r/Firefighting • u/Launch_Rockface • 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.

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u/Strict-Canary-4175 Jul 11 '25

I don’t like fucking with the new kids that much. I expect them to do most of the work, let them take a nap and eat first.

I believe in being good at EMS. Yeah I don’t like it either, definitely not my first choice. But it’s so much of our job and there’s really not an excuse to be shitty at it.

I don’t believe in wearing fire gear for things besides drill and fire runs. I will never force my guys to wear bunker pants on EMS runs because they have shorts or sweats on because they were working out or sleeping. The gear is killing us and people don’t want that dirty shit in their house anyway.

This job can’t be your whole life, and personality. Leave your whacker t shirts at home and get a hobby that doesn’t have anything to do with the job.

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u/tamman2000 Jul 11 '25

I'm a volly with about 18 months in my department.

We have a 23 year old on my department that shows up to lift assists in boots and bunker pants. I haven't said anything about it yet (partly because we're a really small town and I live a lot closer than he does to most of our calls, so I've only noticed that it's consistent in the last week. Also, he's the chief's son) but I can't imagine why he would show up in POV then put on bunker pants to walk into someone's house when there is no risk of fire. It's one thing if you were training when you caught a medical call, but it's another to put them on just for the call so you can track soot into a stranger's house.

It reeks of "look, I'm a firefighter". No shit you're a firefighter. They called 911 and you showed up.

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u/Benny303 Jul 12 '25

A lot of the arguments I see against it is "tracking soot and carcinogens in people's homes" but you should be washing your gear after every fire with the proper detergent. Then that's a non issue.

2

u/tamman2000 Jul 12 '25

The washing is imperfect, and the boots are the part of the kit that gets the least attention in a wash.