Junior Firefighters - Planning for the Future
This article is focused on volunteer fire departments recruiting efforts. Did you know that seventy percent of small towns and cities are protected by volunteer fire departments? These members are local residents who step up and donate their time to volunteer at their local firehouse. There is a critical component that plays a major role in volunteer fire departments. It is the young members in the community. I am talking about the teenagers in every small town and community. Recruiting new members is a struggle for many volunteer fire departments. Here is a fix!
Does your fire department have a junior membership squad, a cadet program, explorers’ program? Whatever the title, I started hanging around my local volunteer fire station at age 14. What did I do? Well the older members allowed me to wash the fire trucks, clean the floors and go to fire demos and do other odd jobs. I attended in-station training drills and fire training classroom sessions. By age 16, I was voted in as a member of the Junior Firefighting Squad. I was issued a pair of boots, an oversized fire coat and a red hard hat clearly marked Junior Firefighter.
What did it do for me? I was in high school, primed to get into trouble like my high school buddies such as vandalism and other mischief. This junior firefighter program gave me purpose, created passion for the fire service and a sense of giving in my community. By age 18 I became a senior firefighter which allowed me to drive the fire apparatus and enter buildings on fire.
So I am going to dwell-in on the Junior Fire Squad. Every volunteer fire department should have a Junior Fire Squad. Why – because these members will become senior firefighters within two years and now you have increased your membership with a trained firefighter, except for the driving certificate and the interior firefighter certification. They must get that!
What do Junior Firefighters do? Well there is nothing wrong with washing a fire truck. It comes from our sense of pride, being a member of a unit. You could even wax the fire truck. Nobody does that anymore! Shine up the tires, and not just for parades. Wash the chiefs car every time they are at the station. Sweep the floor of the fire station. Wash the windows. Our fire stations are our second homes. So clean your second home.
Train on something every day. Ask a senior member to show you how to change the chain on a chain saw. Do it over and over until you can do it in 90 seconds. Memorize the total number of ground ladders on each truck. Take the ladders off the truck and clean them every month. Check the halyard, the locks. Know your ground ladders. Empty each compartment on every truck, clean it, and take inventory of all the items. Type a list of the items and put the list on the inside of each compartment door. At 16 years old, ask a senior member to teach you how to pump the truck. Get in on the pump drills. Learn how the fire pump works.
Attend as many classes as you can. Get your CPR cert early. Take on-line classes. Create a binder to place your certificates in, it shows your progress. Junior members had to maintain a C average in high school to even come up to the station. So you need to excel in your school work first. Get that high school diploma.
Our junior squad was responsible for refilling air tanks at fires. How fast can you change-out a (SCBA) air tank with a full tank. Challenge each other. We also set-up lighting outside the fire building. Salvage covers were a part of every fire. Cover up the furniture on the floor below the fire. You will need SCBA for that. Are your trained on SCBA? Get the certificate. Don’t let your age deter you from any training.
Get funding for your junior squad by holding monthly car washes at the station. Get a local business to sponsor your squad with monthly donations. Buy your junior members flashlights, small tools, gloves or even embroidered jackets. Be proud of your involvement, show it off.
Train, do something around the station daily, help the senior members do things at the station and stay out of trouble. No goofing around at the station. Learn and ask senior members how to operate the tools and equipment. It is good for them too.
My department had a step van we used as a salvage truck and it was loaded with flood lights, wet vacs, mops, brooms and extra air bottles. On weekends, we would sleep at the firehouse and staff this unit. We had a senior member drive it to the fire call and we would do what was needed. Establish a Junior Squad Commander and they will make sure you are used at the fire scene. Even directing traffic. Use vests of course. Get a traffic directing class/certificate first.
At age 19 I was hired as a career firefighter in my city. I spent the next thirty-four years in the best job anyone could have. Now, some forty years later, I can only think of my fellow junior members Bruce O, Bruce P, Wesley W and David F for the great times and calls we went to at that young age. Own it, enjoy it, be safe at it and train for it.
Junior firefighters are our future.