I've been a firefighter/emt for over 10 years now. most of it has been volunteer. I grew up in a firehouse, literally. my mom was the arson investigator for the county we lived in, and my step dad the assistant fire chief. I saw the best of the best, but also the worst of the worst before I even hit puberty. I do what I do because every once in awhile, I get a chance to make a difference in someone's life. whether it's helping an older person get back into their chair, or reviving a small child, or cutting somebody out of a car, I helped them, and that's all I need.
I'm a volunteer firefighter/emt in Florence, Colorado and I do this for two reasons. First, I come from a family where we were taught to help other and serve something bigger. My dad, brother, and brother-in-law were firefighters. My nephew-in-law is also a volunteer firefighter. Second, I absolutely love what I do. As I tell my family, I don't go to work, I have fun. Because I don't see this as work.
I never expected to become a Volunteer Rescue Technician and now a Volunteer Firefighter as well, but fate led me to it when I believed I was to serve as a Soldier. I have realized now my calling was always to serve my community as a part of the Fire-Rescue service. God Bless my fellow Volunteers and all my brothers and sisters in the Fire-Rescue and EMS Services.
Amen, I was a volunteer for my hometown. I started when I was 18 .I can say that we did because we wanted to. It wasn't a job, it was something we wanted to do. I volunteered until I moved away. I still miss the excitement of the call. Again we didn't do it for the money, we did it for the community. But last my hometown has gone to a full-time paid department . To those volunteers still, God Bless.
I've been a volunteer continuously for 27 years now and I've been in four depts and this says it all. Its universal and you will find this in every firehouse, in every firefighter, in every firefighter's family. Well said, my brother, well said.
I've been a volunteer firefighter/EMT for over 18 years now. I got into it because I married one (he hung up the gear four years ago after 28 years in, and now wants to get back in again), and also because I never could sit on the sidelines when all hell was breaking loose-I had to jump in and help. The training was tougher than I expected, but being the only probie out of six from my firehouse to make it all the way through Firefighter I (the other five either dropped or flunked out before we hit midterms) told me that I could do it. EMT was even more fun because I was pregnant with the first of our two daughters through the class, and being one of the EMTs on the department means that I get picked to treat the patients in cars at accident scenes, and I run a lot of the "medic assist" calls we get because many of the guys don't like working the EMS side of the equation for some weird reason. We are in a rural area, and I've run everything from barn fires to plane crashes to wildfires to violent crime scenes and everything in between. I also LOVE the fire prevention work we do, especially at the schools, and it makes our day when a kid who learned something in those lessons actually puts it to use and helps their family out! The hours can be long, the calls unpredictable, and you have to learn to live with meals, sleep, holidays, and family get-togethers interrupted by the tones going off and you having to scramble. You see stuff that is worse than any horror movie set ever imagined, you have to be strong when the families or bystanders are totally freaking out, and you have to set the tone for everybody else. But being a volunteer gets into your blood, and it's something you have to WANT to do in the first place-it's not for the faint of heart or those who join on a whim. But it's a way to serve your community and give something back in a way that nothing else can. You are making a difference in the world, and that in itself is the biggest prize of all.
I do it because on 8th March, 2014 some inbred teenagers who escaped from an orphanage, burned down local barn, it was a terrible sight, still dreadful and uncomfortable to think about. Then I slowly became a volunteer firefighter, it is my passion and I will not change it for anything! It is my main source of happiness! Few weeks ago I saved another barn from incoming grass fire. Was not able to save my and my grandmother's barn from fire, but I saved someones elses barn. :)
I just signed up and got accepted for volunteering at Sprague River fire Department District 3 and I decided to be a first responder I'm 18 years old and all these fires that been happening so much lately made me just want to help my community and I like to help people in need just who I am and I'm proud of every minute of it too.
