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Can anyone tell me a little about Anne Arundel FD? I'm thinking about taking the test down there. What is staffing like? What is the general attitude of the dept, is there a lot of volunteer vs career issues. A friend of mine told me they are overly safe (dont know what that is, but he says they do a lot of surround and drown, not much interior work).
Anything else useful you could tell me would be appreciated!
Thanks
If I were you, I would edit my post and leave it blank. If you are concerned about something like this, it is best to get it from the horse.
Anne Arundel is the next County east of us, and we run with them occasionally. I am also a life member of the Arundel VFD, A.A.County Station 7 ( www.arundelfire.com ) For whatever reason, the County has picked up a reputation as Foundation savers. I can assure you they go inside and put Fires out. (Look at the Website) Dissent in the ranks caused the leading Candidate for County Executive in the last election (2006)to come to the Volunteer Firefighters Association meeting to see what could be done. He was elected, the incumbent Chief retired, and David Stokes was appointed Fire Chief. Chief Stokes came up thru the ranks, and knew the system well, and knew what was needed to get back on track. Short story is Success. Chief Stokes has built a department where people are treated fairly, respected, and utilized to their potential. In turn he has gained the respect of the Volunteer AND Career members, and morale is currently higher than I've seen in many years. Is it Utopia?? No, but ALL of us are working on it.
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Originally Posted by hwoods
Mr. Woods, A.A. County is not known as an aggressive interior department. You know very well why. They wait for a certain amount of people to get on the scene before begining operations. Sure there maybe a handfull of companies that go get it, but they are the minority. They are so safe the public is in danger.
Time to find my rock.This ain't gonna be pretty,T.C.
Well, I would agree with some of Harve's points and disagree with some. The department is a good choice if you are looking for a place that has a good schedule, decent pay, good equipment, etc. It definitely has all the perks of a good "job". They have improved significantly these past few years, and their new Chief seems to be doing very well for them. For that I would recommend it.
While there may be aggressive firemen that work for AACO, the department's policies are a bit prohibitive on aggressive firefighting. An interior attack cannot commence unless a certain amount of FF's are on the scene, a battalion chief has arrived, and a water supply has been established (the pumper must be on the plug and flowing water to the wagon.) When I was a volunteer in Laurel, we ran mutual aid with them quite often as the second due engine. There were numerous times when the AACO engine would get on the scene with a working fire, have the line stretched to the front door, and they would tell us to take the line in. Their rationale was that we didn't really have to play by their rules. :rolleyes: Speaking to FF's at Ft. Meade (which is in AACO and runs MA with them), they receive similar treatment.
I don't know of any real volunteer/career "issues", at least none that are so bad that they are well known. IMO, I would classify them as a combination dept that is a paid system that has some volunteer participation. Paid FFs staff apparatus/stations on a 24/72 shift. I believe there is a couple of stations that only has daytime staffing, but those are very few.
Bottom line, I would say it is a good place to work. Good luck.
Stay Safe
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Originally Posted by cap6888
I've read this forums for a long time now and never felt the need to comment until now. I am a member of AACoFD and the above quoted comment is patently not true. There may have been a time that these policies were in place ( I don't know when or how long ago) but they are not the policy of the department now. The only policy that we follow is strict adherence to the 2in/2out rule. The BC does not have to be on scene and a water supply does not have to be established in order to begin a fire fight.
There is a lot of misinformation that floats around about our department. We are sandwiched between Baltimore City and Washington DC -- both of which are capable, aggressive, well staffed departments. We do not compare well with them. Our staffing levels and water supply dictate a different approach.l
Our department has it's issues for sure. But fires are being put out here all the time, and often times the structure is still standing.
H Woods, thanks for an honest appraisal.