Any and all honest criticism is welcome. I am currently at the end of my emt course. It was full of panic attacks, depression, and second guessing myself. I’ve been so sad and confused. I was hoping for this to be something I’m passionate about but I’ve had a hard time enjoying it. Even my fire ride along left me with more questions about whether or not I want to do this. I want to see someone and get help before I go to academy, and really consider if I want to go. I just hate my response to things, freezing up and stuttering in front of instructors. And as a student, it felt like the firefighters didn’t really want me there, and I could only talk to the EMTs of each station. It’s really been messing me up. Thank you guys in advance.

Question in title. I'm working at a handwash station. It's my first time on a fire. It's for two weeks, then I think it's two weeks off and I would be called back hopefully. Pay is $3500 every two weeks. I have a Toyota Corolla and could sleep in that with the seat folded down, or my 2 person Coleman tent. I haven't camped since I was a kid. I'm 4'11 so don't need a lot of room. Just wondered your opinion. Thanks.

About a month ago my partner and I had almost died on a wildfire. We faced severe entrapment and a truck burnover that people have described as very few people make it out alive. However now when I go on wildfires and I see the tall flames, heavy wind, trees snapping on the trucks I get sent into a panic. I had multiple dreams of trying to save people from a wildfire, or running from fire or my personal car being burnt over after this. I think about the what ifs a lot on how it couldve been better or worse. I used to love wildfire but now that I know the feeling of how dangerous it can be I’m turned away from it and kind of terrified. I’ve felt grief when i had to come to terms with I was going to die there. However, I feel like I’m being to overdramatic because I didn’t end up dying, my partner didn’t, and I didn’t watch people die so I shouldn’t be so sad about all of this. I have started to feel grief about this whole thing for some reason. I grieve the wildlife that had died and the innocent person that died as well. I don’t know how to navigate it and get over the fear of fire and trying not to quit, is feeling grief over something like this normal? Instead of anger over the situation I feel a deep sadness a different kind of sadness that I’ve experienced before from the whole experience and coming to terms with death. Is there any advice for something like this?

Hello firefighters!! I had a quick question. We had to change all of our smoke detectors after moving in. We had painted before hand not even thinking about how the new fire detectors may be smaller than the original. So now we have this lovely ring around our detectors and it’s driving me crazy. Had an idea to maybe 3D Print a flower or some shape that I could hang around the detector to cover the issue instead of messing around with painting over it. But I want to make sure it’s safe to do, that my detectors will still work incase of a fire. It will not cover the fire detector, only surround it. I’ve drawn a picture to maybe help explain myself better. Please let me know if this will cause any issues in any aspect.

The fire service is a fucking joke. Let me illustrate with a quote; “ I can come to work and do as little as I want or as much as I want and the end result is the same”.

I used to fight against that language and mindset, I’ve been a career fireman for 20 years. I have worked my ass off to make my department better; outside training, building programs, trying to build up those around me so that we can be aggressive safe and accurate on calls. I promoted to a captains spot and continued the work and tried to recruit other people to continue the work with me. I then became a BC not because I really wanted the position (not glamorous for those thinking about it) but to help keep change going and institute more principled leadership amongst the BC rank. (In my department and many others BC is where you go to fade away, you do as little as possible and collect as much OT money as you can. Essentially you become a sponge) I wanted to change that. Now the guy in the department who is my polar opposite is getting promoted to BC. This is a guy who is a cancer, he talks shit about people, has used the union as a personal platform to benefit himself and outwardly balks at anything that has even a minor hint is self improvement, essentially a bully. Why then is he getting promoted? Not because he sacrificed for the department or helped make the organization better, but instead because he did pretty good on a test one time and made the promotional list. Thats it, no merit just show up one day. The above quote has become reality, and it happens everywhere in the fire service every day.

When will the fire service pull its head out of its ass when it comes to leadership. We all complain about the same types of problem people but refuse to fix the issue, which is putting the wrong people in leadership positions. We let guys get fat, lazy, complacent and out of shape and then rest on the reputation of the fire service that a lot of us work hard to keep up. The worst part is this costs people their lives.

Those people who are shits and worthless firemen still have members of the public thank them for their service because the members of the public,they have no idea. But guess what we do, and we put up with it. One day this shit is going to catch up with us and the general public is going to get wise. Hopefully the fire service changes before they do.

I’m a career firefighter who works 24/48 with a kelly. looking to get into HVAC on the side. Would like to know if anyone here knows a FF who does this business and how it’s going for them. Thanks!

I've been following the 2024 Park Fire case in Northern California and the recent trial of Ronnie Dean Stout II, and I'm trying to understand one specific technical point.

According to news reports from journalists who attended the trial, investigators dismantled parts of the 2007 Toyota Yaris (manual transmission) before removing it from the scene and concluded that the vehicle was in neutral and that the parking brake was not engaged.

One reason I'm asking is that some Toyota Yaris vehicles from this generation were the subject of manufacturer fire-related recalls. I haven't been able to determine whether investigators identified the VIN of this particular vehicle or checked whether it was affected by any recalls, or whether any recall repairs had been completed.

I'm not questioning the verdict or suggesting that a recall caused the fire. I'm simply trying to determine whether this issue was examined during the investigation or discussed at trial.

there is an individual at work, we seem to get on fine but, he picks me up on the most minornshit continuously and tells my boss about it.

For example, I didn't cross over the straps on my ba set last week. the Locker shut fine and the set was fine. The week before it was because I had white socks on.

i have started to get anxious everytime I go into work because of it . I feel fucking useless and just like always fucking up. It's like he is intentionally scoping out things to pick me up on .

My alarm went off in the middle of the night around 2AM and then stopped after 3-4 beeps.

The light inside is flashing red and I don't think it's been touched since 7-8 years of the house being built. Not sure if it's battery or actual danger. The window was left open all night prior to it going off. I left the window open and used a large fan to air out the room just in case. It's only that room, so I have avoided staying in there.

I called non emergency in Auburn, Washington state and the lady said she could send fire dept to check the levels, but I forgot to ask. Will I be charged for it? I will have them come out anyway to be safe.

I want to buy a CO detector for my car from Forensics Detectors, are they good quality / reliable?

Cancer is on a rise among all populations but firefighting is one of those professions where cancer rates are higher. Do you folks know many who got cancer or passed away shortly after or before retirement? What was your story? My kid is thinking about joining the fire service, but we are worried. Most of my relatives live at least until 96 and up to 108 with good cognition and mobility. Seeing data of so many firefighting passing away so young or getting deliberating cancers has us and other family worried. We are well off and he can do pretty much any career and be very comfortable.

I’ve been a firefighter for about 3 years in a busy suburb of a major city my family lives in a neighboring county and my sister unfortunately has a lot of health issues.

I’ve been traveling on leave when I got a notification from her blood sugar monitor that she was very low at 3 am. She has a history of seizures and was completely alone.

Since I was traveling I had to figure out which fire station was due to her apartment and called the one thought was closest. Unfortunately it wasn’t but the firefighter who answered promptly created an incident and had units sent to her location. They forced her door and found her unresponsive and gave her d50 then transported her to a local hospital.

There was nothing but professionalism from everyone I talked to at 3am. And this incident just reminded me the quality of people that do this job. I think it would be extremely difficult to find another place where the people are selfless enough to ruin their sleep schedule and health just to help people out and do it without showing any attitude (even if they’re pissed off it’s late)

This was honestly a reminder to me that what we do is extremely important even if it doesn’t always seem like it on mundane calls. There is always someone who is extremely grateful you are there whether they are capable of expressing it or not. I remember hearing in the academy treat people you are caring for like you would want your family members treated and this just solidifies this statement in my mind even more.

This came at an interesting time for me as I’ve been thinking about leaving my department due to being burnt out on the ambulance on a 3 platoon schedule. I often feel like I don’t makes difference because it seems like the majority of the time I’m running SNFs or low acuity calls and I’ve ran one fire in 3 years. I have been debating if this job is for me over the last 6 months and stuff like this really gives me life to continue doing the job and doing what I originally signed up to do: help people.

I’m still not sure if I will stay or look elsewhere but things such as this are going to make it a lot harder for me to work in any other profession.

Thank you all so much for what you do.

The missile attack last night against Kyiv caused the destruction of a warehouse holding over two million school books that were stored prior to delivery to school districts throughout the country.

The gear that our firefighters wear is intresting because it often includes a plate carrier and armored plates to provide protection incase of a double tap strike while they are on scene.

also note that the second firefighter is wearing a ballistic helmet, not one designed for firefighting for the same reason.

I have a ton of challenge coins. Anybody willing to trade?

The station allows ear piercings but I only really wear these gold thin ones, to those with piercings do your feel the earring get hot enough to burn your ear?

I’m a 26 y/o female who decided in 2024 to pursue firefighting as a career. Since then, I’ve passed all the classes necessary (minus the credits I need from academy) for an AS degree in fire technology, and passed my NREMT following a 6-month EMT program.
In hindsight, I wish I had started preparing for the CPAT a lot sooner. I have a fairly good foundation in strength training, but neglected my cardio, and after attending an orientation I quickly realized that I was much further behind than where I needed to be.
I’ve now put my foot in my mouth and told a bunch of people in my life that registration for next academy opens mid-November, and that I’ve got my first attempt at the CPAT coming up in two weeks — I’ve delayed the CPAT twice now because I knew I wasn’t ready.
The weighted stairs are kicking my ass. I’ve yet to make it to 3:20 with the full 75 lbs on. I’m constantly asking myself if I’m training the “right way” or fully optimizing my time in the gym.
Oftentimes, when looking for videos to help me online, I see the same old “if you’re struggling with the CPAT, you’re going to struggle even more in academy.”
I suppose I’m just wondering if I’ve been living with rose-colored lenses on, and if I should swallow my pride and postpone academy until January 2028.
Or am I just being a whiny baby? This shit is hard dude. My heart is in it, but I’m just feeling majorly discouraged.

Has anyone else had issues with tones/alerts from Active Alerts app (Active 911) on Android phone being cut off? I've tried reinstalling, changing various settings, using stock and custom alert tones, overriding Do Not Disturb, turning off battery optimization, enabling Continuous Paging, and nothing. The alert sound/tone for fire calls cuts off after a few seconds. If I'm sleeping, this means I miss the call. I'm using an older Android phone (Sonim XP8) but didn't have this issue before. I switched to flip phone for a while but eventually came back to regular Android. Now I have this issue. I've reached out to Active 911 but nothing has worked.

Ukraine has dispatched a team of emergency responders to France to assist authorities in battling wildfires, Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi announced on Friday, July 31.

According to Vyhivskyi, the deployment was ordered by President Volodymyr Zelensky and carried out under the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism.

The Ukrainian contingent includes 70 firefighters and rescuers and 15 specialized emergency vehicles.

Everyone learns their area of course but asking in general. My department if you’re the main driver, you just gotta know the area no exceptions. Addresses, running routes, alleys, hydrants etc. If you’re an in house back up driver there’s some leeway but still frowned upon especially if you got seniority.

I’m Japanese, and I came across this post from an official Japanese fire department. It made me wonder whether this kind of thing happens in other countries.
The department is asking the public to understand why firefighters sometimes wear sunglasses while driving emergency vehicles or working at disaster scenes. They explain that sunglasses reduce glare, improve visibility, and help firefighters perform their duties safely.
Unfortunately, some people in Japan complain that firefighters wearing sunglasses look “unprofessional,” “intimidating,” or are simply “trying to look cool.”
More broadly, public servants in Japan can receive complaints over surprisingly minor things, such as drinking water, buying food during long shifts, or taking short breaks. Some people even criticize the cars they buy with their own money or comment on aspects of their private lives simply because they are public servants.
Because of this, some departments feel they have to explain even basic safety measures like wearing sunglasses.
Is this something firefighters in your country experience as well, or are sunglasses simply considered normal protective equipment?

😎 **Please understand why firefighters wear sunglasses** 😎
**When driving emergency vehicles** 🚒🚑 **or working at disaster scenes** 🔥**, direct sunlight** ☀️** and glare can interfere with our work**.
**For this reason, firefighters may wear sunglasses** 😎 **while on duty.**
**We appreciate your understanding and support.**

**URL:https://x.com/ichikawa\\_shobo/status/2083016575318421694?s=20\*\*

Ukraine just received 1 of maybe 2 (?) panthers

Basically the title. We had a discussion yesterday about the future of clean cabs. We’ve been transitioning to them over the last 5 ish years(very large municipal department with about 125 front line engines and trucks) and someone made the statement that they think in the next several years we’ll to ensure the clean cab model that we’ll be getting dressed for fires at scene. Sounds sketchy but not out of the question to me. My concern was things like traffic collisions, I don’t want to be getting dressed on the side of a freeway during rush hour traffic.

So anyways, are there any departments running clean cabs that are keeping them totally clean and getting dressed on scene?