Posted on 04/26/2019 3:56:33 AM PDT by knarf
If a small town has a need for a fire department, why is it more often than not a volunteer fire department ?
Should't the same taxes that paid fire departments operate from serve the smaller community ?
The short answer is if you have a mortgage you need fire insurance. If you don’t have a fire dept. in your area you’ll either find you can’t get insurance or it’s extremely costly.
I participate in fund raisers for equipment, money for training, insurance etc.and our community is fairly supportive. {Like all things, we have our cheap ass freeloaders}.
Our taxes are through the roof now, but if we had to pay our firemen, many couldn't afford to live here.
As others have stated up thread, small communities do not have the tax base to afford fulltime paid first responders. Also there are some volunteer fire/ems departments that are closing or limiting services because the taxpayers in their districts are voting down tax increases or tax renewals. Of course that is the right, privilege, and prerogative of the citizens, but you get the services you pay for.
Yup. It can get fun working on those. Being able to stand there in the same room as a major fire and fighting it really gets the adrenaline pumping. Usually the building or car is already toast by the time you get there, so you don't have to worry about any damage you cause.
Over 60 posts in this thread and only a few that are informed.
It is true that in a metro area paid firefighters may be running calls all shift long. But not everyone lives or wants to live in a metro area. I’m one of those that lives in a semi-rural area because that is where I want to live. Sorry I that offends.
I am at this point in my miserable life 2 weeks away from my 61st birthday. I have 20 years in the fire service as a volunteer. I have Pro-Board certs in FF1/FF2, HazMat Tech., Confined Space, Pump Ops and also I’m a volunteer EMT. As a firefighter I run about 3 calls a week, still do interior fire suppression (i.e. I wear an air pack) and I’m an officer in my county Firemen’s Association. I still work full time at my regular job that has nothing to do with the fire service. I have three college degrees and make a comfortable living.
Being a volunteer firefighter is both a curse and a blessing. This is something that is in the blood, something I always wanted to do and I’m unable to quit. On the other hand, while there are exceptions, it is a thankless unpaid job. Most people, in particular young people are under the impression that we are paid. I think the percentage of firefighters that are paid is about 25% of the total.
My particular fire company receives from the township $30K per year and pays for our diesel fuel and insurance. That’s it. Our annual budget is about $110k. We have at this time 28 active firefighters and we train hard once a week. There are 19 fire districts in my county all volunteer. Of those 19 districts, mine runs the 2nd or 3rd most number of calls per year on average (about 200), we have the most active number of firefighters in the county and the highest percentage of state certified firefighters at 80%. All of our truck drivers have at the minimum a class B CDL.
In my district there are about 1100 dwellings and commercial structures. About 20% of those are in areas that have hydrants, the balance require tanker service. What a lot of people don’t get and I’m not sure why this is, but we do not have a crystal ball to predict when a fire will break out. We only respond when we are called. If 3 of the 6 rooms in your house are burning, there is not a whole lot anyone can do to save the place intact regardless paid or volunteer.
My district is 16 square miles, we respond well within the NFPA guidelines as far as time and assets are concerned. The bulk of our calls are on the PA Turnpike for MVAs, generally involving out of the area persons driving like as*holes and experimenting with street drugs.
I live in a rural ‘Fire Protection District’, i.e. my taxes pay to support the buildings and the trucks, but the trucks are manned by volunteers. But before the district was formed, the volunteer fire department sold annual subscriptions. If you paid the fee, they put a sticker on your house and would fight the fire at no further charge, if you didn’t pay the fee, you would be charged for the cost of putting out the fire. In fact this system is/was an historical holdover. A city might have several fire departments whose job it was to fight fires at insured homes or prevent fires from spreading to insured homes.
I’m the kind of guy that will ask directions of someone just to engage in conversation ..... Read all what’s happening here ...
I’m the kind of guy that will ask directions of someone just to engage in conversation ..... Read all what’s happening here ...
I live in a town of about 1000
I'm the kind of guy that will ask directions of someone just to engage in conversation ..... Read all what's happening here ...
I'm the kind of guy that will ask directions of someone just to engage in conversation ..... Read all what's happening here ...
I'm the kind of guy that will ask directions of someone just to engage in conversation ..... Read all what's happening here ...
I'm the kind of guy that will ask directions of someone just to engage in conversation ..... Read all what's happening here ...
I'm the kind of guy that will ask directions of someone just to engage in conversation ..... Read all what's happening here ...
I'm the kind of guy that will ask directions of someone just to engage in conversation ..... Read all what's happening here ...
I'm the kind of guy that will ask directions of someone just to engage in conversation ..... Read all what's happening here ...
Thank you
I'm the kind of guy that will ask directions of someone just to engage in conversation ..... Read all what's happening here ...
Fire departments are slightly different because they were originally established to protect the public, not a collection of individuals or businesses. Fire departments were set up in cities at a time when the possibility of a fire in one building spreading to surrounding buildings -- and potentially even engulfing entire neighborhoods -- was a real threat. When the fire department responds to a fire at your home, one of its primary purposes is to protect not your home, but the neighbors' homes.
You’re welcome! Thanks for starting a great conversation!
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