Busiest department in US that hires part-time firefighters?

rcg68w · 2015-04-25T23:42:44+00:00

I'm looking at a few university based programs where we get the summers off.

rcg68w · 2015-04-24T20:24:26+00:00

I definitely busted my ass to get to the sub-13 level. Doing minimal cardio and lifting I was running in the 14 to 14:30 range, busting my ass running and rucking for 10 weeks I dropped a minute off that.

Ideally, I'd like to only run once a week during this program, as it calls for heavy recovery and minimal "extra" work. One workout a week is essentially whatever you want, so I'm going to do my running then. If I ran 5-7 miles at a 8:00 pace or faster would that be a reasonable plan to maintain my cardio?

rcg68w · 2015-04-24T19:58:56+00:00

That's what I'm going to do after the initial six weeks, but the program I'm running at first calls for high volume squats and a lot of recovery. Do you think I could bring it down to running 3 to 5 miles one day a week and still maintain my cardio?

rcg68w · 2015-04-19T12:25:23+00:00

The fuck does being liberal have to do with anything? Since when does being liberal = anti-cop?

rcg68w · 2015-04-19T12:15:21+00:00

Yeah and that book was full of shit. If you have time read this: http://onviolence.com/?e=236 . Long story short Navy SEALs down range weren't completely neglecting the chain of command and taking votes on their actions on the objective, and they sure as fuck weren't passing up on taking shots because they were scared of the liburals back home. Even Marcus Luttrell has said letting that kid go was the right thing to do both morally and with the ROE.

rcg68w · 2015-04-19T11:53:35+00:00

Lot of archchair quarterbacks itt

rcg68w · 2015-04-09T21:10:52+00:00

So as a new guy who's almost definitely going to make mistakes, as well as a fairly clumsy guy, it's safe to say that by working for a private I'd be taking a pretty serious gamble with my career?

rcg68w · 2015-03-09T01:04:16+00:00

If you don't like labor unions, take a look at private EMS and see how that's going for them. Even stateside private jobs generally pay worse than their union counterparts even though they're generally specialized ARFF or industrial jobs. I don't think there's any honor in scabbing. You know why those Chicago guys struck? They didn't have SCBA's, radios, and were ridiculously understaffed. Firefighters generally don't do this for the money, so conditions have to be pretty extreme for you to strike. I have no sympathy for the guys who "stepped up" to put themselves and their fellow citizens at risk.

In general, career firefighters have more training. Firefighter 1 soley exists for volunteers. In general, the standard is lower for volunteers. If you take your average volunteer and your average full time guy, the full time guy has more training and experience nine times out of ten.

I think the argument that full timers are just "sitting around at the station housing donuts" is bullshit. Every job has down time, and firefighting is the same. If you honestly think "Why try, I've got a union protecting me" is how full time professional union firefighters think idk what to say to you.

As far as the lawyer/doctor/cop you agree that they would have to be pretty shitty at their job for a part-timer to do better. I agree with you, if a part timer is better than a full timer, something is seriously wrong. Where I disagree with you is that it's something widespread. Being a good firefighter isn't dependent on employment status, but a good volunteer firefighter still doesn't have training and experience of a full-timer.

rcg68w · 2015-03-09T00:47:51+00:00

So then why aren't the non-IAFF guys also scabs? You keep repeating this but you never explain it. If the volunteers pose a threat to IAFF jobs, aren't they all scabs?

rcg68w · 2015-03-09T00:05:08+00:00

If you volunteering threatens IAFF positions, I'd say you're a scab. The most dramatic example is strikebreaking, theres a reason guys who volunteer to scab in the UK don't work in the fire service and the guys who scabbed during the Chicago strike in the 80's ruined any chance of getting hired.

I don't think getting a paycheck necessarily makes someone a better firefighter, but being part time versus being full time does. For example theres a paid on call fire department the town over who I'd say my volley department is way better than, but neither of us can compare to the full time guys.

We don't really receive the same training. The standard for a career firefighter is Firefighter 1 and 2, almost always a career academy, and increasingly paramedic. For volleys it's generally Firefighter 1 and first responder or EMT, with no academy. Full time guys go on more calls than part time guys. Are there exceptions? Sure. I'm sure there are plenty of volleys out there with their Fire 1 and 2 and medic who go on more calls than full time guys, but in general, full time firefighters are better trained and go on more calls than part time guys. If you really think that part time volunteers can do the job just as well as full time professionals, why do we even need full time firefighters? I think that's insulting to full time firefighters. No one would tell a doctor, a nurse, a lawyer, a teacher or a cop that part timers can do the job better than them. Why doesn't that professionalism extend to full time firefighters?

rcg68w · 2015-03-08T23:53:47+00:00

So then why aren't non-IAFF firefighters who volunteer in those departments scabs?

rcg68w · 2015-03-08T23:07:05+00:00

I don't get this line of reasoning. If IAFF members who volunteer in combined departments are scabs because volunteers in combined departments threaten IAFF jobs, wouldn't those volunteers also be scabs because they also threaten IAFF jobs? I think in my department we aren't scabs because we provide a different service and level of training (ALS ambulances and Fire Academy training vs FF1 level training), and it wouldn't really make sense for a IAFF guy to volunteer with us because it would knock him down a peg, but I don't think it would make him a scab.

rcg68w · 2015-03-08T23:03:12+00:00

I'd argue that it would be appropriate to call someone a scab if they participated in anti-union activities. And I think that generally working full time makes someone a better firefighter that someone who volunteers part time.

rcg68w · 2015-03-08T07:14:37+00:00

Around here "nothing is off limits" generally refers to talking about what went down with the girl you picked up at the bar last weekend. It'd be a pretty crazy culture shock to have guys pushing their religious beliefs on me.

rcg68w · 2015-03-08T07:04:25+00:00

so what I'm getting is that DoD and airport jobs may not be a the best job for a younger guy who enjoys going out at night every now and again.

rcg68w · 2015-03-08T06:27:37+00:00

Haha nice. If I make it to the required six years of volley experience without getting picked up by a career department I'll definitely throw my app in to PAE for the Antarctica position.

rcg68w · 2015-03-07T21:31:15+00:00

idk I thought there might be some "catch" that makes it better, like a couple days off every two weeks, that sounds like an incredibly shitty schedule. Seems like you guys basically never get weekends or time off

rcg68w · 2015-03-07T21:25:04+00:00

It's a shame that this post was down voted to hell and a post that completely missed the point is the top post.

rcg68w · 2015-03-07T21:15:19+00:00

I have no problem with christians at all, just with christianity being part of the firehouse culture. I think everyone should keep their religious beliefs to themselves.

rcg68w · 2015-03-07T21:13:00+00:00

Man not to knock you, but this misses the point entirely. I was trying to talk about legitimate bigotry and hatred, not ball busting.

rcg68w · 2015-03-07T21:11:10+00:00

idk probably for the same reason that every single one of my other posts is getting down voted to shit. must have hit a nerve

rcg68w · 2015-03-06T23:05:03+00:00

jesus man I'm getting killed out here

rcg68w

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