We're not firefighters anymore.

[FyredUp]

Ya. you are right, no names were mentioned, but we all know exactly who he meant.

Ya want to keeping make attacks, fine. You have heard that most here are sick and tired of your, as well as other posters, crap regarding attacks but "the gang" keeps at it.

Really doesn't matter to me but if you and your ilk want to keep dragging this place down, have at it.

And no, I'm not going to sit back and let comments like that pass.

AND YOUR NAME WAS NOT MENTIONED! If you weren't such an egomaniacal narcissist you wouldn't search these forums for times when you believe you were attacked. For the love of God man, you love this nonsense and you perpetuate it every chance you get so you can cry about being the victim. Maybe just one damn time if you shut the H e l l up and let it go it would slow down or stop. YOU SIR are as much to blame for this idiocy as those you would vilify for supposedly attacking you when your name is not mentioned.

By the way, I have not egaged in any of this for days and infact asked, no demanded, people that tried to take over my post to knock it off and go elsewhere.

[snowball]

Ya. you are right, no names were mentioned, but we all know exactly who he meant.

I'm pretty sure he meant me, I know this because he wrote

2 clowns

That just happens to be my Native American name given to me by my grandfather, Running Scared, my father, Hides In Fear, and my grandfather caught me peeing in the smokehouse on the woodchips. When he was done whipping me with a knotted leather strap, my buttcheeks looked like 2 clowns.

[DeputyChiefGonzo]

Thanks Snowball... I just sprayed coffee all over my computer monitor and have to change my shirt!

[DeputyChiefGonzo]

Throw a rock at a pack of dogs and the one that yelps is the one that got hit!

Calling the person you are referring to a dog is an insult to dogs....

[slackjawedyokel]

Calling the person you are referring to a dog is an insult to dogs....

Stuck hog squeals the loudest ?

[fotowun]

Stuck hog squeals the loudest ?

Dog-onit! You just insulted all forms and variaeties of Bar-B-Que!!!

[fotowun]

And while we're at it, Fire Departments should remain Fire Departments, and Firefighhters should remain Firefighters. Lumped in with all other First Responders???

I was a member of a volunteer rescue squad for many years, and a busy one at that. I don't recall stretching a line through a smoke-belching doorway and making an initial attack a single time in all of those years.

Police Officers are considered first responders..Don't recall seeing a cop open up a roof a single time in all my years as an EMT or as a fire scene photographer. They do have a tendency to 'TAke The Hydrant'...but that's another topic for another thread.

Power Company...Fire Departments usually gotten the fire knocked down by the time they arrive.

The fact remains that with all of the other tasks that have been given to fire departments in the last couple of decades, they are still the only agency that is equipped and trained to fight fires. Therefore, Fire Departments and Fire Fighters they are, and always should be.

[snowball]

Thanks Snowball... I just sprayed coffee all over my computer monitor and have to change my shirt!

At least you didn't get a Cozby sweater!! (urban dictionary)

[DeputyChiefGonzo]

At least you didn't get a Cozby sweater!! (urban dictionary)

You are a very sick individual... don't change!

[tbzep]

At least you didn't get a Cozby sweater!! (urban dictionary)

I had to look that one up. I wish I hadn't.

[DeputyChiefGonzo]

Originally Posted by LaFireEducator
Ya. you are right, no names were mentioned, but we all know exactly who he meant.

Ya want to keeping make attacks, fine. You have heard that most here are sick and tired of your, as well as other posters, crap regarding attacks but "the gang" keeps at it.

Really doesn't matter to me but if you and your ilk want to keep dragging this place down, have at it.

And no, I'm not going to sit back and let comments like that pass.

A handful of people hardly consitute "most".

I will comment whenever you denigrate this profession... too many people have paid for it with their lives, blood, sweat and tears. You seem to think that each and every person who does not "think" they way you do has a death wish... nothing could be further from the truth.

You tilt at windmills whenever you think somebody has referred to you in a post, or posts a link to a story about firefighters and civliians stepping up and doing the rihgt thing while your "ilk" would let people die.

I believe the decline of this forum started the day you became a member.

[Bones42]

Was on a station coverage for neighboring town yesterday...they were at a structure fire. While on coverage we went to 2 reported power lines sparking. Yup, we're all firefighters. They arrived at their scene after the PD arrived so I wouldn't call them first responders. We arrived before any PD....so we were the first responders.

I don't know if I'm a semi-automatic firefighter, a fully-automatic firefighter, or an assault firefighter.

[FireMedic049]

Well then allow me to ask: Do we do this job for the people we serve or for recognition? If it is the people we serve then I could care less what they call me because I am willing to bet that the term they use has very high value in their eyes no matter what they call us.

Assuming your actual name is Daniel, I would suspect that you expect people to refer to you as "Daniel" or possibly "Dan" or "Danny" and not "Bill", "Steve", "Larry" or "Fred". This would be very reasonable since none of those four are your name. We're pretty much talking about the same thing. For the vast majority of us, our job title is "firefighter" or includes "firefighter". Our departments' official names likely includes "fire" and/or "department" in some fashion. So why shouldn't we be bothered by people not using the proper titles?

Wanting to be referred to by the proper title is not looking for recognition for doing this job.

It's about society and values. We have to conform to what society wants, values, perceives, etc. That comes with uncomfortable changes but change we must to remain relevant in today's society. Today people to not perceive a threat from fire. They worry about natural disasters, terrorism, shooters, heart attacks, strokes, hazardous materials, etc. Who comes to save them when these threats hit "First Responders." So do we really want to compartmentalize ourselves to one category and one threat?

I explain it to firefighters I talk to this way: if we do not change and conform to society and what they need we will become that FIRE extinguisher on the wall. It's ugly, no one really wants it, they try to hide it, invest only enough money they need to because they are required to have it... and the ONLY time people will give it any thought or any value is when there is a fire.....

Keep that in mind when thinking about defining who we are and what we do.....

Actually it's not about "society and values" and we don't have to "conform to what society, wants, values, perceives, etc." What you appear to be talking about is the evolution of an organization to meet the changing needs of the consumer and/or expanding what they have to offer to the consumer. The fire service in general has been doing this for quite sometime adding things like rescue services, EMS, hazmat response, fire inspection, fire prevention & education.

I agree that we need to avoid being stagnant as an organization, however our core mission/responsibility is still fire suppression and fire suppression services are still very much relevant and needed in every community.

Wanting to be referred to by our proper title is not trying to "compartmentalize ourselves to one category and one threat?"

[Whocares]

As far as being "lumped in" with PD and non-fire EMS, they do the same job in the end that we do with an equal amount of risk, so I have no issues being part of that group.

How do you figure we all have an equal amount of risk? I am unaware of any single role paramedics on our fire department being killed in the line of duty and we have more duty deaths than our police department even though they are almost three times our size. So how do you figure???

[mcwops]

Honestly do you expect the media to get the story right? Not much different than when they cover aircraft incidents, every single engine plane is a Cessna, every turboprop is a King Air, and every airliner is a Boeing. I could care less what some reporter decided to call us today.

Now as for changing the name of a department, get real. Someone needs a hobby.

[FF-Andy]

I've been called lots of things in this life. Some good, some bad.

FIREFIGHTER is the only thing I've been called that summons a couple hundred years worth of history, tradition, pride and service to mankind. I still see the romance in the profession, and if you ask me calling us first responders waters all that down.

[tree68]

An article about today's shooting in West Webster referred to "firefighters and first responders."

We are the first to respond to emergencies (and many other situations, for that matter). The power people, the DPW, the highway department, the building inspectors, the tow-truck operators, what-have-you, generally show up after we've mitigated the problems. The police are in the same situation, as is EMS. As a group (and often as a team) we show up and fix what's broke so others can deal with the aftermath.

It doesn't bother me a bit to be lumped in with police and EMS - we're all tools in the public safety toolbox, and while we don't generally cross the lines between our "crafts," we still have each other's backs when it's necessary.

If a reporter is writing about my fire department, I'd prefer that he/she refer to my firefighters. I'm sure the police agencies feel the same. But when we're dealing with an emergency, we're all all the same team. We're responding first, before all the others.

And yes, there have been deaths of medics. From everything to GSWs to aircraft crashes.

[sklump]

Ok for all of you first responders, what do you drive to the scene when you are called and where do you keep them?

[HeavyRescueTech]

I'm a firefighter. you know why? because it sounds cool. no other reason.

do I only fight fires? no. I do a lot more.

As my former job, I was an EMT & Heavy Rescue Technician. I rode on the ambulance, I responded to medical emergencies. I took people to the hospital, and I "saved many a life." I also rode on the Heavy Rescue. We were 100% EMS based, not fire based at all, despite many of us having firefighter training. 6 Hyraulic tools preconnected, lots of cribbing, lots of ropes, lots of saws, lots of tools, confined space and trench rescue equipment. only thing we didn't have were airpacks. Who handled all the extrication? not the fire department. who picked up the shooting victims? not the fire department. who did CPR on the baby who wasn't breathing? not the fire department. Whenever there was a bad crash that made the paper, who got the credit? that's right, the fire department did all the work. Even when the EMS-Rescue was in the photo, even when the Rescue Captain was holding the tool in the phone, it was the fire department that saved the day. Who got support from the public, who was perceived as the ones who handled rescue operations, who got the funding for doing EMS, Rescue, and answer the call on the major events? that's right, not the ones who actually did the work. At least if you say first responders, we were able to say "see, we were there!!!"

Back to what I said, I'm a firefighter. actually a firefighter/EMT. I respond to medical emergencies, on the engine. I'm a janitor too, and clean the firehouse daily. I'm a cook (actually a better dish cleaner than cook). I'm a GPS device, because I tell the driver where to go when get gets lost. I'm also a handyman around the house, and a hand holder on scenes. and I'm an educator too, both of formal classes, and for the general public. But yeah, I like being called a firefighter, because it sounds cooler than fire/emt/janitor/cook/gps/handyman/holder of hands/educator. and it fits much better on my business cards.

but in the grand scheme of things, I am not going to lose sleep over what they call me, as long as they get my paycheck correct at the end of every 2 weeks.

BTW, with the current breakdown of run numbers, more "fire departments that do EMS" are turning into "EMS departments that fight fires." 80/20 ratio ems to fire calls. just throwing that out there.

[Bones42]

Ok for all of you first responders, what do you drive to the scene when you are called and where do you keep them?

When I was Chief, I drove a Durango that I kept at my house.

Now that I am an Ex-Chief, I go to the firehouse (where there is no fire) to respond to a different house (where there MAY be a fire) and will drive either the truck, the engine, or the pickup truck. And yes, on a rare occasion, I will drive my own car to the scene.

And I know of many areas that most guys respond from home....in their personal cars.

So, what is your question?