r/Firefighting • u/Puzzleheaded_Owl5699 • 2d ago
General Discussion Is this normal/acceptable?
A little context to start. It might be a long read. I am a “probie” currently going through an online EMT program. Me and the 4 other probies spend M-F 8-5 at the training center/station doing our course work and helping as needed/asked. Our training chief (who is currently in charge of us) told us our only job is to continue like that, and clean the building we are in. We understand this to also mean the training bay and tower.
One firefighter came in one Saturday off shift to get a workout in. This guy is known to be pretty hard on probies and sometimes a bit too much. He noticed the trash cans were full in the training bay. Trash cans that we emptied on Friday and got filled from a large police training that took place Friday night (it’s a shared FD/PD facility). On Monday at 0815, he storms into our classroom and yells at us about the trash being full and he tells us he “took care of it.” Knowing the guy, we go out and investigate to find he dumped the trash cans all over the ground and stuffed some in our lockers in the training bay. He was again off shift this morning and was there for an OT recruiting event, so he came in just before he left.
Cleaning has always been an end of day task for us for the past 6 months, including during our time in the academy.
Is this behavior normal? Is this seen as a normal way to address such a small issue that we weren’t even aware of? Most people in our department (~130 people) don’t act this way.
10
u/Embarrassed_Gold5964 2d ago
Is it normal? Yes in shitty departments. Is it ok? No not at all. But dudes who haven’t ranked sometimes get off to being a dick head to probies. Being a probie means being on your toes 24/7 for a year. Dudes will crush all the paper towels in the bathroom just to yell at you for not putting new ones in. It’s how you respond that makes u who you are. Don’t let people get under your skin and just grind and one day that can’t say shit to you. And u will have the chance to be around probies and you will know how to teach them the right way. Stay strong brother