volunteer firefighter

We talk a lot about how to recruit and keep new members. It seems to be a big concern all over the place. It is hard to find good people who want to serve their local Volunteer Fire Department. What about the members we already have? Have we slacked on keeping the members who have been on our departments for 8, 9 or 10 years motivated? I’m not talking about our Company Officers and Chiefs, I’m talking about the Firefighters who have put their time in, don’t need to prove themselves and don’t need to be introduced to your Fire Department. (more…)

Our Checklist for Success are the basic elements every volunteer Fire Department should be following to successfully retain your membership. I will be adding to the check list as time goes on, since we all know the Fire Service is constantly changing.
(more…)

What is the difference between Empowering and Delegating? We in the Volunteer Fire Service rely on our members more and more these days to keep the Fire Department functioning the way it is supposed to in order to serve the communities we protect. There are so many requirements these days; training, certifications, refreshers, documentation, inspections, maintenance and more. As leaders, we could take on these tasks ourselves, or we can delegate or EMPOWER our members to do the work. (more…)

When and if there comes a time that your volunteer fire department isnt able to get the membership to respond and keep up with the incidents, what are your solutions? Do you go to your tax payers and try to hire full time staff? This seems to be a trend that is common all around the United States, and seems to be an unfortunate one for the traditions of the volunteer fire service. –

For years now the primary source of notifying volunteer and call firefighters has been via pagers that beep or vibrate, depending on your preference and tolerance for getting startled out of a dead sleep at 2:00 am. This has been a reliable means of communication and I don’t see it going anywhere anytime soon. In most places, gone are the days of the whistle or siren on the roof of the fire station. To the ones who still hold on to this classic tradition, good on you! (more…)

Delegating a project or duty can be one way to get things done in a timely fashion and may encourage some teamwork, but what about instead of “delegating”, we “empowered” our members? What will empowering do for the member and for your entire department? (more…)

Is it possible to be a professional if it isnt your profession?

The word “professional” comes from the word “profession”, which basically stands for a career, but can we still be professional when its not our career or we aren’t being paid? Often times the term “professional firefighter” in the fire service is used to define a Career Firefighter as opposed to a Volunteer Firefighter, so how can we uphold the same standards of “professionalism” as volunteer or paid on call firefighters? (more…)

When a new member joins your department, what do you give him or her to familiarize them with your Fire Department and how it operates? How do you select your new members and how do you prepare them for what they are signing up for? Many departments have a formal interview, background check and even a testing process. Others simply require just an application and a vote of the membership. (more…)

Have you come up with a cool idea for training? How about a project idea that will improve the firehouse? The volunteer fire service needs more self starters. Too often we rely on our Chiefs or Company Officers to get the ball rolling on projects and ideas. Other times we have motivated Firefighters who want to initiate a new project, but the Chief won’t allow them to shine. (more…)

Believe it or not, there are Fire Chiefs out there who intentionally do not praise their members for doing a good job, and in fact, look down on their Company Officers for praising their members. The excuse: “It should be implied”. (more…)