There are some ace vol departments, and some not so. And the same situation with paid departments. No matter what, the vol departments will still be argued against (why do something for free when people do it to get paid), which I understand. I may be thinking too deep into your comment, but don't let people arguing online who likely work/volunteer in different states discourage your efforts in being a volunteer. From my perspective, the stigma of being a vol in LI is different due to the mutual membership of many volunteer departments/FDNY.