r/Firefighting • u/CaseStraight1244 NJ Career • 4d ago
General Discussion Losing faith in the fire service of my home state
It’s painful to say this out loud, but I’m steadily losing faith in the fire service here at home. A system that once stood for pride, service, and strength has slowly become a shadow of what it used to be, and what it should be.
We are watching a profession built on grit, honor, and sacrifice fall behind the times. Where innovation should be driving progress, we instead see outdated systems, resistant leadership, and a shocking unwillingness to evolve. New challenges arise daily, but the same tired solutions are pushed by those unwilling or unable to lead effectively.
Promotions are handed out based on politics and popularity rather than merit, experience, or vision. Incompetent leadership has become normalized, and those who truly care about the future of the fire service are sidelined. Meanwhile, firefighter morale is quietly deteriorating behind firehouse doors.
Towns that once stood behind us with pride now treat us as an afterthought — cutting budgets, ignoring warnings, and expecting more with less. Every department now is responding to fewer actual emergencies, yet our responsibilities keep expanding. Medicals, lift assists, alarms. We’re being stretched thin in all the wrong places while our training, equipment, and support fall further behind.
Volunteer departments are struggling to put trucks on the road. Calls go unanswered because the help just isn’t there. Career departments are handcuffed by internal politics, bureaucracy, and decision-makers who haven’t seen the inside of a truck in decades.
Worse still, the applicant pool is shrinking. Fewer people want to do this job — not because it’s hard, but because the passion that once lit this career path has been dimmed by dysfunction, burnout, and a system that no longer values its people the way it should. It’s heartbreaking. It’s frustrating. And it’s dangerous.
This isn't about nostalgia. It's not about the “good old days.” It’s about survival. It’s about the future of the fire service and whether or not we’re brave enough to fix what’s broken before it breaks completely.
To those still fighting the good fight: you're not alone. And to those in leadership: it’s time to wake up. Reform isn't optional anymore, it’s overdue.
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u/jps2777 TX FF/Paramedic 4d ago
When I started 16 years ago there would be a minimum of around 100:1 applicant to opening ratio basically everywhere in the state. I'm at one of the best paid depts in my state, so we get more applicants than most places... It's now maybe 3:1 for us and we get the most applications of our area. Neighboring places might get barely enough applicants to fill a few openings.
Quality of new hires have gone to shit. Chiefs are basically forced to lower physical standards, make everything unfailable, just so they can put people on trucks who never would've made it in the past. It's so easy to get fire jobs these days.
This is before we even start with the burnout that low acuity calls cause. Frequent "bullshit" runs burns firefighters out with a swiftness. Because typically the workload on those types of runs is extremely unbalanced, almost always getting dumped onto members with less tenure while senior members do less work. So we burnout our newer guys, and then they leave because like I already said, it's easier than ever to get fire jobs. Cycle then repeats itself with the next batch of guys.
Few problems I would love to see solved before I retire. Not holding my breath though.
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u/R1CHARDCRANIUM Firefighter/EMT/Rescue Diver 4d ago
One of my guys just applied for a nearby city. They used to get hundreds of applicants for 2 or 3 openings. This last testing cycle, they had 30 applicants for 23 openings. They hired four of them. My guy wasn’t one of them even though he’s in exceptional physical shape, smart as fuck, eager to learn with a great attitude, FF2, EMT, AARF, and HAZMAT certified. It makes no sense.
I saw the guys they did hire when I stopped in to wash some gear (our washer is broken). One was a 45 year old asshole, heavy smoker, who just got out of the Army. I know him because I interviewed him for our department and he’s a complete moron. No fire experience at all.
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u/paramoody 4d ago
This post was written with generative AI
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3d ago edited 3d ago
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u/paramoody 3d ago
I don't know or care if the next-word-prediction machine that wrote this is right or wrong about the state of firefighting in New Jersey. I'm not reading AI slop.
The ability to organize your thoughts into a brief essay to argue a point is very much a prerequisite to being a firefighter in my state. Maybe New Jersey should look into that.
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u/oakenh4rt 3d ago
If you don't think what you have to say is worth the effort it takes to use your own words, why should anyone else think that it's worth listening to?
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3d ago
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u/oakenh4rt 3d ago
Dude, this is 90% platitudes and vague statements. The current state of the fire service is flawed, but generative AI can't effectively identify the causes or argue for solutions. If you want to effect positive change on the fire service, then you should first be able to communicate what the flaws are on your own.
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u/ballfed_turkey 4d ago
This is tough to read. My job is civil service and promotions are based on test scores with a percentage of total score given for experience and education. That’s said, the job has changed and there are less candidates. People job hop for a few dollars and if you run EMS units the burnout from “non emergent” calls is a real thing. We need to be real in our expectations.
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u/beangobagins 4d ago
“We’re being stretched thin in all the wrong places while our training, equipment, and support fall further behind”
Strong!
Im seeing in EMS too the emphasis of liability is detrimental to patient care. Instead of resourcing training and maintaining provider standards, management will toss out long standing protocols that put the company at risk of being sued.
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u/AdventurousTap2171 3d ago
I recently spent 60 hours creating a detailed presentation about why we should run intercepts with our BLS ambulance in my vol dept.
The main reason being that it takes 1hr for a town als ambulance to get to my district. When you figure time waiting for the ambulance to arrive, time loading patient, and time to hospital you're talking 2hrs+ until patient gets to a basic hospital.
I created example calls and exact driving times definitively proving an average time to hospital savings of 30 minutes per call for the patient, which is HUGE in ems.
The plan was shot down mid presentation. Why? Because "we've always done without intercepts, nobody complains". Oh, and I was told by a couple of bearded "firemen" who are too out of shape to use an scba that they'd rather focus on fire calls (all 3 annual fire calls instead of the 225 ems calls).
Whatever. What a bunch of boobs. I'm with you, lots of ding dongs in the service unwilling to progress.
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u/BetCommercial286 1d ago
Don’t you see the wonders of American firefighting? “200 years of tradition unimpeded by progress”
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u/GuyInNorthCarolina 16h ago
The lack of focus on what can be most impactful to actual life safety can be extremely frustrating. Happens in many ways where anything that might require change to save lives unrelated to fires gets ignored.
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u/R1CHARDCRANIUM Firefighter/EMT/Rescue Diver 4d ago
We’re slipping into a path of complacency and disrepair. The federal funds we rely on to function are gone. We normally have response teams available to go and assist anywhere in the US and Canada with wildfires every single year. It’s one of my favorite details. We weren’t able to put anything together this year. We have half a dozen brush trucks just sitting there collecting dust since it’s been wet here and we’re refusing to do mutual aid to anyone except the counties next to us. Equipment that needs replacing is sitting on the shelf waiting to be replaced. We are missing a pack from the engine because the regulator needs replacing. Our washer is broken and cannot be replaced so one of us has to take everyone’s bunkers to another station to wash them. We were in the process of replacing everyone’s bunkers but had to stop halfway through when the money was frozen. Now a bunch of firefighters have expired gear with no replacement in sight. Attitudes are suffering as a result of all the restrictions placed on us.
We need to manage fuel use in the apparatus when training so yesterday we did not run the pump during hose operation training. We had to imagine we were spraying water and pretend to operate the pump. I was training probationary firefighters how to operate the pump without being able to run it. We are not taking the engine or quint to all medical calls now, just certain ones. We’re relying on the military base’s fire department a lot more for mutual aid.
Then there’s recruitment. We’re a mostly part-time department and get $20-$30 an hour while on calls or training, depending on rank. So it’s decent supplemental income. I made an extra $2k in July. Now they’re going to start bringing new people in starting next FY as stipend firefighters who’ll make $20-$30 per call. So recruitment is hurting. I used to do at least three interviews each month. I haven’t done one since May. My station is only 2/3 staffed so some calls are straight up not being answered unless the city or military can respond. Nobody responded to a sparking transformer last weekend until it became a grass fire that ended up burning four acres.
Morale is in the shitter. We also have quite a few FFs that are military and do it for experience, paid certs, and a supplemental income but they’re being deployed and are PCSing at a higher rate than usual. One of my firefighters, and once of our few EMTs, is a weatherman and is currently in GA training to do civilian law enforcement. My captain is also a military firefighter and is working more hours there because they’re short staffed, as well. So he’s not available much.
The community attitude has changed, as well. We were once well supported by the community but we’re doing fewer community and outreach events so we’re in the background now. It used to be that when I ran through town in my POV with lights and siren active, most people would yield the right of way. Now fewer of them do. I sat a stop light behind a brodozer last night with my flashers on and siren going. He actually slowed down and was laughing about it. The department is going to prohibit us from using lights next FY since they have to have a different level of insurance to allow us to use them so it’ll be even worse so they can save money.
The county police got a 13% budget increase while all other county departments got hit with 10% to 30% cuts. We were hit with a 15% cut so our new engine is definitely not coming now. We’ll have to make down with the old one that doesn’t go where you’re steering it or have a working HVAC system.
We have three to five story buildings in our response area and do not have a working ladder anymore. The hydraulics are broken and there’s nobody in the shop to fix it. They haven’t been able to hire anyone. The ladder is a decoration. Again, we’ll need the city or military to assist with taller structures.
It’s still a great gig, for the most part, but it’s becoming less so. Still a hell of a lot better than my day job with the federal government, however.
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u/CrumbGuzzler5000 3d ago
We all hit this wall at some point in our careers. Watch your peers and you’ll see it happen. I think that 99% of the time it’s a sign that you need a new challenge. Get involved in the union. Be a part of a hiring board. Go to medic school or engineer school or hazmat school. Switch stations. Change something up and see if it reignites something for you. You can either wallow in the things that you can’t change and let it ruin what’s left of your career, or you can recalibrate and see if you can get past it. I see you are focused on things that you have zero control over unless you make an investment. It’s easy to point outward, but everyone around you sees you doing it and it makes it easy for them to write you off. Come to the table with solutions that you can have a hand in and that you are willing to participate in. Otherwise, be very careful about coffee table complaining. You’ll alienate yourself.
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u/Standish_man89 4d ago
Nursing home lift assists are such fucking bullshit. We get 2-5 of those a shift and they really piss me off.
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u/ballfed_turkey 4d ago
Agreed, in my area (Metro Boston) we go and the staff just watches us do the lift. Mildly infuriating. The new issue for us in the past few years is nursing facilities once contracted with private EMS for emergent and non emergent calls. Now with less private trucks on the road we get all the 911 and other nonsense calls. We run 1 BLS unit for a town of 45k. Doing non emergent transfers puts a huge strain on the system. Fortunately our transport times are very short compared to other communities as we have about 8 hospital choices The entire system needs a revamp that includes fire, EMS and hospital usage, a total panacea.
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u/Standish_man89 4d ago
It’s rage inducing. Oh, you need the EMT to do your job for you, RN? Fuck off. Or watching our junior guys slowly burn out taking BS calls like “leg pain that started 3 weeks ago” to the ER at 4am….
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u/Dry-Bookkeeper-1050 3d ago
Our Chief told the private ambulance service for our area and the nursing homes that they have paid staff for this, our guys are not there to substitute them hiring capable staff and we won't be continuing to assist with this. the 2am is lift assista went away and everyone couldn't be happier.
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u/NarcanPusher 3d ago
The nursing homes and senior residences in my area were absolutely abusive in that regard. In one of my stations we could’ve easily dedicated a truck to just run public assists and they would’ve frequently been the busiest truck in a very busy station.
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u/paints_name_pretty 3d ago
saw the other day a department is attempting to charge for these services similar to a transport. If a nursing facility is utilizing 911 for a lift assist they should be charged imo
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u/ButtSexington3rd 3d ago
As they should. Those places charge an arm and a leg for services they can't provide. We have a live in detox center in our local that calls us all the time for people sick from detoxing. The exact service they claim to provide.
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u/sunnyray1 4d ago
Sadly even emergency services are not exempt from society's downward spiral. The violence, addiction, the number of people requiring help(self inflicted issues or not) continues to rise and city's want to cut budgets and expect us to be trained and prepared for basic emergencies plus all the other nonsense we respond to daily. Staff quit, retire the second they are eligible, leave for other departments, and those that stay around and tough it out end up disgruntled and burnt out. Promotions are given out to whomever steps up but not necessarily to the best candidate because usually those are the ones who put their heart and soul into this job at one time and now that drive and desire is long gone. Sadly this job is now just a paycheck with a pension at the end. Sad but true.
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u/GuyInNorthCarolina 17h ago
A lot of the responses are ignoring one simple reality. We can absolutely stop having the fire service respond to EMS calls, nursing homes, and all sorts of other non fire calls. (And we absolutely should, just to be clear).
The trade is this. There needs to be a lot more ambulances, a lot bigger EMS service and a significantly smaller fire service. So it’s true that this needs to be rethought from the ground up. The core issue is no fire department wants to hear that the answer is a lot less firefighters.
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u/TheHufflepuffer 3d ago
Here’s the facts, like it or not: People don’t care about “brotherhood or tradition”. This is a job that pays money and you get a lot of free time off. These people aren’t your bros or friends, they are coworkers and the goal is to work, retire early with full benefits and retire.
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u/crash_over-ride Upstate NY 3d ago edited 3d ago
Worse still, the applicant pool is shrinking. Fewer people want to do this job
I'm mildly surprised to hear that. I live in a county that has a well known fire protection science program. I know numerous people who have all gone down south to the Carolinas and gotten paid jobs there, and part of the reason is it's a lot easier to get jobs there than in the Northeast. The tradeoff is that I caught up with someone I know who now drives a tiller for something like 19 bucks an hour. I know of only one who has come back up north for a fire job in NH. In my county the CS list for fire jobs is lengthy.
As for the state of volunteers, on the other side of the state line it's just as depressing.
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u/International_Mail44 3d ago
Firefighters hate two things. When things change and when things stay the same.
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u/Goddess_of_Carnage 3d ago
The first part of the solution to solving the problems is saying “no”.
As all women learn, some sooner than others, “no” is a complete sentence.
This model of doing more with less is foolish. Transporting every caller with toe pain or ass rash must stop.
Methinks few of these often serial abusers of the system pays their taxes, much less any fee for service.
Health fairs, PR events and all related bullshit have got to go. First, we are first and only call, so PR and marketing are not only unnecessary—these events tax your already overburdened staff with more sucky butt bullshit.
This dogma that no one can rest until 5pm or something similar is dumb. Busy work for the sake of looking busy or washing clean trucks is dumb. Just dumb.
And we still want to be considered smart and ready.
Right.
Anything that negatively impacts readiness at any point in the 24-30 hour shift of folks that must be 100% ready, 100% of the time must go.
I work 24 hour shifts at my air medical job. There’s no ‘busy for the sake of looking busy’ or ‘no rest till 1700’. Seriously. No one can afford the mistakes that come with doing outright dumb stuff. Safety is job 1.
Come in and ensure you & all equipment are sorted and then chill the fuck out.
But then again, I can call down for crew rest for any reason at any time. Now, extrapolate that to the fire service and you better believe that the horseshit would stop immediately. Mutual aid would get a workout and staff would need to be called back in to cover actual work.
The system isn’t breaking, it’s broken all to hell in most locations. And since it our job to respond when things break—perhaps we should shore up our own houses.
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u/BuilderGuy555 3d ago
This post was AI generated.. Funny that OP complains about lack of effort, burnout, etc., but can't even take the time to write out his own thoughts.
If you really feel that strongly about change, then do something positive towards making that change instead of just complaining. .
If you've gotten enough experience to form these opinions about the fire service over the years, why haven't you promoted to a leadership position and changed anything?
Contrary to your post, most any legitimate department now has a promotional system based on standardized testing and experience level.
This post is lazy energy. Post about what you are doing specifically to make positive changes and what specific roadblocks you're hitting.
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u/MPFields1979 4d ago
Man, this is just another example of our system collapsing in on itself. We’ve squandered too many chances to do things the right way and we’ve chosen the easy, money first models.