r/Firefighting Jul 10 '25

General Discussion Unpopular Opinions In the Fire Service

I am curious what other peoples unpopular opinions of the fire service are? I know there are alot of things we are doing or trying to do to improve the fire service as far as training and wellness, but I also know alot of it is just not that great in my opinion.

77 Upvotes

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56

u/Rich_Abroad1592 Jul 11 '25

Old guys refusing to let change happen with current practices. They constantly bitch but are able to retire. Also not training your probies to be the best FF they can be and complain when they make mistakes and belittle them.

22

u/superspeck Jul 11 '25

*the best FF for the current fire service not the best FF for the 1995 fire service

8

u/BobBret Jul 11 '25

I hope you don't mind my asking, but what do you see as the big differences between the current fire service and the 1995 fire service?

20

u/superspeck Jul 11 '25
  • Real Firefighters hate medic calls
  • Real Firefighters never clean their helmet and wear it to bed
  • Real Firefighters don’t SCBA until they can’t handle the smoke
  • Real Firefighters make probies clean bathrooms and wash trucks

I could probably go on. I don’t want to be a real firefighter in a lot of departments. Took some work to find a volunteer fit. Do it as a team or don’t do it at all.

-1

u/BobBret Jul 11 '25

I'm sorry, you lost me. But thanks for responding.

4

u/superspeck Jul 11 '25

Happy for you that you get to be a Real Firefighter

7

u/Rich_Abroad1592 Jul 11 '25

Massive influx of EMS calls and 911 abuse would be my main one. Back in the day people would call 911 when there was an actual emergency not toe pain at 2 am.

3

u/Material-Win-2781 Volunteer fire/EMS Jul 11 '25

My first EMS experience was in 89-92... One of our most infamous was a kid who had a 2nd degree burn on her fingertip from grabbing a pop tart right when it came out of the toaster.

2

u/BetCommercial286 Jul 11 '25

This dream world existed?! All I know is modern abuse and now I’m used to it.

0

u/BobBret Jul 11 '25

Thanks for answering