Reporter Takes Test Drive of Firefighter Training

Check out this reporter’s experience as he dons a firefighter’s gear and learns about the life of a volunteer.

Training shows reporter how much volunteer figherfighters deal with: http://journalstar.com/news/local/article_23a66580-50c4-11df-b21a-001cc4c03286.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

A Touch of Gray

This article from Long Island NY talks about an often-overlooked audience in the volunteer fire service today: 40+.

Age is Nothing But a Number at Syosset Fire Dept.

Joining later in life is becoming more the norm

I love the fact that Syosset allows each company in the department to have its own identity. I took this photo when I visited all three of their stations about a year ago with my good friend Rob Leonard.

Don’t discount or write-off the value of people coming to the fire service with some life-experience under their belt. That maturity can turn out to be a huge advantage to your fire department, especially when teamed with the free spirits of Generation Y.

As I wrote in “From the X-Box to the Box Alarm” — This demo includes settled homeowners; their kids are growing to an age of independence; focused on giving back; perhaps even looking for an outlet – or just an excuse to get out of the house.

REVIEW: 10 Step Guide to Volunteering

I stumbled across a guide to becoming a volunteer firefighter while reviewing a list of web resources from FireCritic.com and found it to be very interesting.

First, inasmuch as the guide was created for potential volunteer candidates, I thought it interesting that the site FireLink.com was connected to Monster.com — the familiar job search engine. That’s not to say that it’s a bad thing, I just found it to be somewhat interesting.

Next, I found it interesting that the author, or at least, co-author of the 10-Step program was a two-year veteran of the volunteer fire service. While I appreciate his fresh insight, I also felt his perspective was somewhat limited as outlined in my next point of interest.

GREAT NEWS: SAFER Application Period Extended

During the present difficult economic circumstances being experienced by
local jurisdictions, many potential Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant applicants have expressed concern regarding the prohibition against using SAFER funds to supplant local budgets and the Secretary’s ability to waive the prohibition. 

DHS has revisited the existing policy on supplanting for the 2009 SAFER funding cycle.  The Secretary has decided that DHS will consider petitions for waivers on supplanting from 2009 grantees on a case-by-case basis and under certain conditions.

In order for all potential applicants to have sufficient time to consider this revised policy guidance, DHS will extend the 2009 SAFER application period.  The new application deadline will be 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, Friday, January 15, 2010.

Editor’s Note: I don’t know about you but that’s great news as I still had three more SAFER grant applications to finish by Friday night. Get busy everyone. Even if you haven’t started — there’s now time to get an application started.

Click: http://www.firegrantsupport.com/safer/121709.aspx for complete details.

X-Box Firefighters

I wrote a magazine article for FASNY’s The Volunteer Firefighter titled: “From the X-Box to the Box Alarm” that addresses today’s generation of firefighters and firefighter candidates.

Given recent news articles and discussions, I think it’s relevant to revisit and discuss the future of the fire service here:

http://tigerschmittendorf.com/2009/06/21/from-x-box-to-the-box-alarm/

Download the Reprint of: From X-Box to the Box Alarm from www.tigerschmittendorf.com.