The Fire Departments - Fire Department Directory

Fire departments are some of the most important buildings in any city. No one ever wants to be in a position to see the fire departments crew at their home or office but if the need arises they are always happy that they are there at a moments notice. Regardless of where you live in the United States there is one or more fire departments in your area that are ready to help you if you have a problem in your home, your office, or even out in the wilderness there are fire departments nearby that are trained for that very situation. In your city you are likely to find a number of different types of fire departments ranging from Career, Volunteer, and Pay Per Call. Each and every one of these fire departments is equally trained and are held to the very same quality and skill standards as the next.

Career fire departments are the most common and the most exposed fire departments of them all. When you watch major Hollywood Blockbusters like Ladder 49, or Backdraft for example, they are depicting career fire departments and career fire personnel. Career fire departments have hundreds or even thousands of professional men and women on staff on a full and part time basis to handle any emergency situation that might come up. In many cases fire departments are listed as first responders for all emergency calls; not only for fire related calls. If you called your local emergency number to report a person unconscious on your sofa for example, the operator would dispatch an ambulance as well as one of your local fire departments, even though you did not report a fire. There are several shifts in career fire departments which ensure there is a full team of fire personnel in the building on a 24 hour basis, the building will never be found empty. They are sitting in wait for an emergency call to respond to.

Volunteer fire departments are trained and held to the very same standards as the career fire departments in your area, the only difference is that these fire fighters might also be local teachers, plumbers, electricians, or even gas station attendants. Usually in smaller cities and towns fire services will supplement their fire departments budget by staffing fire fighters on a volunteer basis, these volunteers must meet the same rigorous training and testing as career fire fighters, but they only work in the fire departments on a part time basis and they do not get paid for it. In many cases volunteer fire fighters give their time and services for free while they are waiting for a paid position to come available, or simply because they are passionate about helping people. If ever you are in a position to see a volunteer fire fighter at work you will not be able to tell the difference between them and the career fire fighter working next to him or her. Volunteer fire departments are filled with some of the most passionate hard working warm-hearted people you will ever meet.

Pay Per Call fire departments are a branch of career fire departments in the way that their staff get paid to go to work. They differ from career departments in the way that they do not get paid to sit in the fire department and wait for a call, they only get paid if they go on a call. Because they are not paid to sit around and wait for a call many pay per call fire fighters will go about their regular day and keep their fire fighting gear in their vehicle so that they are ready to go to the scene of a fire and suit up there. Volunteer and Pay Per Call fire departments are usually the support or back up crew that will accompany a career fire service team to a fire call. They usually arrive with minimal equipment and simply use the equipment that was brought along by the career fire team who showed up with the large fire engine.

No matter who shows up to your emergency situation, a career fire department, a volunteer fire department, or a pay per call fire department you can rest assured you will be getting the same quality of service. All fire departments and fire fighting personnel have training specific to fire emergencies as well as health emergencies, and emergencies relating to gas or chemical exposure. All are trained for high location or low location rescues as well as ice breakage rescues on cold open water. No matter what kind of emergency you are facing, odds are you will find a fire fighter in your emergency response group.

Fire Department Information

A fire department is generally a public department but can also be a private entity that provides fire protection for a certain jurisdiction, which is usually defined by municipality, county, or fire protection district. An individual fire department may contain one or more fire stations within its service area, and can be staffed by career firefighters, volunteers, or a combination of both.

Most fire departments are organized into four main categories consisting of of administration, services, training, and operations.

The fire department administration department is responsible for supervision, budgets, policy, and human resources

The service department of the fire department is responsible for protection, safety, and education of the public.

The training department of a fire department develops skilled fire fighters with the knowledge to protect the public including fighting and preventing fires.

The operations section of a fire department has the role to protect the public from harm.A fire department is normally set up where it can have fire stations and firefighting equipment strategically deployed throughout the area it is served to protect so that dispatchers can send fire engines, fire trucks, or ambulances from the fire stations closest to the incident. Bigger fire departments have departments within themselves to increase efficiency, composed of volunteers, support, and research.

Volunteer Fire Departments

What are Volunteer Fire Departments

Volunteer fire departments are fire departments that are operated by individuals who volunteer their services. These staff is not paid for fire fighting services that they offer in their jurisdiction areas. Volunteer fire departments offer fire fighting and other related emergency services on voluntary basis. In this way, most of these individuals who offer services at voluntary fire departments are engaged elsewhere. They are people who have other employments other than working in the fire departments.

The term voluntary means that these people are not paid for the services that they offer. They are therefore contrasted with other career fire fighters who are employed by fire departments. These career fire fighters unlike voluntary counterparts, work in organized roles. They have specified offices, fields, shifts and other departmentally approved work criteria that lead to their earning wages and salaries. Failure to perform as required may lead to their suspension or dismissal. Voluntary fire fighters may not be required to have all these requirements and are not paid for the services that they offer.

Some fire departments usually operate using a combination of both paid and voluntary staff. In this way therefore, some voluntary fire departments may operate as part of the larger fire department system where the voluntary fire fighters are engaged when the need arises. The voluntary fire fighters are therefore expected to rise to the occasion and provide their services in times of emergencies that are way too much for the regular fire fighters. As part of voluntary fire departments staff, these individuals are also expected to provide other services such as equipment maintenance, training, counseling and any other service deemed appropriate by the fire departments and which can be tackled by these volunteers.

Voluntary fire fighters can therefore be trained and put at standby for emergency cases. In other voluntary fire departments, they can be engaged on regular basis other than being called upon only during emergencies. In as much as these individuals are never paid, they are very important and are engaged at all levels of fire fighting processes. They are useful before, during and after a fire emergency. Most of the fire departments have their regular rapid response apparatus well staffed and trained for their fire fighting roles. In this way therefore, volunteer fire fighters are used to supplement the already well trained fire fighting regular and compensated individuals. This therefore means that voluntary fire fighting personnel are individuals with other career paths but have time to help out in times of fire disasters or when the regular staff is out training.

It is notable that according to National Fire Protection Association, more than 70% of fire fighters in the US are volunteers. This shows that volunteer fire departments are more involved in fire fighting than what the common expectations may anticipate. Volunteer fire departments are therefore important institutions in the country that ensures that the public is trained, protected and shielded from the adverse consequences of fire emergencies. Without these volunteer fire departments, then the country would be more prone to suffer the losses associated with poor fire fighting issues.