People leaving children at the station semi-unattended at a volunteer station

[u/statuscaffeinepticus]

Hello all,

I am a volunteer firefighter/AEMT for a volunteer fire department. We have a station that is fully equipped for living out of (used to have a live-in program for college students) that a handful of people use. We have a TV room, bunk room, and a gym.

Several times now, I have arrived at the station and found children semi-unattended in the TV room. If it’s only for a short time it’s no big deal, but it does get kind of frustrating when the on-duty crew has to tiptoe around the kids. At previous departments, sometimes members would bring their kids for a tour or something. However, they were not left unattended in the living areas of the crews.

Once all the station duties are done, hit the gym, run calls and do paperwork, training, cook dinner, it’s nice to kick back and relax. It feels disrespectful to be leaving your children in the way of the crew(s). This is a fire department not a daycare?

This is mostly a vent and to see if anyone else has dealt with this.

[u/Impossible-Airline]

Are the kids' parent(s) at the station doing station-related work? If so, this is not an uncommon thing. When you are reliant on volunteers to accomplish all the stuff that has to happen to keep a fire department running, you can't be too picky about what they have to do to keep up with family and firehouse life. This is also how generational firefighters are made. The kids hang out at the firehouse while parent(s) are taking care of stuff and then the kids join once they are old enough. It is not seen as much these days as 20 years ago, but that doesn't make it a bad thing. Just try not to swear too much and keep the R-rated stuff off the TV. Otherwise, proceed to hang out and relax as usual around the station.

[u/statuscaffeinepticus → u/Impossible-Airline]

No, the problem is they’re leaving them unattended at the station while they are on calls or running personal errands. When I arrived at the station, the children were alone.

The crews often leave our station bags and stuff at the station when not on duty. There are only a handful of us who actually set duty times up but we essentially “staff” the station for anywhere from 12-16 hours. It’s becoming a pain to have to cater to the kids. If it was short periods of time it’s fine, but after hours of it it would be nice to be able to watch TV and not have to filter everything we say. We have to bring our bags with us now because there’s no lockers and I’m not leaving my bag with a vape or zyns in it for a 10 year old to find.

I know it’s not the end of the world but it feels like there should be a little more supervision. There’s no lock between the living quarters and the rig bays so they have access to the whole station.

[u/Curiouscreator46 → u/statuscaffeinepticus]

Oh heck no! I was a station kid, but I was never there by myself if my dad was on his shift (until I was old enough to drive and help out) and he never left me there to go run errands. They are essentially using the other volunteers as free babysitters and that’s not okay.

Other commenters have provided good solutions for SOPs. But as a self proclaimed station kid (although not similar to the ones you’ve dealt with), even I think that’s a bit much.

[u/yuki_the_god07 → u/statuscaffeinepticus]

You’re not overreacting. A fire department is a place of WORK. Would you leave your kid unattended in a restaurant kitchen? Probably not. A fire station is full of either dangerous equipment or personal items. Not the best place to leave a kid

[u/statuscaffeinepticus → u/yuki_the_god07]

Exactly, I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks that. I work here, even if it’s volunteer work, and for 2-3 days a week, I live here. I don’t want to worry about kids touching my food or belongings. I’m tired of policing my language and what I watch on TV because of them.