Whatever happened to volunteer fire fighters?

[Duer 157099]

I suspect they disappeared due to a litigious society, so I imagine that is really what the problem comes down to, a sue-happy society.

Same reason stores and restaurants have to destroy rather than donate "old" food.

These are ALL of the reasons that a civilized society MUST HAVE a strong social support system, because we simply do not allow people to help each other without risk of liability.

That's the really crux of the matter, imho.

[The Northerner]

1. I couldn't agree more

I've also read an article a while back reported that the litigious insanity has also discouraged many people from opening up businesses or engaging in charitable work because they fear being sued for some nonsensical reasons by sue-happy lawyers.

[TBF]

2. I agree - whether volunteer or paid (via taxes)

we need certain services to function as a community. With the rush towards privatization we are losing that tradition.

[uppityperson]

3. We have them here. It can be difficult to find people willing to donate the amount of time and effor

effort to keep enough people to respond to everything. Having some paid ensures that there will be some all the time. The # of volunteers we have correlates to how the fire chief is doing.

[Bluerthanblue]

9. we have them here too- our biggest problem is the fact that

local industry- like our IGA store, small garage/gas station, hardware store have squeezed out by big box stores larger towns surrounding us. Because of this we just don't have as much 'man'power available during the day- and it's often very difficult to get a crew large enough to respond to emergencies. Our local small towns rely on 'mutual aid' for many essential services including the fire dept, ambulance and police coverage. If towns didn't work together, people would die. And the majority of what is done is done as volunteers, not paid full time professionals.

It's all part of being a community- imo and experience.

:hi:

[stray cat]

4. They need paying jobs like the rest of us?

You can still find places who have volunteers if you really want to help

[stray cat]

5. Good samaritan laws are meant to do just that

[TexasObserver]

12. and they do

[Duer 157099]

6. When adults must work 2-3 jobs simply to survive

we do not have the ability to volunteer the way people used to.

It's all connected.

[Brickbat]

7. We have an outstanding VFD in my community. The chief is a full-time paid position and the rest are

volunteers. There's a waiting list to get approved and there is intense pride in being involved. I love our VFD.

[TexasObserver]

8. They're still there, in many, many communities.

What's with the right wing memes? A sue happy society? That's your off the wall, non sequitur of a take on the fire situation?

How is the content of your post any different from any segment of the Rush Limbaugh show?

Volunteer fire departments haven't disappeared, but your repeating untrue things should.

[Old Troop]

10. There are thousands of volunteer fire companies all over the country.

Most are protected by law from litigation regarding adverse things that occur while they are acting in their capacity as firefighters. Several of the main issues seem to be that many potential firefighters work far from their hometowns and, thus, are unavailable much of the time; firefighting has become a science that specific tactics and sophisticated equipment that require a lot of training and physical standards don't match, in many cases, those of paid municipal fire departments. In PA, for instance, the greatest killer of volunteer firefighters are vehicle accidents and heart attacks.

[TexasObserver]

11. Only someone who never leaves a major urban area would think there aren't.

They're literally all over Texas. Virtually every community outside the cities has one. I contribute funds to three in our lake community every year - the one in our town, the one in the next town to the west, and the one in the next town to the north.