Recruitment

Volunteer fire departments all over the state of Texas have one thing in common; recruitment. New Deal Fire/EMS has a program that could aid that problem. Fire Chief Randy Teeter implemented a Junior Firefighter Program within his department. The program began in 2008 and has become a great success.

Chief Teeter, along with appointed supervisors Jeff Deslaurier and Amber Thomas, set out on a journey with our community’s young people, ages 13-17. The idea for this program is to get the kids involved not only in our community, but in fire service. Hopefully during their time in the program, we are able to retain some of the kids to move forward to volunteer firefighters or EMTs. Occasionally, we have a junior firefighter who recruits a parent. In this case, the department gains a new member and the junior firefighter and his or her parent can train together.

This program operates just as the department with its own standard operating guidelines and procedures. Over time the supervisory role has changed to Chief Teeter and Firefighter Chris Bruce. Since the appointment of Chris Bruce, he and Chief Teeter have implemented many new ideas and changes. The program guidelines concentrate on areas such as school grades, respect, morals, and citizenship.

These young people are now gaining a real knowledge of fire service as a whole. The Junior Firefighter Program has their own meetings, during which they decide on community projects, charities, and schedule their own training. The kids also participate in the department’s regular business meetings, fundraising activities, and most other aspects of our department.

They are now allowed to train in most areas alongside the senior firefighters, and gain training toward their Level M1 Certification. The main areas that they are not allowed to participate in are live fire and ladders, and this of course will be available in future training. The members of our program attend the Lubbock Area Fire Conference each year, with mandatory training classes in HAZMAT and CPR/AED. Most of their specialized training is conducted by Chris Bruce, who holds a Level M2 Firefighter Certification and Instructor I Certification.

Chief Teeter’s program allows these young people a chance to be a part of live fire scenes. The parents of the kids have the opportunity to sign a permission slip which enables their son or daughter to respond in the truck to a scene. So if there is any empty seat it can be filled by a Junior Firefighter, but they are not allowed to cross the fire line. While behind the line, junior firefighters put their training to use by changing and assisting in filling of air bottles, firefighter rehab, retrieving loose equipment, pulling and rolling hose, and assisting with water supply efforts.

 The department is very proud of these kids and the effort and knowledge they show. We have been asked many times by other departments after a fire call, “Who are those kids? They do a great job.” Randy and Chris’ reply is “These young men and women are members of our Junior Firefighter Program and we are training them for the future.” It makes us very proud to discuss our program with other departments, and we are always available to answer questions pertaining to the start up and maintenance of this type of program.

Throughout the school year we offer an internship in conjunction with New Deal High School. This internship allows the Junior Firefighters who are seniors to choose an area of fire service and create a project from it. The project is then displayed at the High School Awards Banquet, during which time we are given the opportunity to announce our scholarship recipients. The community involvement has been a large part of our program. Each summer the program members, along with Chris Bruce, assist with the city-wide cleanup in our community. Chris and his kids, as he generally refers to them, use a truck and trailer and move their way throughout the community to assist the elderly and shut-ins collecting unwanted items and transport them to the drop-off site. It is a very hot and exhausting day, but the kids gain a good feeling assisting their community.

In the summer of 2010, Chris and his kids assisted a neighbor with cleaning up his property, since he was physically unable. They worked approximately 9 hrs that day, but were rewarded with soft drinks and lunch, and had smiles on their faces knowing they helped someone in need. The area of community involvement is something that Chris emphasizes to all members of his program. Always be proud of the community you live in; your involvement can make it a better place.

The year of 2011 was a very exciting time for the program as we inducted 2 honorary members. The first member being Sensei Sekiguchi Takaaki, who is a true samurai from Japan. We were honored with his visit and interest in our program. The Junior Firefighters demonstrated different aspects which they had learned and also assisted Sensei in donning turnout gear along with an air pack. This was a memorable day for them. The second honorary member was a 13-year-old young man from our community. This young man had a lot of interest in the program, but unfortunately had been diagnosed with leukemia and was unable to be a full member. A fundraiser was held by the program to assist with medical expenses. These honorary memberships were decided upon by Chris and the members of the program.

 During the summer of 2012, Chris and the Junior Firefighter Program competed in the Panhandle Firefighters Association Challenge in Amarillo, Texas. We placed 3 teams in the hose relay event and placed 4th, and one team place 6th in the adult bucket brigade. This was a great stepping stone for these young people as this was their first competition. Chris was extremely proud of his teams and the showing that was made. He teaches that it is not what place you get, it’s whether you put forth your best effort and work as a team. We look forward to future competitions.

Since 2008, The New Deal Fire/EMS Junior Firefighter Program has promoted 3 young men to full membership within our department. These young men are Ignacio Gonzales, Tyler Johnson, and Mark Blanco. Johnson is currently enrolled in the Wolfforth Fire Academy to become a professional firefighter. Mark Blanco successfully passed the EMT-B class at the age of 17. The class was taught by Chief Teeter EMT-P. Blanco now has his state and national certifications, and is currently enrolled in the Paramedic Program.

Chris takes pride not only in New Deal Fire/EMS, but fire service as a whole. He is very proud of the Junior Firefighter Program, each and every member, Chris’s two daughters are active junior firefighters and his wife serves as a Paramedic on the department. Chris, along with the assistance of other firefighters, spends numerous hours in program development, classroom instruction, and hands on training with the young men and women that make up his program. You can obtain information or contact Chris about our Junior Firefighter Program from our website www.newdealfiredept.org/. The young people of our community are our future, and we are very fortunate to have this program in place.

~ By Chris Bruce, New Deal Texas Firefighter and Junior Firefighter Supervisor

If there has been one topic that threads through most of my pieces on volunteer firefighting it is money — how to get it and how to spend it. The most controversial money discussions have been about paid vs. volunteer departments.

Although we are used to paid and volunteer departments differing, a new scary trend has occurred causing a split between ‘pure’ volunteer departments and those paid on call.

It was about a decade ago that volunteer departments really started embracing the idea of having their members paid on call. At first it was met by skepticism and a fight from the ‘dinosaurs’ saying that ‘real’ volunteers wouldn’t accept pay.

Some saw it as eroding the volunteer nature. Length of service award plans were bad enough, but being paid by call was ‘wrong.’

As time went by, and volunteerism started falling, paying by call became less of an option and more of a necessity. The pay also went from a couple of bucks to pay for gas to more than $20 per call in some areas.

Third-class departments
Now the new unfortunate trend is that there is a split occurring in some areas between volunteer departments and those paid on call. We are hearing that paid-on-call departments are ‘better’ than volunteer departments and that some departments will only call mutual aid from other paid-on-call departments.

Have we now created a third class of departments? Is it now volunteer vs paid on call vs career?

The National Fire Department Census has categories for mostly volunteer or mostly career. Are paid-on-call departments mostly career or mostly volunteer? Have we lost our volunteer nature because of the reimbursement per call? Did we forget that the pay per call was supposed to be a reimbursement for our time and expenses, not a job?

Maybe it is time for all of us to do a gut check and ask why we are firefighters. Some of us get paid, some of us don’t. Our neighbors need our help no matter where our paycheck comes from.

Maintaining brotherhood
We can be professionals and provide a high level of service no matter what our pay is (or isn’t). It is a brotherhood of firefighters, not a brotherhood of volunteers, paid on call, career, etc…  I hope that each of us is a firefighter because it is a calling or to help others, not just for a paycheck.

The truth is that a department may be better than another in a specialty or one specific area. Some departments may have better equipment then others. Some departments may have better response times or other measures.

The bottom line is that we are each good at something and there is something that we should be proud of. Just because you or your department has a strength does not make you better than someone else.

Rather than splitting us apart, reach out to your fellow firefighter or neighboring department and help them gain the strength you have. We don’t need more division, we need more support and it is up to each of us to provide that support to our brethren.

~ By Jason J. Zigmont

If you’re seriously considering a fire fighting career and no one has told you yet, it’s hard work– really hard work. It takes a lot of time, training and dedication to make a great firefighter. You won’t hear “thank you” often enough. You will be working the most unusual hours you can imagine. You won’t see your family and friends as often as you might like.

If you read that and thought: “that does sound hard… But if I don’t do it, who will?” then you should definitely keep reading. Fire fighting isn’t for everyone, but for some people it’s the only career they can imagine. Many firefighters are so passionate about their job that they do it for free—more than half of firefighters in the United States are volunteers.

Before you reach the fire house: Becoming a firefighter

The exact hiring process varies from department to department. Hopeful firefighters in Seattle, Washington can expect to take a written exam and two oral exams. The top 25 percent of those applicants are then invited to enter the pre-employment process, which includes background checks, medical exams, interviews, physical abilities testing and a psychological evaluation. Only after completing those steps are job offers extended and training started.

Firefighter training is a long program made up of intense learning and physical exertion. Training can last one to four years, depending on your department. In addition to firefighting education, you will almost certainly be required to have medical training as an EMT or paramedic.

Becoming a firefighter requires serious commitment of your time and energy. If you have close family, a significant other, a job or volunteer work that you want to maintain, it would be a good idea to address how your time will be divided if you pursue this career.

It’s not all Dalmatians and donuts: Being a firefighter

In most fire departments, the firefighters are practically a family. Firefighters share a fire house, meals and lots of time together. Personal issues between coworkers stop the moment the alarm bell rings; every person on the team has to know they can rely on one another in life-or-death situations. You will be working as a critical part of a team, and you need to be ready to respond to emergencies at any hour. If you always seem to be running late, this is not the job for you– getting to work on time takes on a whole new importance when the lives of fire victims and teammates are at stake.

The payoff: Why is anyone doing this job?

Firefighters are highly skilled, dedicated and often doing a very difficult job for free. Whether paid or volunteer, they regularly respond to highly stressful, dangerous situations and work 24-hour shifts. So why are people still doing it?

There is a small but critical group of people who are perfect for a firefighting career. They feel a need to serve their immediate community, they like to be active, they like to be close to their colleagues and involved with their job. Firefighters know they make a crucial contribution to their friends and neighbors.

When other people are sleeping, they’re on call. When other people are running away, they’re running in. And when someone asks “how can you do that?” they ask “how couldn’t I?

If you are ever thinking of becoming a volunteer, there are many ways in which you can accomplish this goal. One of the ways you can do this is to become a volunteer firefighter. Being a volunteer firefighter is a great thing to do to help your community, and not many people can say that they fight fires. Besides that though, why should you consider being a volunteer firefighter in your community?

The biggest factor is that you are doing your community a service by volunteering your time. Being a firefighter is a little different than being a regular volunteer because you can’t always pick and choose where and when you volunteer. You might have to leave work early, or flex up your schedule, but you are doing your community a service and helping out people in need at the same time.

You are filling a major service for your community. With budgets around the country for community services being squeezed bone-dry, there are bigger needs than ever for volunteers. Not to mention that firefighters are pretty necessary people to have in your community. There is nothing better than being able to volunteer, and also knowing that you are an invaluable asset to your community.

Being a firefighter is pretty cool, and you get to be a hero to kids everywhere. When you were a kid you probably saw the firefighters and thought that they were big and tough. Now you get to be that guy who everyone looks up to you. How cool is that?

The final reason to become a volunteer firefighter is that everyone wanted to be a firefighter. I think that the chance to live out your dream, or at least the dream for many people, is a good thing to do. It isn’t often that you have the opportunity to live your dream, and help people at the same time, and know you are helping out people who really need you.

Being a firefighter is something that everyone wanted to do at least once in their lives when they were dreaming of a career to have after growing up. You might not get to quit the day job to become a volunteer firefighter, but you are still doing something important by making the choice to do so. So suit up for the community, and help out one of the most critical units that any town can have.