age requirments

[BigGriffC12]

At my department, 14 to join as a Jr. member. If you join as a Jr, your on probation till your 18 and have all your training.

We have no retire age. We have no members over the age of 60 that ride the piece's. Were actually struggling for members...

you guys seem to run a tight outfit down there, nice apparatus, nice firehouse, nice gear...I ran into 1 of your guys out at the fire academy last week...bob aulisio? older guy..ground the gears on the new engine they have out there..I thought to myself..typical truckie lol..but yea, esp. since you guys have a truck and lackawanna county does box alarms I would use the call volume thing as a selling point. I don't volly just to train, or wash the trucks, and fund raise..I wanna go play sometime.

[ChiefKN]

Do you think a required retirement age could be considered illegal? Maybe age discrimination.

I believe it is done in many places and would not.

[Picc.93Truck]

At my department, 14 to join as a Jr. member. If you join as a Jr, your on probation till your 18 and have all your training.

We have no retire age. We have no members over the age of 60 that ride the piece's. Were actually struggling for members...

[HAFD112]

Do you think a required retirement age could be considered illegal? Maybe age discrimination.

[PaladinKnight]

Chief, you were doing OK until you got to this part..............

Harve... I feel fine. But I do appreciate your concern.

I wouldn't think of denying you the credit you deserve.

We should all take a lesson from what you have done.

It has been my good fortune to learn from your vast knowledge sir.

[hwoods]

Huh??...........

You really need to listen to what Harve states here.
Besides, he set a whole new standard as to feeding and watering the horses along with fixing the broken wagon axles.

Chief, you were doing OK until you got to this part..............

[hwoods]

Ok...........

Bob, Thank You. I understand "The System" and it actually makes sense to me. However I think it is a very sad way to do business. But on the other hand, if that is what the Community wants, or feels is right for them, so be it......

[Fireeaterbob]

Harve, we limit by financial necessity. There are certain regulations in Indiana that require the Township Trustee to provide x amount of insurance and y amount of stipends for clothing and gas for an all-volunteer fire department.

We have contracted (shrunk) from 29 to 26ish because the money is not there to fuel the trucks, pay the lights,make the truck payments, do up keep on the trucks and provide the required token pay to the troops.

That is why we created the senior reserves; to increase the number of vollies without having to completely cut loose valuable resources.

We do fundraisers, but the State Board of Accounts trims more fat out of everyones budget every year....I think we are about anorexic(sp?) by now.

[tree68]

Gentlemen, If I May Ask: Why would anyone in their Right Mind (I Know, I just excluded Politicians) want to limit the number of Volunteers??

I would submit that there was a day when open membership would have included most of the men in town (women not being a real factor "back in the day"). A significant number would have been there "for the beer," if you will. In many departments without a strong command structure, a fire scene would have been teeming with people - each doing their own thing. We all know that fires do go out eventually, but these would be the folks who earned the moniker "cellar savers."

My own department had a limit when I joined. They were under said limit at the time and I got right in. The bylaws stated that residents of the fire district (the hamlet - maybe a mile square) had preference over those who lived outside, which helped maintain a fairly quick response.

The downside of a limit was, of course, that members who no longer participated in responses held down spots that could be filled by folks who would.

We dropped that requirement a few years after I joined.

[PaladinKnight]

Harve... let me add to this...

Gentlemen, (using Harve's example here):

You really need to listen to what Harve states here. He is perhaps one of the few guys left that wrote the book on "Raising the Bar" and "Pushing the Envelop".

This doesn't pertain to only volunteer departments... but all departments.

There are very few MEN in our presence that have earned the level of respect that this fine gentleman has.



Besides he set a whole new standard as to feeding and watering the horses along with fixing the broken wagon axles.

He is A-OK in my book.

[hwoods]

A Question...........

Gentlemen, If I May Ask: Why would anyone in their Right Mind (I Know, I just excluded Politicians) want to limit the number of Volunteers?? Here in my part of the World, a "Limit" on Membership is unheard of. And I can tell you that any attempt to impose such a limit would be met with a huge uproar. VFDs here have almost totally eliminated Residency Requirements along with some other really ludicrious items from their Bylaws........

[Fireeaterbob]

Our department is slowly moving from 30 years of experience and up to the younger generation of firefighters. In order to facilitate the transition we rewrote our bylaws and created a SENIOR RESERVE roster. Firefighters who no longer had the time or the physical ability to suit it up and get dirty on the fireground were given the opportunity(sp?) to more to Senior Reserve.

This position allows them to attend meetings, fireground functions, and training if they wish. They are not issued gear and are often relegated to advisory or administrative positions. The few that have chosen to go to reserves have opened roster spots for younger members.

It is not a perfect solution but it does allow people the chance to participate when they are able but does not tie up resources that need to be invested towards growth in the department. We currently have about eight of our 26 members who have 30 years plus and are active. There are a slew of 25 year personell. This is kind of significant since the department started in 1974.

[HAFD112]

BTW, I'm 36yo and firefighter for 10 years, I had to wait five years for a spot on this department.

[HAFD112]

At one time our membership was 35% over 70 yo. So the rule was made and the older guys were grandfathered.

The 25 person limit was set by the administration because of the amount of wages and insurance. Its all about money.

The big problem was 72 yo old guys would come to the station for a call after all the trucks were gone and check their name off the sheet and get paid! Or just pull the truck out the door and then go back in the kitchen and have a beer. This was all before my time and I don't think we need the rule anymore, but what do I know.

[KanFireman]

This speaks to an issue in semantics.

While he's still a member of the fire department (and we have folks who fit the same description, as do many volunteer FD's), is he really still a firefighter or just a social member of the fraternal organization?

Traditionally, we often still call them a firefighter, out of deference to their experience and their time in the service, but in reality (and in keeping with the OP's question), they "retired" from firefighting years ago.

The same can be said for most of the brass in the career departments across the nation.

In my opinion if you've got a sharp mind, a quick wit, and are not dependent on a care taker; you can still contribute to your department in a some capacity. One of the best EMT/Paramedic instructors I've ever met was a retired RN in her 80s. She had more knowledge about prehospkital treatment of a patient than the combined experience of most established EMS Departments. Just because somebody isn't directly influencing the outcome of an incident, doesn't necessarily mean that the effects of their contributions aren't being felt.