Need Help on surviving firehouse politics

[BIThumper550]

I need help. I am trying to survive a fire dept that almost seems like politics, Everyone from the juniors, probies and members are forming camps within a fire company.

I'm a probie in a fire company in the Philadelphia Area and i have had people taunt me, called me names and made crude jokes about me.

I don't want to give the mane of my fire company for fear or reprisal, so i am now alone in my fire company with no one to turn to for a mentor and for advice on fire company life.

So if anyone can help me and mentor me, please email me @ wildweasl@rocketmail.com

[gah74]

I'm not sure if your scenario is beyond the "normal" amounts that tend to go on in the firehouse. Try staying under the radar for a while. Do all the things a probie should do and more...before they have to remind you to do them. Remember though...sometimes it doesn't matter how much you do, you will still catch some sh*t. Slowly (or perhaps quickly), you will find through observation who the real players are in your department and who is just a barking dog with no bite. Eventually, you can start retaliating (sp?) and the vicious cycle can begin. You may find after a while that you like being refered to as a slug as* POS. :D

[shammrock54]

Its like being in a fire, stay low, watch your 6, and attack to protect yourself and the community. Let the whinners and shmucks fight over the pointless, but fight for the important stuff!

[Ten8_Ten19]

Nick K. "wild weasel" Chaleunphone,FireFighter/NREMT-B,CC

You don't want to give the name of your company?

[BIThumper550]

See, i think the problem is that, people in my fire company are political. within the fire company, they have camps of their own and if your not nsync with them, then you are considered a nobody and don't get special treatment. As a probie, i'm forced to endure the taunts, name calling and the abuse of being used too much and having a junior try to tell me what i can and can't do. I'm also having to endure officers who can't lead and, the only one who i can really turn to in the company is a trustee member, for advice and help in sitiuations where my 6 is uncovered. Even sometimes i have thought of fighting with these people to stop them from taunting me.

In my situation, i am a Volunteer Firefighter/EMT for Norristown Fire Dept/Fairmount Engine Co 2. I've been with them for 2 years and i've been taking classes required to be a regular member. I go to medical college and i major in Paramedic science and Physician Assistant studies. I volunteer my time to the firehouse on weekends only. I am their first and only openly gay firefighter and one with a deaf disability.

So i am left to face being a probie by myself, with no one to mentor me and to guide me through fire company life. Even when i do go to fire academy classes, i face the chance of being picked on and taunt at and when i do fight back, i get in trouble, very easily.

So i need help very badly and i hope that i don't have to drop from the company and fire service.

[JayTL]

See, i think the problem is that, people in my fire company are political.

That is part of society. Politics is a common thread. In every firehouse in America there is some sort of politics being played out.

As a probie, i'm forced to endure the taunts, name calling and the abuse of being used too much and having a junior try to tell me what i can and can't do.

Probies, Rookies, et al have a certain period in which they endure more than what a veteran would accept. I am not saying that this includes physical abuse but verbal taunting, at least in my fire service career, has been something open and accepted. In fact, it creates a certain ... shalle we say bond. As for overworked did you get into it to sit around?



I'm also having to endure officers who can't lead and, the only one who i can really turn to in the company is a trustee member, for advice and help in sitiuations where my 6 is uncovered. Even sometimes i have thought of fighting with these people to stop them from taunting me.

I think you would be hardpressed to find a person on this board who has not dealt with poor leaders. How do you get by that. Become a leader and stand by your principles. As for physical confrontations, you should remove yourself from that. While it may seem logical it leads to trouble.

I am their first and only openly gay firefighter and one with a deaf disability.

A difficult situation. You being deaf poses concerns because a firefighter needs to be able to hear. It is vital. I am not trying to get you down about that though. I am sure there are novel methods that could help to smoothly bring you into a company, though I certainly don't know what that would be.

As for being openly gay I can see where that might cause you problems, in fact severe ones. I would suggest you find others who share the lifestyle and are on the job and ask them how they deal with it. I am no counseler and have strong opinions on that issue. I doubt you want to hear my feelings.

Good luck.

[tom427428]

Originally posted by shammrock54
Its like being in a fire, stay low, watch your 6, and attack to protect yourself and the community. Let the whinners and shmucks fight over the pointless, but fight for the important stuff!


watch your 6... nice line

[JOEL KIMBALL]

I think you answered one of your own questions. Why do you feel you have to be openly gay? Most people have strong feelings about that lifestyle and you only open yourself up to strong feelings of like or dislike. I'm not saying be a hypocrite, but you had to know what a revelation like that would lead to. Most people that dislike your lifestyle don't want it forced on them, and it only leads to disharmony when you bring it up. It's not a handicap but a lifesyle, try using some discretion and just do the job. Would you act normal to a person that was openly racist? They are both lifestyles and a way of thinking that is not the norm, no matter how much you would like it to be different. Be the best firefighter you can be and leave the "statements" and contentious lifestyle at home. A wise person will let his actions do the talking. By the way, if you were HIV positive would you alert your fellow firefighters, just in case you were injured and bleeding? That will always present a question in the back of their minds, I'm sure you understand. I have Hepititus C from blood transfusions when I was a kid, I think, but as soon as I found out I alerted my brothers. It caused me some problems and I almost lost my position, but you have to face these facts truthfully. It would kill me if I gave it to someone else. My sincere desire is that you look to Christ for deliverance from this lifestyle and find the peace that passes all understanding, then you can REALLY enjoy life. He is a Saviour and no case is to hard for Him. May the Lord bless you.
I hope I haven't crossed the line that will get me censored on this forum, but if I did... so be it.


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