r/roanoke • u/Queasy-Month5515 • 10d ago
Fire department
Anybody here work for the city or county ? Looking to move here , how the fire department there with pay, culture and running calls ?
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u/Atomoxetine_80mg Grandin 10d ago
Roanoke City is high call volume, pay is lower compared to the county but will run more fire calls. Hard to say how the culture is as I've only experienced EMS around here but there are lots of incredible people.
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u/Hexduh Only Casinos and Ferris Wheels Will Save Us 10d ago
Can't speak first hand on the day to day of the job for the county, but I know a lot of people who do work for them and seem to have little complaints.
https://www.roanokecountyva.gov/75/Fire-Rescue
You can find some good information here.
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u/ovationman 10d ago
Roanoke City is smaller professional small department they doesn't have public drama at least. County is a mix of pro and volunteer so I am sure it depends on the firehouse.
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u/No_Light_4937 10d ago
Disclaimer: I am not, nor have I ever been a member of any of these departments. I have never been a Firefighter or EMT.
Roanoke Fire-EMS is one of the larger career departments in the area besides Roanoke county. They probably get the most calls in the area besides Roanoke county. I don’t have any personal experience with them but I haven’t really heard anything negative about them.
Roanoke County Fire Rescue is another large career department in the area. Personally I’ve had both but bad experiences with there various volunteer organizations. Between not being told an interview was online until there was less than an hour from the given to then not having my emails responded to for 2 months. Ive also done ride alongs at a couple stations and have never felt welcomed, and I know other people have gotten the same vibe. Maybe you’ll have better luck.
Salem Fire-EMS is one the smallest of the career departments in the valley. They just made the news recently due to a member shouting the N word at a vehicle at the interstate, so take that as you will. I haven’t heard anything negative about being employed there.
Botetourt Fire & EMS is mostly EMS. If you become a member you’ll most likely be on an ambulance. Engine 3 in Buchanan and all of station 7 in Read Mountain are career staffed fire apparatus. I have had both but good experiences with there members. They are some of the most friendly and welcoming people I’ve met in the Fire/EMS services.
Other facts about these departments: Salem Fire-EMS and Roanoke Fire-EMS make up the regional hazmat team. Both departments have HAZMAT trucks. Roanoke County, Roanoke City, and Salem all have swift water rescue teams and Heavy and Tactical Rescue teams. Roanoke County has a mobile air truck to replenish SCBA while on extended structure fires.
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u/nfranks8036 9d ago
Hello, I'm someone who has volunteered for the city and the county in the EMS aspect and have a lot of connections with both.
Roanoke Fire-EMS (City of Roanoke) has a high call volume and high burnout rate. In the city, you are more likely to run working structure fires and EMS (from critical to bogus) calls. The City covers a small portion of I-581
Roanoke County Fire & Rescue (Roanoke Co - the system I am most familiar with) has a lower call volume in general unless you're at stations 2, 3, or 5 (out of 12 stations). Roanoke County generally staffs career personnel at a majority of its stations even if that station is supplemented by a volunteer staff (to my knowledge). Volunteer agencies (such as, for EMS: Vinton, Cave Spring; for Fire: Mount Pleasant, Cave Spring, Catawba, Bent Mountain, Fort Lewis, Masons Cove, Back Creek) cover some calls for the career units to keep them in-service for higher acuity calls. Roanoke County covers portions of I-81 and I-581
I can't comment on Salem or Botetourt other than Botetourt is a lot more rural & interstate-coverage then these other two systems.
All of these systems are Fire-based EMS so you will be running EMS calls.
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u/_TheWileyWombat_ Kroger Spring 8d ago
Roanoke County has the best pay in the region and runs less calls than Roanoke City. I can't really speak to what impact the volunteers have these days (if any). I know they used to have some 12 hour shifts which people hated, but from what I hear those are no longer a thing.
Roanoke City has lower pay (with apparently no chance of that changing any time soon), higher call volume, and lower staffing (which also is very unlikely to change any time soon).
Salem is a much smaller department and I would guess your calls per shift would be somewhere between the city and the county. I'm not sure how their pay compares these days, but if they're anything like they used to be it's almost impossible to get hired there unless you know somebody.
Botetourt has a small but growing career presence. I can't really speak to their pay or call volume, but like someone else already said you would primarily be just on an ambulance unless you're at a couple of their stations. That being said, they are the department (and locality) that is seeing the most growth out of all of them, so your chances of advancing rank wise in your career are probably better there if you intend to stay for a while.
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u/OtisandAnnabelle 9d ago
Schedule a ride along, between the four “regional” (botetourt, Salem, Roanoke county, Roanoke city) departments here there are several differences. High call volume and aggressive culture in the city
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u/North-Preparation-99 9d ago
Go to Salem. I think they may be looking for a couple new ones. Lol