r/Firefighting • u/space_cowboy78 • 6d ago

General Discussion Volunteer department wishes to merge with us.

Good day all, recently a volunteer department (at least their trustees) have approached our fire board about them merging into our fire district. We are just solving our own problems with full time staffing, better pay/benefits, equipment, etc.

This department in question is WILDLY unprofessional. When we show up to their fires they won’t go interior as they will literally hand you their hose line even though they’ve been on scene for 10-15 minutes. Not to mention they have a sexual predator and several other members who protect said predator.

I feel like all of this and other unknown things should be made known to the public and/or our fire board. However I’m not comfortable with doing so due to us not being unionized. Nor do the majority of our guys want to become unionized.

To me it seems like a recipe for disaster and I want to look out for the great guys we already have. Currently I’m the most senior full time firefighter and I feel like it’s my responsibility to do what’s right but we don’t have protection from a union. Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

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u/WittyClerk 6d ago edited 6d ago

It is your duty to protect your people, as well as the public. That includes voicing to the board that all are welcome to apply for legitimate, open union positions, and go through the same background checks, and training as everyone else. **and nothing else, such as a merge.

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u/space_cowboy78 6d ago

Here’s the thing, I don’t think our fire board will run back ground checks or anything on these volunteers.

I wanna do the right thing but we don’t have a union to protect us from the fire board.

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u/WittyClerk 6d ago

That is where you put a stopgap. One cannot be a public servant without a background check. Anyone who wants a legit career position must go through the motions, like everyone else.

Most legitimate institutions require background checks and training- from public libraries to the Red Cross. Firefighters have a higher bar.

27

u/Proper-Succotash9046 6d ago

Even vfd’s do background checks now .

6

u/MrSuck Idiot 5d ago

Mine does background and psych.

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u/neekogo Beardless Volley 4d ago

Same here. We've turned down a few applicants because of what was found in their background checks