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u/hallbuzz Jun 22 '25
Years ago I read a newspaper article/story about a rookie who went on his first actual fire call. He was a year in.
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u/Affectionate-Bag-611 Jun 22 '25
I went two years without a working structure fire once. And I was in what was considered a "busy" area for fires.
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u/hockeyjerseyaccount Jun 22 '25
I worked with a dude who had been in one fire in 8 years. He was a real asshole, too.
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u/grim_wizard Now with more bitter flavor Jun 22 '25
Was it that FDNY guy who not only had his first fire late but rescued a child too?
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u/hallbuzz Jun 22 '25
It was in Colorado Springs, probably about 1997.
BTW, I was a volunteer firefighter in Alaska on the early 90's. Wildland interface everywhere; home owner/builders ignoring codes always. Shit burned down all the time. Twice I was at a structure call and we were toned out for another structure call. Several fires in one week was common; mostly wildland. Two fires in a day also happened more than I could count. Being a rural volunteer meant driving 10 miles to the station, gearing up and then driving to the fire which almost always was fully involved and then running out of water in a few minutes because we hauled it all in tankers. I think we partially saved 2 houses out of more than I could count,
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u/HumanoidThaiphoon Jun 22 '25
First week of July is the end of my probation year… I went on 1 grass fire… that’s it. And it took 3 minutes to resolve
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u/Ill-Zookeepergame358 Jun 22 '25
10% of y’all’s calls are fires? I’m jealous
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u/Maswope Jun 22 '25
Not fires, just related to the fire service, like fire alarms and fire investigations. I’d say the that takes up 8-9 of that 10%.
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u/Gtstricky Jun 22 '25
No one talking about how baking really is 90%… well… baking. It is in the oven much more than measuring 2 cups of flour. Anyway, gotta run a lift assist.
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u/Coffee-FlavoredSweat FF/EMT Jun 22 '25
SCBA lasts 15 minutes, call last 4 hours.
90% overhaul and rolling hose.
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u/BlackIron1six Jun 22 '25
My department still has single certs, we average about 120k maybe more calls a year and it wanna say 100k are medicals....mostly toe pain
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u/PutinsRustedPistol Jun 22 '25
Fuck that. I’m so fucking glad that EMS is separate in our department.
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u/SuperglotticMan Jun 22 '25
What do you guys do all day? If we didn’t have EMS we’d run like 5 calls a day and they’d be fire alarms and car accidents
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u/Ok_Buddy_9087 Edit to create your own flair Jun 22 '25
Department near me not only has separate EMS, they don’t even go to car accidents unless they’re on the highway or EMS asks for them.
And in a completely unrelated story, they’re also the only area department to have laid anybody off in the last 20 years .
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u/HalliganHooligan FF/EMT Jun 23 '25
As it should be. Using BS EMS calls for justification of positions is why the fire service is in its state today.
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u/South-Specific7095 Jun 22 '25
We run our own ambo calls, but it's seniority and only the bottom 2 guys are on the box. No chasing, no ALS, ONLY BLS. Unheard of right? And we are considered busy fire wise. The rest of the guys do just that-sit around, do some MVCS, and relax
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u/BriGuy550 Jun 22 '25
I’m the opposite. 😂 Would much rather do EMS all day than have working fires all the time.
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u/Small-Wrongdoer8745 Jun 23 '25
They should really start calling it “EMS based fire.” Thats what it is.
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u/Cpt_Soban Volunteer Firefighter Australia Jun 24 '25
For us out here in rural Australia - It's 90% training for a bushfire, then finally getting that one bushfire callout.
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u/Tccrdj Jun 24 '25
We work 8 days a month. Add in sick days and vacation and FF’ing is 90% NOT ON DUTY.
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u/MountainMacaron5400 Jun 24 '25 edited Jun 24 '25
That’s, uh… a pretty hot take. Are you on a 4 shift rotation?
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u/DaBeegDeek Jun 22 '25
It's crazy because when I found this sub I assumed it would be about firefighting... Like, actual tactics, stories, videos and shit like that. But all it is is a bunch of EMS dorks who never go to fires, hope their brothers that do go to work get cancer and have this fake humility thing going.
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u/South-Specific7095 Jun 22 '25
There are no fires anymore bro. I started in 2013 and we had about 10 GOOD fires a year . And we are a "busy" town. Now? Shit 0-2 fires a year. People getting all smart and shit and up to code...psh
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u/Waffles101610 Jun 22 '25
Depends on your city. My city is pretty old and has some poor areas. We get around 120 fires a year. Probably 15-20 per platoon that are worth talking about.
I think most people that get a fair amount of fires are like military that actually go into action. Most don’t like to talk about it.
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u/DaBeegDeek Jun 22 '25
We get at least 10 "good" fires a year, and that's on the low end. But still, the amount of whining never stops here. When people do get jobs y'all say they suck at them and they're probably gonna die. This has to be the most negative sub on Reddit, I'm not even exaggerating.
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u/Personal_Lemon8957 Jun 23 '25
If that’s your attitude about EMS, you’re not the guy I want showing up at my loved one’s house. As was told to me long ago when I was on probation, we save far more lives at EMS. It should be trained with the same rigor as firefighting.
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u/SirNedKingOfGila Volly FF/EMT Jun 22 '25
I didn't realize when I started down the path. At that time it was still in transition to what it is today. Ended up becoming a volly and only doing fire calls.
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u/WittyClerk Jun 22 '25
The private nursing homes ought to be held accountable for the endless lift-assist calls, and start hiring competent staff, and paying their staff livable wages to do their jobs. Such a waste of resources. I've heard some fire departments have started charging for lift calls. Sounds like a swell idea.