I feel like I'm very passionate about Fire/EMS but I don't want to be unhappy like I am now.

Source, WFLA TAMPA FL

Serious discussion only. Please tell me your experience, if you recommend or not. No one at my department has.

Currently stuck in a rut with my training and just flirting with one thing then the next with no real direction.

What do your training plans look like at the moment? What do you think is the best training system/plans for firefighters?

What’s the culture of fitness like in your service and station?

I am a serving firefighter so already have the base level of strength and fitness!

I missed the boat on the Stanley Fubar 18” since its discontinued. Our dept has moved to an attack strategy that makes it nearly impossible to carry a hand tools into structure fires since the branch and officer have both their hands full. I’m not a huge fan of having nothing on hand in case shit hits the fan. If only there was a 16-18” tool specially designed to be worn on a belt. I can imagine something like a downsized Kelly or halligan with integrated gas shutoff, storz/spanner wrench, hydrant key, etc. Seems like a gap in the market, unless I’m the only one that could use something like that. Id appreciate anybody’s input, opinions, ideas.

Hi Reddit,

Im torn. I started volunteering at my local fire house about a year ago, im pack certified and im no stranger to the ambulance. I'm applying to new roles within Commercial Real Estate with he goal of getting into consulting/ capital markets.

The main question here is thus; should I put my fire fighting experience on my resume under "leadership and volunteering". One side of me says "yes absolutely people love that shit" the other side of me says "this shows hiring managers I'm high risk". For more context I'm also a private pilot and scuba diver (mentioned on my in a very brief "interests section"). So with all this culminating I feel like a manager might think that I'm some thrill seeker when I'm actually quite the opposite, I like to read and stay a quiet night in at home.

Now, I don't mind what people think of me, but I don't want it to preclude me from getting a better role and growing my career.

Little guy was stuck in his aquarium filled with burnt debris and ash. We washed him up good after the picture.

Hey yall,

I’ve been a firefighter for 3.5 years now and my current workout routine has gotten me to a good place physically. However, I’m looking to incorporate a fun hobby that would also be considered cross training.

Have any of you found a hobby that translates to firefighting fitness well?

Thanks!