Junior firefighter

[spunk2]

My chief said that when I turn 16 he might see about getting me a pager because I will be able to get my driver license and go to fires. So I was wondering should I respond to the station and ride in the truck to the fire or should I just drive to the fire in my pov, also if I got to the station before anybody else would I be allowed to drive one of the fire trucks at age sixteen?

[OsbornFPD]

Ask the Chief, and he better tell you no you can't drive the truck

[Eng34FF]

The only one who can answer those questions is your Chief. Whether you go to the station or scene depends on your department's SOPs. Some departments don't allow anybody except an officer to respond to the scene, some don't allow anybody to go to the scene and others allow anybody to go to the scene.

Not sure where you are from, but don't expect to drive the engines. Again, this is up to your chief, but around here there are insurance and legal issues with allowing a 16 yr old to drive, in addition to safety issues. You have a lot of training to do and need to get experience as a firefighter before you worry about driving. You also need to get some driving experience before driving anything with lights and sirens.

Also, be prepared to hear a lot of comments about a 16 yr old not being old enough to fight fires. I'll leave that one alone.

[Explorer Asst Chief Fern]

At my department we are only allowed to respond to the station to ride in the trucks. POV's are not to go to the scene because of traffic and limited space (what if a mutual aid department shows up and they need to park their apparatus where your POV is?). Besides, isn't your gear kept at the station? If so, you would need to go there anyways. I'm 99.9% positive that you will NOT be able to drive the fire trucks OR put lights and sirens on your POV because you have not gone through an Emergency Vehicle Operator's class.

[CGITCH]

No driving trucks what so ever. A 2000 lbs. P.O.S. car is one thing, A 20,000 lbs. fire engine with lights and sirens is out of your league. If it were my call, you would respond to the station no matter what. I won't even start on some of my other feelings about this situation.

[mtg55]

In some cases as we've seen, the Chief may not even be able to properly answer this question. Driving the apparatus is an obvious no, you may want to consider looking up your state's child labor laws regarding junior ff's. This will answer most questions that you have.

[TheFIREkid05]

Respond to the station, no exceptions. If you arrive first, open the doors, get your gear and get on the truck. Theres absolutely no chance you'll be driving a fire truck in the near future, I would think. Good luck!