Tag Archives: volunteer firefighter

As we discussed in my netcast on recruitment and retention last night at www.firefighternetcast.com, programs like Venturing, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Brownies, Cub Scouts, Boys & Girls Clubs and certainly Explorers and Junior Firefighters, etc. are all breeding grounds and a feeder system for youth development into the fire service.

"I urge all fire service leaders to develop, establish, disseminate, abide and enforce a Fire Service Code of Ethics.” Kelvin Cochran-United States Fire Administrator.

The FireRECRUITER joins FireCritic and FireDaily as their special guest on this week’s edition of Firefighter NetCast.

I took particular interest in the sample best practice document titled "Pledge to My Peers" that frankly, is appropriate to "kids of all ages" in our fire departments.

Who Can Afford to Volunteer? That's the question asked by Don Grogg, a commissioner for Harris County Emergency Service District No. 9 in Texas in this article titled: "Suburban Fire Districts Sound the Alarm" in the Houston Chronicle.

And while I think the author is right on the mark that prospective candidates should do their homework before signing on the dotted line, I disagree with emphasizing and entering fundraising into the conversation so early. There are too many other positive parts of our business that could be used to highlight the benefits of volunteering. Fundraising is one of those functions that some volunteers must do when they're not doing what they signed up to do -- fighting fires and providing emergency services.

In order for all potential applicants to have sufficient time to consider this revised policy guidance, DHS will extend the 2009 SAFER application period. The new application deadline will be 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, Friday, January 15, 2010.

Allowing interested candidates to specialize as fire police or pump operators is a great way to spread the work load. As the article says, not everyone needs to be the person running into the burning building as all the sane people are running out.

There's apparently a heated debate going on at FirefighterNation.com as to whether recruiting high school students to join the volunteer fire service, in whatever capacity, is a good idea.

I wrote a magazine article for FASNY’s The Volunteer Firefighter titled: “From the X-Box to the Box Alarm” that addresses today’s generation of firefighters and firefighter candidates. Given recent news articles and discussions, I think it’s relevant to revisit and ...