The Results are in.......

What is the biggest misconception that the public has about firefighter/fire departments?

I posed this question to our FDI social media outlets the other day and fire chiefs throughout the United States with overwhelming responses.  Here is the TOP ANWERS:

“That we watch TV all day”

“Sit around all day in arm chairs sleeping”

“Play Dominos”

“People don’t realize all the training we have to do to keep up with the times. We not only train on the fire side of things but also on the EMS side now because most departments provide both services.”

Lets take the 24 on/48 off schedule of a firefighter for example. From the time they get to work their job does not stop. They have to do their daily checks of equipment and apparatuses, maintenance checks, station duties, training to keep them on top of the game….the list can go on and on.

 I have not even begun to mention what the firefighter main job priority: TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY.  The numerous non-emergency and emergency calls that one station can get in a day along with the crazy hours they will come in changes constantly, they are on-call from the moment they arrive until they leave which may or may not be in that 24 hour period depending on the types of emergencies.  Here are a few more:

“They don’t understand why it takes three firefighters to go shopping in an engine.”

“Rescue Cats in trees”

“Pose for Calendars”

“People think the firehouse should be open 24/7 to the public and we should not lock it up.”

And the #1 response to the question was:

“That we are all PAID for the job we do!”

I believe this is note worthy as 71% of all fire departments in the United States are Volunteer Fire Departments according to the FEMA  2012 National Fire Department Censes: http://apps.usfa.fema.gov/census/summary.cfm

The definition of a volunteer is someone who does work without being paid for it, because they want to do it.  In the fire service, there are career (paid) firefighters and volunteers. Both are typically trained equally and perform the same job. A volunteer may be more community minded. They have a vested interest in the community because they perform the job as a sense of duty to their friends, neighbors and family.   

Whether private, volunteer or municipal firefighters, they are all professionals and ARE MUCH NEEDED IN OUR WORLD. They do the jobs that most of us do not or could not imagine doing with enthusiasm, zeal, and passion without regard to the weather, time of day, location or type of call.

Could you imagine if we had no one to protect our communities from fires, medical emergencies and catastrophes? Firefighters are our first community’s first defense in emergency and non-emergency situations.

So, next time you wonder what a firefighter does, go visit your community fire house or go to the next fundraiser they have, shake their hand and ask questions.  Support your firefighters by being involved and helping those who help others.  Never assume you know what the day and life of a firefighter consists of, because it is constantly changing and new challenges arise with out warning.

-Michele