Decline in volunteer firefighters drives up home insurance

[Woodenhead]

This thread shouldn't be about women vs. men. What the heck is wrong with you people. Are you all 11 years old?

I'm curious as to what the call-out pay rate is for the volunteer departments in & around the Okanagan.

I've considered volunteering before, but I work too far away @ long/odd hours now. Plus the social aspect of it doesn't appeal to me at all any more. (most of my friends back east are on the local departments - my uncle is chief of one - so I've a very good idea of what it's like, FWIW)

[melscarandtruckrental]

This thread shouldn't be about women vs. men. What the heck is wrong with you people. Are you all 11 years old?

I'm curious as to what the call-out pay rate is for the volunteer departments in & around the Okanagan.

I've considered volunteering before, but I work too far away @ long/odd hours now. Plus the social aspect of it doesn't appeal to me at all any more. (most of my friends back east are on the local departments - my uncle is chief of one - so I've a very good idea of what it's like, FWIW)

Pay rate for a volunteer? What am I missing?

[melscarandtruckrental]

I don't think women are really capable of fighting house or commercial building fires. just my opinion and how I view things

Really? Well if your house should ever be on fire and a woman shows up at the top of the ladder to drag your sorry butt out, you tell her you will wait for a man to get there.

The fire dept is one of the last of the emergency depts. that have not relaxed there qualifications in the hiring process. Therefore if a woman is on the fire dept you can believe that she is qualified to do the job.

[twobits]

Pay rate for a volunteer? What am I missing?

The title is a bit of a contradiction. What it means is that they are not paid full time to be a firefighter. Career firefighters are paid a guaranteed wage even if they are sleeping in the fire hall on a night shift. Volunteer firefighters are only paid when they are called to a fire or while participating in training. Not sure what the pay scale is these days but about 30 yrs ago it was about 16/hr plus meal allowances. I think you could reasonably double that now.

[pentona]

The title is a bit of a contradiction. What it means is that they are not paid full time to be a firefighter. Career firefighters are paid a guaranteed wage even if they are sleeping in the fire hall on a night shift. Volunteer firefighters are only paid when they are called to a fire or while participating in training. Not sure what the pay scale is these days but about 30 yrs ago it was about 16/hr plus meal allowances. I think you could reasonably double that now.

I asked a volunteer in one of the local halls in the Southern Interior; he told me that there isn't a set wage but it averages between $16 and $18 per hour during calls. I believe the RDOS is trying to standardize wages for all their halls $20 hr; no more than that. Not a lot to risk one's life.

[twobits]

I asked a volunteer in one of the local halls in the Southern Interior; he told me that there isn't a set wage but it averages between $16 and $18 per hour during calls. I believe the RDOS is trying to standardize wages for all their halls $20 hr; no more than that. Not a lot to risk one's life.

If that is in fact the case, then I stand corrected on the wage. No it is not a lot but I think you are putting a little to much drama in here with risk of life. They do things pretty safely now and by the book and why deaths to firefighters are relatively rare. Besides, I don't think the recruitment problem has much to do with the remuneration. It is more to do with the change in peoples work locations and two working parents creating an impossible situation for one to run off and respond to a fire. Further to that, volunteering used to be a stepping stone to the possibility of gaining employment as a career firefighter. Those opportunities have greatly diminished as well for various reasons including nepotism within fire departments.

[Woodenhead]

nepotism within fire departments.

That's something that's always been an issue within dept's, unfortunately.

[zoo]

[/quote]

The fire dept is one of the last of the emergency depts. that have not relaxed there qualifications in the hiring process. Therefore if a woman is on the fire dept you can believe that she is qualified to do the job.[/quote]

Actually, qualifications have drastically changed over the last 15 years for this career. The physical testing alone has had to accommodate and changes have been made. The days of push ups, sit ups, chin ups, carrying a 200lb dummy 150 feet, are no longer parts of the testing. More gender neutral tasks are the norm now. These changes were brought about for different reasons and some were very clear why. So, they are different , they were changed and not based on pure strength and condition.
Just for the record though.