Ask a Firefighter anything

488 Questions

Last Answer on June 29, 2022

I don't know if you know much about VFD's but when a VFD sends out a page in my town, I think volunteers usually respond in private vehicles with blue lights. Who would drive the apparatus to the scene? How do they know if enough people are coming?

Asked by 123 almost 11 years ago

Most volunteer departments have designated individuals that respond to get the apparatus. Each unit would mark up on the radio as responding, but there have been a time or two that I have heard of where someone had to go back and get the truck. My personal opinion is that all go to the station unless a unit is already enroute and no other equipment is needed.

939 Votes

What is the typical rank system in a career FD vs. a VFD? Are there ranks such as corporal that do not lead a unit but are still ranked? Thanks.

Asked by 123 almost 11 years ago

Starting from the bottom to the top.

Firefighter- Private

Senior Firefighter-Corporal

Engineer- Sergeant- Driver Operator

Lieutenant

Captain

Division Chief

Battalion Chief

Assitant Chief

Chief

Fire Commissioner.

This is a standard but can be listed as a different title.

937 Votes

So you wanna be a Firefighter?

Check our Jobstr's career page for salary information, educational requirements, suggested reading and more!

We'll today an accident at school happend I was dancing in hallway then I bumped on fire alarm and it went on my ? Is will my parents have to pay fine even tho firefighters didn't show up at all

Asked by Alberto Velasco over 10 years ago

Relax no they wont, that is reserved for business nuisance alarms.

926 Votes

Hello! I'm doing a research for a story i'm writing on firefighters and what they go through during a house fire. May i contact you via e-mail?

Asked by ----- over 10 years ago

palmettoss@yahoo.com

925 Votes

Also on Jobstr...

Small Website Owner

What made you go the entrepreneur route after college instead of a typical job?

Wills and Estates Lawyer

Can I leave everything to my pets?

Hotel Front Desk Agent

Have you ever had a suicide occur in one of your rooms?

If a 4-man truck company is told to do search-and-rescue on a burning house, (and they are following the 2 in 2 out rule) will the "2 out" typically be in the same company? If so, will the officer typically go in or stay outside? Same for engines?

Asked by 23 almost 11 years ago

Usually you keep 2 expeirence FF on the team, If you can have a full crew together is even better. The Officer typically will go with the first one. Depends on the size of the department.

922 Votes

How many different radio channels will be used when a fire happens? Is there a separate channel for the initial dispatching of the units and for the units that are on scene? What about the FFs in the building?

Asked by 345 almost 11 years ago

Yes, dependent on the size of the departments they will initially dispatch a call on the main channel and then have units that are responding move to an assigned channel. Firefighters usually operate on a fireground channel that is a lesser frequency strength and keeps communications from ground crews confined to the call. The incident commander will monitor several channels on larger incidents.

920 Votes

Do firefighters have to fill out reports for each incident they respond to? What kinds of things do these reports include?

Asked by Ace over 10 years ago

Yes, We fill out reports called NFIRS- National Fire Incident Reporting System. We have two components that we use. The first one is fire calls which records what type of call, manpower levels, resources reponded and nature of call which if it is a fire it calls for description of what was burning, where it started along with a narrative of the incident. When we respond to medical calls we are Advance Life Support crews and a incident report that records type of call, who and what responded and statistical info of pt along nature of call and what we did for the patient. Our statistics for these calls are used for fire specifics which can be used to determine what you pay for home insurance and the medical is used for medical reporting statistics along with insurance payments. It should be noted that even though we have HIPPA laws the fire reports are public information except the medical reports which are medical records and are not available to the public.

919 Votes

Showing 50 - 56

Show All

416 More Answers by Firefighter

Last 7

5 6 7 8 9 10

...

Next 7 Answers

Firefighter

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

I don't know if you know much about VFD's but when a VFD sends out a page in my town, I think volunteers usually respond in private vehicles with blue lights. Who would drive the apparatus to the scene? How do they know if enough people are coming?

What is the typical rank system in a career FD vs. a VFD? Are there ranks such as corporal that do not lead a unit but are still ranked? Thanks.

So you wanna be a Firefighter?

We'll today an accident at school happend I was dancing in hallway then I bumped on fire alarm and it went on my ? Is will my parents have to pay fine even tho firefighters didn't show up at all

Hello! I'm doing a research for a story i'm writing on firefighters and what they go through during a house fire. May i contact you via e-mail?

Also on Jobstr...

If a 4-man truck company is told to do search-and-rescue on a burning house, (and they are following the 2 in 2 out rule) will the "2 out" typically be in the same company? If so, will the officer typically go in or stay outside? Same for engines?

How many different radio channels will be used when a fire happens? Is there a separate channel for the initial dispatching of the units and for the units that are on scene? What about the FFs in the building?

Do firefighters have to fill out reports for each incident they respond to? What kinds of things do these reports include?

Firefighter

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

I don't know if you know much about VFD's but when a VFD sends out a page in my town, I think volunteers usually respond in private vehicles with blue lights. Who would drive the apparatus to the scene? How do they know if enough people are coming?

What is the typical rank system in a career FD vs. a VFD? Are there ranks such as corporal that do not lead a unit but are still ranked? Thanks.

So you wanna be a Firefighter?

We'll today an accident at school happend I was dancing in hallway then I bumped on fire alarm and it went on my ? Is will my parents have to pay fine even tho firefighters didn't show up at all

Hello! I'm doing a research for a story i'm writing on firefighters and what they go through during a house fire. May i contact you via e-mail?

Also on Jobstr...

If a 4-man truck company is told to do search-and-rescue on a burning house, (and they are following the 2 in 2 out rule) will the "2 out" typically be in the same company? If so, will the officer typically go in or stay outside? Same for engines?

How many different radio channels will be used when a fire happens? Is there a separate channel for the initial dispatching of the units and for the units that are on scene? What about the FFs in the building?

Do firefighters have to fill out reports for each incident they respond to? What kinds of things do these reports include?

Login

Forgot Your Password?

Register