If you’re like me and love the idea of driving and using these…
join your local volunteer fire department! I joined 3.5 years ago and do not regret it one bit. We’ve got a tower just like that, and I get to train with it pretty much any time I want. The other day I set it up and took it all 100’ straight up. It was epic to see my town from above like that.
Volunteer firefighters are in extreme demand. Most volunteer companies have critical member shortages and can barely staff their apparatus for most calls. As a volunteer you can do as little or as much as you like. It’s very easy to get in unless you just never show up or act dangerously. I thought there would be this super hard test or something but instead it was a background check and my doctor had to submit a note. We chatted for a few minutes and they handed me a pile of gear, showed me how to put it on, and then setup the app on my phone and told me training nights are Thursday 7pm. That night I was on the fire ground for a building fire helping with tasks outside on the street (you aren’t allowed anywhere dangerous without special training).
It’s been actually really cool. My company paid for me to take Firefighter 1 and then I found out there’s a whole skill tree of classes you can take afterwards. It’s like a game with branching paths. Can’t take Officer 2 without first finishing Officer 1, Instructor 1, Firefighter 2, Vehicle Rescue Ops, Hazmat Ops, and Firefighter 1. And so on. After the two ops classes are the technician levels. There’s 5 different rescue paths, like rope rescue or trench rescue. There’s whole branches for driving, operating pumps, operating towers, working as an engine crew (hoses, nozzles, foam / water), and working as a truck crew (ladders, power tools, axes, crowbars and halligans). Wildland is a whole different branch of skills. There’s a whole officer branch for learning command and a branch for instructing new firefighters.
If you’re near Philly you can come check out my station SFPA! You don’t have be close to be a member. Some of our members live pretty far away but sign up for an overnight shift and sleep in a private bunkroom. They’ll go on any calls that happen overnight, then head to work the next morning.
The perks are great: help your local community stay safe, free training, free gym membership, free bunkrooms and showers if you do shifts, a lounge for folks to relax in, and really access to a community of folks who believe in strong mutual aid. I didn’t plan for this, but a whole community of folks who are willing to get out of bed in the middle of the night to rescue a stranger are way more likely to help you move or let you borrow a wood chipper. We’ve suddenly found ourselves with access to a tool library worth six figures easily. The friends you make doing this are very different. They’re weird for sure, but the bond we’ve got is very different from every other group I’ve been a part of. I’ll remember these folks for the rest of my life. There’s nothing quite like going into a burning building and knowing your crew has your back. They can be assholes sometimes or cringe, but it really does hit different.
If you’re like me and love the idea of driving and using these…
join your local volunteer fire department! I joined 3.5 years ago and do not regret it one bit. We’ve got a tower just like that, and I get to train with it pretty much any time I want. The other day I set it up and took it all 100’ straight up. It was epic to see my town from above like that.
Volunteer firefighters are in extreme demand. Most volunteer companies have critical member shortages and can barely staff their apparatus for most calls. As a volunteer you can do as little or as much as you like. It’s very easy to get in unless you just never show up or act dangerously. I thought there would be this super hard test or something but instead it was a background check and my doctor had to submit a note. We chatted for a few minutes and they handed me a pile of gear, showed me how to put it on, and then setup the app on my phone and told me training nights are Thursday 7pm. That night I was on the fire ground for a building fire helping with tasks outside on the street (you aren’t allowed anywhere dangerous without special training).
It’s been actually really cool. My company paid for me to take Firefighter 1 and then I found out there’s a whole skill tree of classes you can take afterwards. It’s like a game with branching paths. Can’t take Officer 2 without first finishing Officer 1, Instructor 1, Firefighter 2, Vehicle Rescue Ops, Hazmat Ops, and Firefighter 1. And so on. After the two ops classes are the technician levels. There’s 5 different rescue paths, like rope rescue or trench rescue. There’s whole branches for driving, operating pumps, operating towers, working as an engine crew (hoses, nozzles, foam / water), and working as a truck crew (ladders, power tools, axes, crowbars and halligans). Wildland is a whole different branch of skills. There’s a whole officer branch for learning command and a branch for instructing new firefighters.
If you’re near Philly you can come check out my station SFPA! You don’t have be close to be a member. Some of our members live pretty far away but sign up for an overnight shift and sleep in a private bunkroom. They’ll go on any calls that happen overnight, then head to work the next morning.
The perks are great: help your local community stay safe, free training, free gym membership, free bunkrooms and showers if you do shifts, a lounge for folks to relax in, and really access to a community of folks who believe in strong mutual aid. I didn’t plan for this, but a whole community of folks who are willing to get out of bed in the middle of the night to rescue a stranger are way more likely to help you move or let you borrow a wood chipper. We’ve suddenly found ourselves with access to a tool library worth six figures easily. The friends you make doing this are very different. They’re weird for sure, but the bond we’ve got is very different from every other group I’ve been a part of. I’ll remember these folks for the rest of my life. There’s nothing quite like going into a burning building and knowing your crew has your back. They can be assholes sometimes or cringe, but it really does hit different.