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I have retired from the Seattle area as a Capt., and now have taken over as Fire Chief for Fence Lake Vol. FD.
Very different operations, attitude etc...I could and would expand later.
My biggest question is: If you are a volunteer DO YOU GET ANY KIND OF REINBURSEMENT FOR YOUR DEPT OR THE STATE.
In most states a vol. FF...gets about $5.00/drill-meeting..and $5.00+ per call which can be added onto if over 4 hours of service...
and the amount can depend if you are an officer, EMS-EMT, or medic.
I am working on a study and will work with the State Chief's Association re this..
I strongly feel that vol. should be compensated something for their time etc. fuel...etc.
As a chief I DO NOT GET ANY COMPENSATATION FOR MY FUEL TO GO TO THE STATION, GO TO MEETINGS, OR CALL, ETC.
I KNOW THAT THE STATE AND OR COUNTIES SHOULD COMPENSATE CHIEF'S
and some personel for this..
YOUR COMMENTS ETC ARE GREATLY NEEDED..
HW..aka Fence Lake Fire Chief..and AKA Local Marshal..
"We pride ourselves on being the only organization, in New Mexico, which represents ALL of the state's firefighters. We make no distinction between paid and volunteer."
As a volunteer in another state (Oregon) I was reimbursed at about the $5 rate you mentioned. But, if we accepted state money for such, we were subject to being called up for active fire duty by the state if needed--i.e. forest fire season.
First let me answer songinthewind. No, your Chief isn't paid. He is just like the rest of us in the County.
Now, on to the other.
The biggest issue I have with paying a "volunteer" is the same that I have mentioned before.
That is, you increase the chance of a person in need of the $$ creating calls.
A similar situation has happened with contract wildland firefighters near me. When the money got tight a couple of years ago they had a contract guy starting fires. Not a good situation at all.
My suggestion in the past has been that if your going to pay them then you need to come up with a set dollar amount that you can afford. If a person makes 100% of the meetings, trainings, and calls then at the end of the year they get the full amount of pay. The pay decreases for each meeting, training, call, that they do not attend. That way you have no incentive to create a call to go to. You get paid the same for responding to 100% of the calls regardless if the total number is 5 calls or 500.
Rumor has it that our chief is getting paid but it's just a rumor so thanks for setting me straight on that.
I think the firefighters should get paid something as they are putting there lives in danger. Attending all the meetings, training, etc. that some do and then fighting fires and possibly losing there life should be telling somebody something.
I am seriously considering buying in Catron Co. and would more than likely volunteer at Wild Horse. I am curently a member of the Civil Air Patrol, another volunteer org. ( Mission Pilot , Level 3 I.C. )
Wondering if there are any requirements as to phyisical, age ( I got lots ) etc.
I'm not sure about Catron county but here in Timberon, our firefighters are of all different ages. I'm thinking the youngest is around 20 and the oldest is in his 70's.
Hope this helps some.
I do not live in NM yet but we will be heading there within the year. I grew up in a very small community that only had a volunteer fire dept. To my knowledge, none of them were compensated a set amount. That kinda would defeat the purpose of it being a "volunteer" organization. If you VOLUNTEER your services, you should NOT EXPECT compenstation for your time or services. After all, you volunteered. I do believe that the contributing members of a volunteer fire department should have fund raisers and that the community can make donations towards their time and expenses while serving the community. That is true volunteer work and if a community sees that you ask for nothing in return then you will get the upmost gratitude and compensation.
I am no longer a vol. fire fighter. I am certified Class II. When reimbursement of expenses ($7+/hr) and turning fire fighting into a politicized 'anti-terror' endeavorer happened that is not what we started out to do. After 911 things changed. Its wasn't about fire fighting, the para military took over. That being said. Requirements also changed so that volunteers must have more and more hours of training / yr. That is to protect political entities from law suits based on untrained people on scene. If someone is giving as many hours as it takes (50+?) they do need to be compensated.
Last edited by wordsmith680; 08-11-2009 at 10:23 PM..
Reason: $ sign for clarity
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volunteer firefighter
) etc.
