Why do we do it???

[stm4710]

Why do we do this job? Are we insane? Is there something wrong with us? Why do we put up with interdepartment BS? Why do we put up with a public that scats on us by cutting our funding for personel and equipment then complains we took to long to get there? Why do we put our selves in danger to save people that wouldnt give us the time of day any other day of the week?

My girlfriend asked me this today and I found my self with out an answer.

I get out of my nice warm bed at night and go crawl through ashes freezing my arse off holding flashlight and notebook for an arson investagator and come home smelling like burnt plastic and smoke and I love every second of it.

I also work for a department that if it sold fertilizer we would be millionaires. They dont do much of anything but scat on thier members........yet I still go back.

Dunno.....why do we do it?


Ps....I think captain gonzo had a really eloquent way to say it. Cant remember it though.

[cellblock]

The shirts. Every thime we go to a chemical plant to train with their fire brigade or hazmat team we get cool shirts or hats. If you go to LSU to attend the Fire amd Emergency Training Institute (LSU-FETI) we get nice shirts and caps. We train with Eagle Industries in Hazmat and we get cool Eagle shirts and hats. Some company contracts with us to teach vehicle extrication we get cool shirts or hats with a logo usually incorporating a hurst tool. Then there's the sirts issued to active members to wear when training or responding to calls. They have our department name and our personal name silk screened on them. I have a closet full of shirts and a shelf full of hats. If they keep giving me hats and shirts then I'll keep responding to calls.
Oh, and don't forget the coffee mugs or glasses we get sometimes to. I have a kitchen cabinet full of them too.

[Anyway]

Cell block: Sounds like my dresser/cabinets... They sure is cool stuff out there..

We all do it for different reasons: my dad did so I wanted to; it runs in the family; my grandmother died and I wanted to give back to the people that helped her; I want to play in fire; I am an adrenilin junkie; I am a controlled pyro; I like to live dangerously; and yet we all love it. We all go back.

I have been shot twice, stabbed once, beat a few times with everything from fists to a pipe - I left the service after 16 years. I am 35 years old and I am about to risk everything (body and family) to go back for more - Why???? Because I can't imagine my life without it.

Have a great day and be safe all!!

Anyway

[MOTOWN88]

I have been shot twice, stabbed once, beat a few times with everything from fists to a pipe

YO!!!! YOU FROM DETROIT?????

[Engine58]

lolol...thats funny motown.....but anyways... Ever since I was a kid and my uncle brought me to the firehouse I was hooked..I had 2 uncles who were firefighters one in a neighboring town..and one in town....My brother joined up at 18....and I hung around the firehouse with him...They started an explorer post when I turned 16 so I joined that with the other family members of firefighters...and now my brothers 26 & I'm 19 He's a LT on the Fire dept & I'm a LT on the first aid squad and I love doin this...I belong to the same company as my brother and we run alot of jobs together... The best day was when me & him worked my first structure fire....my parents ask me all the time we me & him do it....why we go runnin out the backdoor at 3am for someones smoke alarm going off...or Go running into burning buildings "whenever that happens not to often" I really dont know honestly....Theres just a awesome feeling you get responding to a fire call...its really funny actually..such a simple question..but yet its so hard to answer

[expvol]

Sometimes I dont know, I first was interested in law enforcement, which introduced me to EMS, then EMS introduced me to fire. Just a big chain of events.

Mostly I am a community service nut. Allways have been.
I was an explorer to get training and make a good impression with the dept, so that when I start, I kind of have a good bearing.

Sometimes its the adreline(bad spelling) Sometimes its just being able to help others. Make a difference, I really mean it.

And for the department bs, it is just a part of the job, we are a family and familys laugh and fight. Its just sibling rivalry on a new level.

[E229Lt]

I've said it before, but it's worth repeating.

When I was young my father asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
I said, "A fireman"
He said, "You can't do both."

[ff7134]

I'm in it for the money and all the high quality people that I meet

Because I love this job....everyday is a challenge something new. Yeah I could be working in computers like I was trained for but thats the same old stuff everyday!

Put me in a fully involved building, then I am happy!! As my wife always says....I'm a horrible human being, unless their is an emergency then I become a great person.

[CALFFBOU]

ummm....4 days and pays..no wait...because chicks dig he uniform...

[Bones42]

to help people.

[42VTExplorer]

ummm....4 days and pays..no wait...because chicks dig he uniform...

Nah, I just look damn good in turnouts.

Grew up in my gramps footsteps, was given a dosage of firefighting every few days when I was younger. As I grew up it was "Hey Kiddo, wanna respond?" and so we'd respond in the chief vehicle from home at 11 PM to that full worker.

As I entered my early teens, 13, 14, I got into fire photography. "Hey! Checkout the fire coming from that window" and I'd click off a few shots.

Now, as an Explorer, and as a student doing community based learning (Highschool credit is offered, similar to an internship) at the firehouse, I get my hands dirt alot more then I could. I'm learning how to pump, how to run the tools of the trade, and have definately gotten a good dosage of the family back at the base. Learning about the trade is alot of fun, but I wouldn't be so interested if it's not what my grandfather did.

[expvol]

I am also in it because of the involvement with kids / pub ed. I love doing pr's and showing the kids what we do and making an impression. The dept that I am an explorer with has a day every year for children with special needs. It is a fun / learing / get to know your fd day. I look forward to it each year, all the smiling kids, all the fun.

[ndvfdff33]

Bones42 said: "to help people"

Amen Brother

[Anyway]

Originally posted by MOTOWN88


YO!!!! YOU FROM DETROIT?????

Nope - Did my times in Seattle (across the water actually) and Minneapolis/St Paul...

It is just amazing how fiesty those little old ladies can get..

Hugs all and be safe..

Anyway

[hwoods]

We did this one about a month ago, but here's my honest answer:
BECAUSE EVERYTHING ELSE IN LIFE IS BORING.

[firefiftyfive]

All you guys give good reasons... I have found that sometimes people just can't fathom why anyone would want to do it. At college when a professor asks me what my plans are and I tell them they are usually baffled. They say things like "why would you want to do that, you know you can die doing that." I even had one professor say " I hope you like the smell of smoke." Geeeee sorry I don't want to spend the rest of my life behind a desk like YOU!!! damnnnnnnnnnnnn... sorry little venting from an earlier convo today.. But it proves that some people just don't understand why we do or want to do something like FF.

[LeuitEFDems]

I started in the "helping others" business when I relized how much I was helped when I was younger. I had childhood nephrosis (a kidney disease) when I was younger and was in the hospital numerous times...both at home and at Boston Children's. When I wa sold enough, one of the members of the VFD asked me if I wanted to join...and without even thinking, I said yes. Also, I grew up with my mother having Lupus. I helped her out as much as I could, but wasn't there when she needed me the most. She went into cardiac arrest at home, and I was 45 mins away, listening to the whole thing on my pager driving to the hospital. She "survived" for 5 more days on life support...all through that time, I was still doing calls...I felt like I HAD to. The brother/sisterhood of the fire and EMS services is what helped get me though all of it. I got out of the rescue business for a while to to go school for tv engineering and after 1 semester I couldn't stand not being on the FD/ambulance anymore...so now I'm going through medic school. I plan on continuing to be part of fire/ems as long as possible..whether paid or volunteer. Sorry for the long winded explination, but that's why I am doing what I do today.