Giving Jrs. a bad name

[mikie333]

You guys catch this one?

A man training as a fire department cadet put an entire community at risk by stealing the only ambulance in the small town of Bucoda and crashing it, police said.

Read on...

http://www.emsresponder.com/article/...&siteSection=1

[charlie82]

"The 18-year-old had been drinking when he broke into the fire department and climbed into the town’s only ambulance and took off for a joy ride, police said."

While idiotic, he is not a junior, he is 18.

[Erfdlieutenant]

this guy was stupid!!!!!! if this went on in my department he would be made an example of for all the future member that might try to pull something like this!!!!!!!

[blinkd44]

not a junior. clearly an adult....

[RspctFrmCalgary]

Junior, Explorer, Cadet .... doesn't it all really mean the same thing?!

What this "man" did is no different than any of the other disgraceful activities that gives (in the eyes of many FH members) the fire service in general a black eye, let alone "juniors".

I held off with my reply since I first saw this thread yesterday to see which way the wind was going to blow on here ... so far the majority of the responses are taking umbrage (hehe that may make some of you young 'uns take out the dictionary) at the wording of the thread rather than the real issue.


OK maybe majority is the wrong word, with only 4 posts but I hope you all get what I'm saying.




As to the butthead who took the ambulance for a joyride ...

[mikie333]

regardless of his age and status, he has completely jeopardized the safety of their community! They have no ambulance now!

A-Why wouldn't insurance cover this?
B-I'm curious to know what kind of time, damage, etc the guy will be charged with

[nmfire]

No it doesn't mean the same thing. An 18yr old is an adult. In the vast majority of department, if the term "cadet" if utilized, it is referring to a new firefighter, not a junior/explorer.

[RspctFrmCalgary]

Ah.

Thanks, NM. I thought the term was interchangeable. Perhaps it means different things in different part of the (our) country(ies).

As a representative of the Calgary Firefighters Museum, I had the honour (misfortune) to be a part of the funeral of a young teen who lost her life in a motor vehicle accident while driving through BC during the 2003 wildfires. She was a member of the Calgary Fire Department's Cadet Program.

Every year, the Calgary Fire Department offers 16 high school students from the Calgary area a chance to learn valuable life skills while exploring the exciting and challenging opportunities of a firefighting career.

As I get older, I frequently struggle with the definition of "adult". In Alberta, the drinking age is 18. 19 in BC. 21 in most states. Yet you can drive, vote, have sex, get married etc. etc. etc. before you are eligible to drink in some places. I look of the present state of most of our youth, I look at the early age marriages took place in the "old" days .... 14, 15. If you were a chick and turned 20 you were an old maid. Boys were expected to be men in their early teens. And so on.

OK so I kind of went off on a tangent. I don't disagree that this dumbass got drunk and went for a joyride in the town's amublance. I don't disagree that he could be considered an adult. After googling the Bucoda Fire Department and not finding anything useful, except for this ...

Type of Fire Department: Volunteer
Department Run By: Local
Number of Fire Stations: 1
Number of Career Firefighters: 0

Number of Volunteer Firefighters: 9
Number of Paid per Call Firefighters: 0
Non-Firefighting Employees: 0
Non-Firefighting Volunteers: 0

.... means I will have to gracefully back off on the "he's a cadet/junior/explorer" because I can't find anything that supports my theory of his department having such a program similar to those I'm familiar with.

NINE??????!!!!!! Geeezzzz I hope that's wrong.

OK, gotta back myself up again so I don't get slammed

Bucoda, Washington, in Thurston county, is 30 miles SW of Lakewood, Washington (center to center) and 61 miles SW of Seattle, Washington. The town is located in the Olympia metropolitan area. Bucoda has a population of 628

Phew ... had me worried there for a second. 9 firefighters between 628 people is 1 per 70. I have no idea how that compares to ratios in other parts of our countries, so I guess I should eat my words about being concerned that there are only 9 firefighters in Bucoda?

[GTRider245]

Just for the record, cadets can go all the way to 21 in some places.

[nmfire]

A cadet can be 30 in some places. The word has no fixed meaning.

[doughesson]

not a junior. clearly an adult....

Doesn't mean he has the maturity to claim the title.

[FDNYco10]

Once you turn 18 you are no longer a junior/explorer. Also the fact is if he was drunk not only would he be charged with theft and whatever else he was charged with also underage drinking will be charged against him. So pretty much he was kicked out of his company and he will most likely be facing jail time for this.

[pfdcadet]

That is down right terrible. Hopefully the stupidity of this 1 person doesn't reflect the status of this towns FD.

[st42stephenAFT]

Once you turn 18 you are no longer a junior/explorer. Also the fact is if he was drunk not only would he be charged with theft and whatever else he was charged with also underage drinking will be charged against him. So pretty much he was kicked out of his company and he will most likely be facing jail time for this.

What about DWI? He could get that too if he drove it. Further improving his record.

Goes to show why kids shouldn't drink. Period. There's a reason it's against the law but it's rare you find kids who realize that.

[GTRider245]

Once you turn 18 you are no longer a junior/explorer. Also the fact is if he was drunk not only would he be charged with theft and whatever else he was charged with also underage drinking will be charged against him. So pretty much he was kicked out of his company and he will most likely be facing jail time for this.

Not quite. Read the above posts by myself and NM. Just becuase that is they way your department does things doesnt mean it is the standard for the universe.

I dont know why so many people have a hard time grasping this concpet.

[J2Night]

What a total idiot.