# Volunteer Fire Fighting.



## cdnparatrooper (17 Aug 2013)

Anyone one this forum a current or former volunteer firefighter? Is it a good job?


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## MikeL (17 Aug 2013)

CJIRU, QOR, Halton Police TRU, now Volunteer Fire Fighter?


If you are actually serious about this, try the Canadian Firefighting forum
www.firehall.com


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## mariomike (17 Aug 2013)

Ugly Ten-Toes said:
			
		

> Anyone one this forum a current or former volunteer firefighter? Is it a good job?



It's a part-time job, but it can lead to full-time employment. ( If that is something you might be interested in. )
"the parties recognize that volunteer firefighters covered by the Collective Agreement will be viewed as internal city candidates."
http://www.hamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/3EF302D1-5D1A-4BCD-B9C6-D2A54F965939/0/GHVFFA911Jan12012Dec312015CollectiveAgreement.pdf

Pay, benefits and working conditions ( for Hamilton volunteer firefighters ) are also covered.

More discussions regarding volunteer firefighters you may find of interest.

volunteer firefighters
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/102618.0

Firefighter's Thread  
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/37626.0/nowap.html


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## cdnparatrooper (17 Aug 2013)

-Skeletor- said:
			
		

> CJIRU, QOR, Halton Police TRU, now Volunteer Fire Fighter?
> 
> 
> If you are actually serious about this, try the Canadian Firefighting forum
> www.firehall.com


 Why do you feel the need to comment on everything I write?


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## Kat Stevens (17 Aug 2013)

Ugly Ten-Toes said:
			
		

> Why do you feel the need to comment on everything I write?



Because your stuff bears commenting on, would be my best guess.


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## pbi (28 Aug 2013)

Ugly Ten-Toes said:
			
		

> Anyone one this forum a current or former volunteer firefighter? Is it a good job?



 I was (briefly) a VFF when I lived in the US. It wasn't a "job" because, like many US VFDs (as opposed to Canada) we weren't paid anything: we were truly "volunteers" in a community-based organization, rather than part-time municipal employees.

It demanded quite a bit of time, both for training and for duty nights spent in the station (unlike most VFDs here  in Canada, we didn't respond from home: a County crew of "paid men" covered the weekday daytime, and we did the nights, weekends and stat hols, as well as backing up on multiple alarms during the day on an as-available basis). I also found that the quality of leadership and instruction was generally way below what I had become used to in the military, although there were plenty of good people in the Dept. 

Eventually I left it because of time conflicts with my "other" life, but I always enjoyed the feeling of doing something to help people in my community who really needed it. (And, to be honest, there is _something_ about rolling out with air horns, electronic siren, rotary siren, big clanging bell and more flashing lights than a disco...)

I think being a VFF is a very honourable and important way of helping out in your community. Good luck.


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## Towards_the_gap (28 Aug 2013)

I was a volunteer firefighter. It is not a job, it is a very poorly paid part time job..by poorly paid, I mean circa $1500 per year! 

The usual commitment is 1 weeknight a week for training, plus additional opportunities as they arrive. If you join a volley hall in Ontario, you will be enrolled in the Ontario Firefighter Curriculum, which is basically your NFPA 1001 except you complete it over the course of 2-3 years, depending on the commitment you make. If you have switched on officers, you will not be allowed to do anything on a fireground that you haven't been trained on, ie they will not send you up to vent a roof if you have not been 'signed off' on chainsaws, ventilation, ladders, PPE and SCBA etc. Once you're qualified to the level determined by the chief, you'll be given a pager and will respond, when you can, to alarms sent out by dispatch over the pager.

But as others have alluded to, you should really grow up a bit first by the sounds of your posts before you start envisaging yourself a JTF2 Signal Operator-CJIRU CBRN Ninja-QOR Rifleman-Volunteer Firefighter.

Ignore Firehall.com, just find your local volunteer fire department and call the chief, ask him how to join.


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