Unpopular Opinions In the Fire Service

[u/Launch_Rockface]

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.

[u/Agreeable-Emu886]

Seniority is the most overvalued thing in the fire service.

[u/Classic-Temporary635 → u/Agreeable-Emu886]

“I’ve been here 20 years! Wipe my ass and scrub my shit and piss off the toilets because I refuse to live a clean lifestyle and would rather make another grown ass man clean my feces off the toilet bowl because he’s been here less! If he doesn’t clean it everybody else can sit on the seat with piss on it!”Then they wonder why people don’t like working with them. Also, couldn’t give two fucks about your “seniority” if you don’t spread your knowledge and mentor young guys. If all you do is sit on your ass and not do shit, I couldn’t care less if you’ve “been there done that”. You’re not teaching me anything nor making your coworkers better which is selfish. It’s usually always senior guys who say “the brotherhood is dead!”.. well, you probably feel that way because you’re the source of the issue. Ask the young guys to train, be the one to try and form relationships with them. Young guys, like myself, are taught to shut the fuck up and go find something to do, so start a conversation with us. Get to know us. Ask us what we wanna work on. It’s hypocritical to sit there and belittle a new guy for not being very good at something when you don’t get your ass out of the recliner and teach them. I get being annoyed with people when you teach them things time and time again and they still don’t retain shit, but it’s outright disgusting and humiliating to young guys when the senior members just embarrass them and talk shit to em all shift. I’ll never be that guy cuz I had to work a shift like that and it was humiliating, embarrassing, and the worst part of all…fuckin boring as fuck.

[u/Peaches0k → u/Classic-Temporary635]

When the new guys on all 3 shifts take turns cleaning the same tools cause there isn’t fuck else to do while everyone else naps

[u/Classic-Temporary635 → u/Peaches0k]

I’m all for naps…where I work more times than not we’re up 80-90% of the night so a good nap after lunch should be fine….but wait a minute we’ve got chiefs all over the fuckin country (mine included) that have a set policy stating “no down time before (insert time)”. Which is bullshit and every chief knows it but weak chiefs are influenced into thinking “my firefighters need to earn their pay! They can’t nap all day! We’re gonna have a 9-5 schedule!”. This isn’t a 9-5 job, but chiefs that promote from shift work into 9-5 salary work think it’s a good idea to make rank and file schedules just like theirs which is bullshit. Personally I like to work out and train later in the day when it cools down (4pm-6pm) and it works great. I rarely take naps because the policy states no down time before 4pm but when he’s not there I could give a fuck and I will rest because I know I’m gonna fuck my sleep up for at least the next 48 hours so might as well try to make up for it during the middle of the day. I have always found 99% of chiefs that don’t work for big cities and work for small urban/rural departments were usually shit firemen who promoted up the ranks with good examples scores and having a long, wet and wide mouth and throat with bruises on their knees, if you know what I mean…and they all have the same thing in common…they love computers. Every good firemen I’ve met has hated computers and tech…target solutions can kiss my ass. I get more out of a gnarly extrication training in the hot ass son standing up and holding heavy ass tools all day than I do going online from the comfort of a recliner. Sorry I went on a rant…I’m a very up-beat and positive dude at the firehouse who loves the job and 90% of my coworkers and feel as though I’m well liked even if I’m not that experienced (only a couple years on but 3rd gen fireman whose grandfather and father were with big city dept)…but for the most part I feel I’m respected. The bullshit chores are a pain in the asshole too… one lieutenant I know makes us clean the toilets the morning we get to work AND before we leave work (what the fuck) just bullshit like that…stuff like cleaning ladders that haven’t been used in a couple of weeks lol that’s a funny one that I haven’t ever done…shit like that. All of that bullshit comes from a chief who feels as though it’s a crime to take advantage of the best part of the job…which besides fires is the ability to chill and watch movies with the boys with good food while getting paid to not really do any type of “work” when we’re not running calls. A good chief allows their guys to chill and nap when they want and need. A down-to-earth chief also knows almost all of us work side jobs either because the schedule allows or we just need/want more money…so the extra rest and fun time helps.

[u/Peaches0k → u/Classic-Temporary635]

We’re allowed per policy to nap for 1 hour a day but a guy has to be up in the common areas in case of visitors, phone calls, etc. Well guess who that lucky fella gets to be? The new guy. Now that I’m off probation I’ll nap after lunch and we usually nap for almost 2 hours. But not allowing the rookies a little shut eye in a rolling chair is pretty stupid