I am a firefighter. Ask me anything.

How big is your hose and how often do you spray it?

Are cops inherently more corrupt than firefighters or do they just have the opportunity for it? What are the character differences between cops and firefighters?

ever seen any fires at the Vol State?

I think cops and firemen come from the same stock. Once they join the academy, their paths diverge.

Cops are often looked at as the adversary. Most of their interactions with the public involve someone angry with them. That tends to harden them.

Firefighters are generally loved by the public. Our responses almost always end in thank yous. The job is team oriented in a way that police work is not. That and the downtime spent together at the firehouse creates a camaraderie that is hard to duplicate in most professions

Can I get extra cheese on my hook and ladder sub?

how do you spend your standby time? does it get boring? what's the ratio standby/ in action? could you use the downtime to run on a treadmill and become an aerobic monster?

no regrets!

http://nypost.com/2005/02/27/orgy-fireman-speaks-regrets-animal-house-sex-antics/

Fake laz wrote:

Big city department, east coast.

I have a bunch of questions, but i don't see you answering any.

1. Why does it take 4 of you to shop for groceries?

2. How many hours a day do you spend in the la-z-boys watching bass fishing on ESPN?

3. Do you save anything besides foundations?

4. Do you get mad when people call you names? Like Puddle Monkey, Foundation Saver, Hose Dragger, Nozzle Head, Smoke Eater, etc.?

5. Do you really get to put out fires and save buildings or do you spend most of your time helping clean up transients who shit all over themselves?

Is it true that many firemen are secret arsonists?

How would you react if a new guy brought a big watermelon in to share?

1. Why does it take 4 of you to shop for groceries?

2. How many hours a day do you spend in the la-z-boys watching bass fishing on ESPN?

3. Do you save anything besides foundations?

4. Do you get mad when people call you names? Like Puddle Monkey, Foundation Saver, Hose Dragger, Nozzle Head, Smoke Eater, etc.?

5. Do you really get to put out fires and save buildings or do you spend most of your time helping clean up transients who shit all over themselves?[/quote]

1. Because sending one guy off on his own to shop would compromise crew integrity.

2. There is a lot of down time.

3. The amount of property that a we save is rather impressive. Kitchen fires, bedroom fires, basement fires happen every day in the city. They don't make the news. They're routine because we stop them before they can reduce the home to a foundation.

4. I don't get mad because I have a tremendous amount of pride in my profession.

5. We spend a lot of time & resources helping transients. Its life in the big city.

Cody! wrote:

Is it true that many firemen are secret arsonists?

Yes, but they're always volunteers.

Are you guys "loaded?"

I've always wondered why your schedules are such that you "work" 2-3 days in a row (which includes down time, cooking, shopping, sleeping etc...) rather than, say, 12-hour shifts.

Genuinely Curious wrote:

I've always wondered why your schedules are such that you "work" 2-3 days in a row (which includes down time, cooking, shopping, sleeping etc...) rather than, say, 12-hour shifts.

I don't know of any department that schedules more than 24-36 hour shifts. Some may, I'm not sure. Most do work 12 hour shifts but we have the ability to swap shifts with eachother.

We work two 12 hour days, then two 12 hour nights, then 4 days off.

Why is saving a cat in a tree so important?

You send a hook and ladder and a pumper truck, so 20 guys, but first calling the local news to get a camera crew and reporters to the scene to document your nonsense. That fireman giving mouth to mouth to a cat is another photo op you act out in order to get favorable PR to boost your pensions.

I see. The majority of departments around here (StL), at least in the suburbs, work 1 56-hour shift a week. Always seemed odd to me.

How much do you make?

How much will you get in pension? How much did you contribute to this pension?

When can you retire on full pension?

Are you in a union?

Have you ever filled an empty oxygen tank with farts as a prank?