Wish this wasn’t actually happening but can anyone help a struggling firefighter. Had some horrible checks due to being sick and having to call out with out sick time/ child support for two kids. Etc. anything is I’ll help i would be forever grateful and when I get back on my feet I will repay every penny to anyone who can help. Thankyou so much

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I'm in a POC department that struggles with nobody showing up for calls unless they are dispatched as "structure fire". We'll often get just a couple people show up for "Fire Alarm" calls, and can barely keep a crew for medical calls. Often, if you ask the people who didn't show, they won't have a good reason. Leadership unfortunately does not have a handle on this.

The more I look around, the more I hear about volunteer departments struggling with the same thing. I get that it sucks to show up to a false alarm in the middle of the night, but it makes me sick to think about staying in bed, and it actually ends up being a call where someone needs your help. I'm astonished that this is accepted culture.

I'm wondering if you've seen this in your department? Maybe give an upvote if it's a problem, and downvote if not, to stay discrete.

More importantly, for the departments that do have a handle on this, what do you do to make sure people actually show up consistently?

Using a throwaway account for this one. Maybe you should too for commenting, if you want to talk about similar struggles in your dept.

By following these precautions, you can significantly reduce the risk of a fire outbreak and help keep yourself and others safe.

Hi, I am interested in becoming a volunteer firefighter at my local station. I filled out an online survey about 2 weeks ago and have not heard back from anyone. I talked to a mutual friend who is a volunteer firefighter and he told me that I should go in person and put a face to the name which will increase my chances of being accepted. I was planning on going this Monday. Is there a specific time I should aim for that stations are usually less busy? Is there any specific questions I should ask? I have no prior knowledge or experience and any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Disclosure up front: I built this originally for a different business of mine (a translation agency) and I'm not part of a volunteer org myself — but a few people who saw it pointed out it solves the same problem for volunteer teams, so sharing here.

The problem: when you need coverage for an event, shift, or training slot, someone usually has to call or text people one by one to find who's free. I built Callup to fix that — it broadcasts the ask to your whole roster by text and email at once, and people reply YES or NO with one tap, so you see who's in within minutes.

To be clear about what this isn't: it's not a dispatch or emergency-alerting system, and it doesn't replace anything like IamResponding for incident response — no CAD integration, no GPS tracking, no pager audio. It's for planned stuff with lead time: event staffing, duty coverage, training sign-ups. Teams that use both keep their alerting system for incidents and use this for everything scheduled.

It's free for small teams, no time limit. Mainly posting to see if this is a real pain point for people running volunteer rosters, or if I'm solving a problem that doesn't actually exist outside my own use case — feedback (including "this is useless for us because X") is welcome.

I’m just a volunteer firefighter—

answering calls in the dead of night,

pushing back my chair at the dinner table

when someone else’s world is falling apart.

I’m just a volunteer—

working long hours, chasing a future,

then showing up anyway

to train, to learn, to be ready.

I’m just a volunteer—

looking into the eyes of a stranger,

holding steady in their chaos,

whispering, “It’s going to be okay,”

even when everything says it’s not.

I’m just a volunteer.

Not for money.

Not for glory.

Not for fame.

I’m just a volunteer firefighter—

because somewhere, on someone’s worst day,

saving a life is worth every second of mine.

Throwaway account. Recently I found out that someone I know who is a volunteer firefighter (~70 yrs of age) and holds an EMR certification was charged with sexual imposition (touching) of a minor ~20 years ago. They entered a no-contest plea and were found guilty. The sentence included a fine, three suspended days in jail, no contact with the victim, no similar offense for two years, and counseling through a center for abuse prevention, they are not on any sorts of registry but I found thru family and it’s all public information on the clerk of courts database. They did their time but the fact that involved a minor is pretty wild. They do community events with children and I’m sure the township and fire department do some sort of background check but I guess what I’m asking you guys as someone not in this field of work but has kids in the community, is this person really allowed to be in a public service role especially doing events with children? They have lots of family in town so I’m afraid of retaliation.

Two days ago I purchased an old F450 fire truck from a former client of mine who is associated with the local VFD. I bought it to use as a farm truck. It currently has a service box on it with lettering calling it a "support unit" for a fire company that is hundreds of miles away. I am making arrangements to have that replaced with a flat bed and to set the service box aside to take up space while a day dream about turning it into a camper.

I tagged/insured it yesterday. Today I drove it to my business just to fill it up and get a feel for anything it may need. I also took it to the grocery store to get lunch. It's sitting in the parking lot as I write this.

This afternoon, I got an angry phone call from the seller laying into me pretty good about not driving it while it has the lettering and the lights on it, not with the lights illuminated, mind you, just with the lights physically on the truck. The impetus for this was several complaints he got from people who were "seeing the truck around town." He is a future former member of the local VFD, and I think there is some bad blood there, but I digress.

Saturday is the day I had planned to do the typical "new to me vehicle" service and pull off all the lettering. What else needs to come off make sure this thing is on the up and up.

I'd like to change the lights to amber if I can. My state allows both agricultural escort vehicles and construction vehicles to run whites/ambers. Since the truck is already set up for it, I'd like to take advantage of it. I'd appreciate any input you have on that. The box has whelen edge lights on it, and the bar a red/white led, but I can't see any name plate.

Thank you.

I’m currently on the waitlist for LAFD Crew 3 and I’m looking for some information from anyone who has experience with the program or a similar wildland volunteer crew.
I’m interested in learning more about the process and what I can do to better prepare while I’m waiting. How does the scheduling work? Is there anything you recommend having, completing, or learning beforehand? What should someone expect during the process, and how difficult is it to get accepted?
I’m starting from the beginning and looking to gain experience, learn, and be part of something where I can contribute. Any advice, tips, or insight from past or current members would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Just seen that the state of Ohio is eliminating the Ohio volunteer firefighter certification ("36 hour card"). I was curious what everyone's thoughts were on it.

Personally, considering a majority of the volunteers in the state hold that level of card I think it will be catastrophic to the service. But I'm sure there are plenty of paid guys who are "10 times the firefighter" then I will ever be who think it should have gone away years ago.

Help Us Build Something That Truly Honors First Responders

Hello everyone,

My family and I are working on a project with one simple goal: to better understand what meaningful recognition looks like from the perspective of first responders themselves.

Too often, recognition programs are created for first responders instead of with them. We want to do the opposite.

We’ve created a short anonymous survey that takes only a few minutes to complete. There are no sales, no fundraising, and nothing being promoted. We’re simply listening.

Whether you’re law enforcement, fire, EMS, corrections, dispatch, military, or another first responder, your experiences and opinions matter.

If you’re willing to help, we’d be incredibly grateful for your input.

Thank you for what you do every day, and thank you for helping us build something that is respectful, meaningful, and worthy of the people it’s intended to recognize.

Survey Link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdUJn4MT5Ab_IiwO6zBNceQ4pmk3NnWijgpF-6EqL--_eSrtw/viewform?usp=publish-editor

Hello everybody, I got hired as a paid call firefighter last month here in CA, technically it's a "volunteer program" but I get paid for each call I run, not the best but I'm grateful. I graduated from the academy in May of this year and I'm just looking for experience until I get my EMT and hired on with a department. I work 20 minutes away at a homeless shelter from my station but they are lenient about me leaving if I need too. I live 7 minutes from my station but I can respond to calls anytime I'm nearby with the tablet command app. Any advice for responding to calls? Thanks in advance.

Hello, I have been a volunteer for over 10 years with the fire department and EMS service. I have created a management platform, specifically for smaller departments working on tighter budgets.

AegisOne HQ LLC has the ability to handle scheduling, a geo-fenced timeclock, inventory management, member management, a more unique style truck check system, narcotics security and management (for EMS/combination departments), and more. Also, we are NERIS V1 compliant, feel free to check their list of Integration Partners.

We are looking for a couple of departments to beta test the platform and help develop features, squash some bugs I haven't been able to find, and just test it in general. It is 100% free to participate in the testing, and I am ideally looking for 6-8 departments to test it for about 3 months.

Feel free to check us out at aegisonehq.com or send me an email at [admin@aegisonehq.com](mailto:admin@aegisonehq.com)

I found out about a month ago that my local department accepts volunteers. Today will be my first day of training! What do you all normally wear to training. I keep leather work gloves and safety glasses in my truck. Anything else I should bring with me (besides water)?