What to expect as a vol. ?

[phycon]

How much time do most vol. put in per week?
im thinking about joining while im still in school. could i vol. after school and on weekends?
also any other advice would be gladly accepted.
Thanks

[XRaysJL]

The best advice I can give is to go down to your nearest volunteer fire dept. and talk with the fire chief or other fire personnel there. Usually there is a minimum age requirement to be a volunteer firefighter. There may be other positions available like a fire explorer or something like that. These positions are actually a pretty good way to get your foot in the door metaphorically speaking. But in the end the best information will be from your local volunteer fire dept.

[ndvfdff33]

The time put in is varied. Between calls,training,fundraisers and other odd jobs to be done I never really have a set amount of hours that are put in. Some put in more time than others depending on the jobs that are required to get done.


As for volunteering while in school and when can you respond. Those are questions for you to ask the FD. Do they even have a Junior program etc.


If you do get on. Keep your ears open, Ask questions, Try and take something from everything you do. It's a great stepping stone if your looking to get into firefighting down the road. Try and have a little fun too!

[Resq1scnd2none]

The hours you could put in really are to hard to count. One day there could be no calls, the next you are out all day (or night). Then there is training, classes, fund raisers...list goes on.
Being you local department is volunteer, I am sure if you gave even 5 mintues of your time, they would be grateful.

[IAmJeff]

i cant remember ever telling someone who came to the house for info on volunteering there was nothing they could do. the main limiting factor in my experience is age (insurance reasons and govt regulation im sure). i think we have 1 or 2 "associates that are still in high school. they come to training and i believe are allowed to go thru our cadet academy like everyone else, but not allowed to work shifts. im honestly not that sure. at my vol. dept we are required to work 3 12 hr shifts per month, and respond to all calls when necessary. the shifts are great because you can get a lot of training done while not on call. its hard to say how much time i spend at the dept. it really depends on how much time you are willing to spend. for me, the more time i spend at the dept is more time spent working towards my certs. the best thing to do is just go talk to you local dept and find out how they operate. i promise they wont bite, at least not untill you are a probie. :-) seriously tho, they will appreciate any interest from the community.

-Jeff

[TNFF319]

I started volunteering as soon as I turned 18. I go to all the calls I can. I would ask the chief how he feels about you missing school. I would go to school late sometimes but never left from school. If they ever needed me in school the chief knew to call my parents and they would come get me. Good luck and stay safe.

[phycon]

thanks for the tips, im gonna go talk to the dept.

[sts060]

Like the others have said, you need to talk to your nearest vol. dept. You might have more than one option, too.

Also, depending on where you live, you may have a department that has "standby" times where you are at the station. That's what it's like where I live; we don't respond from home. For example, I pull a weekly standby which works out to about 15 hours/week, but it's all at one time. There are also dept. meetings, training, special event coverage, etc. I probably average about 100 hours per month over the year, but that is not scattered throughout the day as with depts. whose members respond from home or work.

[dday05]

How much time do most vol. put in per week?
im thinking about joining while im still in school. could i vol. after school and on weekends?
also any other advice would be gladly accepted.
Thanks

You should stop at the fd on their drill night and ask some questions. Good Luck and put your school work first. The fd will still be there when you're done with school.

[Steamin441]

Dday05 really set the bar. School/education first. If it is that pure drive for the fire service it won't go away. Get involved though. Let them know that you are serious.
You have not said if you are going on to continuing education or if not a full time job can reduce your response depending on the shift and or your supervisor.
At any rate the first two years will have the greatest concentration of training.(unless you have access to an academy program).
The real test of how much time you are willing to give is if you are going to shine on the girlfriend to hang out at the station. (only partially kidding) Good luck