Want to be a Firefighter?

So You Want to Be a Firefighter?

So you want to be a firefighter? Maybe not. Before you become one of us, we want you to know what you do not. We cannot offer you the pay or benefits packages of more typical employers. That is why we are "public servants" and "volunteers." You should also know that you "volunteer" to belong - everything that follows in the fire service is "mandatory." It has to be. The services we provide quite literally involve life and death, including your own.

Fire departments are not social clubs. The days of the "good old boys," "bearded wonders," and "banquet firefighter" are gone. It has to be. Buildings burn with more intensity, hazardous material content, and risk of collapse, than ever before. Other organizations exist to fulfill your "party" needs.

Belonging will be time-consuming. Training. More training. Always, training. Firefighting is a "gamble." The only means you have placing the "odds" in your favor is education. Knowing how fire burns, clues of color and smoke, building construction and all the other things that must be learned may save your life, and the lives of others.

It also takes time to respond to alarms, do you duty and then get all the equipment and tools of the trade back in service. The work does not end when the fire goes out. Time is needed for station and vehicle maintenance, prevention, inspections, investigations, record keeping, parades, and fun raiser (there is never enough money). Time...the fire service requires lots of time.

Firefighting is physically demanding. Not all of the time - just each time you step foot on the truck to answer a call. Your heart pounds, adrenaline flows, and if you sane, you are also scared. You will wear almost 50 pounds of protective equipment. While wearing it, you will pull, push, climb, stretch, carry, lift, crouch, crawl, and breathe harder than you thought possible. Smoke and soot become your cologne. You will learn a new meaning of what it is to be truly "cold," "hot," "sore," and "tired." You may bleed, you will sweat, and some times you will shed tears.

Firefighting can be ugly. It can be blinding bright or blinding dark. It can be deadly silent, or have a deafening roar. You will see suffering and carnage in fires of the future not like those before.

So, you still want to be a firefighter? Then you might make it, you can make it; many have. The "bad" in firefighting is part of the "good". It is what makes us different. We do what others cannot. If you become one of us, you will share challenges, comradeships, and when we are successful, a sense of accomplishment that is second to none.

Your family become ours; and ours become yours. In our breed, you will experience an often strange sense of humor, and you will develop pride. Not boastful, bragging, cocky pride; rather an inner pride known only by those who have worn the gear. You will develop a respect for your co-workers across the nation, and for their job that exists in no other profession.

It is often said that "firefighting gets in your blood." That is not true. If you become one of us, it gets in your heart.

-- Author Unknown.