It’s up to us. That’s a sentiment you may hear a lot in the small-town or volunteer firefighting world. It’s used so much now that it does not hold the weight that it should. So what does that really mean?
It means the help you rely on may be several minutes out, if any is on the way at all.
It means your stretches, mask-ups, and tool application need to be good.
It means the water you apply in the first few minutes may be your only shot at victory.
It means it might be you who has to pull a victim out of a burning building or even have the speed and skill to rescue a child.
It means that someone’s life may be at the mercy of your preparation.
It means you may have to rotate to a rapid intervention crew for your break because fewer than 10 people are fighting fire.
Mayday, Mayday Mayday! Are you ready?
Who Sets the Standards?
Chad Wright says the difference between amateurs and professionals are standards, not a paycheck. “That’s the way we’ve always done it” is not the standard. “We did the best we could with what we had” is not the standard. “Good enough” is not the standard.
“I came prepared and I gave it my all” is the standard. It is the standard on every call, even the alarm at that place for the second time today and the third time this week.
Being professional can start today and even now for any firefighter, volunteer or paid.
Have a standard to measure your actions against. If your fire department has none, set them. If it takes you 23 seconds to mask up, congrats, you have set the minimum standard. Now build on that, and in all things: Stretches, forces, air management, out-of-chute times, etc.
If your department does not require you to put on your gear going to alarms (or you are volunteer and people just do not), start wearing it and get off the truck in full gear every time. One day there may be a fire, and you will be the one ready—that’s one emphatic way to set the standard.
Can you go through more than one bottle? Do you hide in rehab or dodge the work? (We know who you are, and we see you.0)
Preparation: A Nonnegotiable for Small-Town Firefighting
Preparation must be undertaken for:
- You
- The truck
- The crew
You
Are you physically and mentally prepared for the call of your career today? A mentor of mine suggested, when I was a brand-new paid firefighter, that I listen to a firefighter podcast on the way to work as well as pick a house and give it a size-up or practice calling a Mayday within the house. This will get you in the mindset of “I’m a firefighter today” before you get to work.
Physical preparation is the simplest way to prepare for our job, but it is not the easiest. We all have turnout gear, self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), ladders, and hose. If you are in a small-town department like mine, you do not have a formal training budget, which means limited to no access to burn buildings, forcible entry doors, or other cool props. One can show up every day and get more accustomed to being in gear as well as being uncomfortable and working for prolonged periods of time.
The Truck
First, consider the obvious things, like fuel and water. I work on my own, which again like many small departments means I could be doing multiple things. I take time each morning to make sure I have the fullest bottle in my SCBA and that it is laid out exactly like I want. The irons, water can, and thermal imager are also in reach of opening the rear driver door after I get out of the driver’s seat. Give yourself these advantages, because you are here for them and it’s up to us.
The Crew
To start off any shift, ensure riding assignments are understood and everyone is in good spirits. Practicing together builds confidence and camaraderie. I often work with a buddy of mine at my part-time job, where two are staffed on the engine during the daytime. A basic drill we do: whomever is in the officer seat stretches to the door and begins a 360 while the driver sends the water, grabs his SCBA, and meets the riding officer at the door. We practiced from both riding positions over the course of a few shifts and knocked 25 seconds off the drill. A no-excuse attitude goes a long way when you do not have a lot to work with.
More Drills
- Firefighters practice stretches and mask ups.
- Engineers hand jack a hydrant while flowing and switch over to hydrant water.
- Officers do a walkaround and meet your firefighter at the door masked up.
Combination departments can do any blend of the above. Figure out what works, record your numbers, perform the drill itself, and grow.
Small-Town Resources, Big-League Game
Being a small-town rural firefighter, whether career or volunteer, sometimes requires you to wear many hats. It is not like at the big departments where you are assigned water supply or search or any other single task and that is all you will be doing.
My senior firefighter at my old department made it clear that you had to be in the fight as much as possible. If he grabbed the hydrant, he would also run down the street and still get into the work because every person on the fire ground matters. They set standards on how a 24-foot ladder is a single-person carry/throw. They emphasized that we should hustle, not walk and take our sweet time, because time matters. Likewise, my current departments sets the bar this way: “I fully expect you to handle a room-and-contents fire with some extension on your own, but use your best judgment beyond that.”
I have seen instances where there are more apparatus on scene than there are people in the house working. We need proactive engineers and chiefs who are willing to work.
Vince Lombardi said: “Individual commitment to a group effort—that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”
I love small-town heart, but not small-town excuses. Let’s set the standards, be the standard, and break barriers. It really is up to us.
Dylan Clark is a fourth-generation firefighter and has 13 years as a volunteer, seven of those being also with a career department.
