Let me start by saying, volunteer emergency persons, especially firefighters/medics, are a good thing to have. Many times they may be all that stands between life and death. That being said, they should also show restraint, professionalism, and leave the egos out of the job. There are some links in this post to previous post I have done that make for pretty good reading.

I don’t know about other areas of the nation, but here in the South we tend to have a myriad of people that join the volunteer departments that have huge egos. While I can’t lump all of them in the same basket just because of a few, I’d have to put the percentage of those in it for the adrenaline rush and status, at around 80%. When you see a jacked up 4 wheel drive truck, with 30 inch wheels go screaming by, with only a vehicle theft-alarm and some white strobe lights in the grill, sporting a muffler system so loud you can’t hear his make-shift siren, you know you’re in the south.

I was sitting here dodging the heat outside and realized I had posted this to my forum but forgot to put it here. After watching some regular large tired  white 4X4 pickup go rushing past the house with strobe lights in the front and rear flashing and some type of siren that could barely be heard above the clamor of his “Flow Master” exhaust system.  It reminded me of the piece I had done on the Chaplin Unit and the downed tree. So without further delay let’s get that out there.

Here in this area they dress their vehicles up with all kinds of lights. Not just enough to get by safely, they look like ornate Christmas trees screaming down the road. This post was prompted this morning from a near head-on collision between a volunteer (unmarked) vehicle and myself. The unmarked large pickup truck with only it’s flashers on moved into my lane in a no passing zone forcing me to take partially to the shoulder of the road. The irony is the person was responding to a head-on collision that had just occurred about 7 miles down the road.

Give me a Badge

Even though they have modern radio communications, they over respond most of the time, leaving their own areas of coverage with no one to respond to an emergency. They love to direct traffic in the hopes of getting to put someone in jail over not following their directions and ending up in an argument with “emergency personnel” at an accident scene. A special clause in the law written just for them.

I watched in wonder a few months back as a trailer burned here in the park, a firetruck arrived, but they realized after 10 minutes that they did not have a fully filled water truck. They also stood around debating whether to kick the door in because the owner was at work, to save the animals inside that people were telling them were there. Two cats, a snake, and a lovely dog perished while they debated. The scene was pandemonium. Approx 30 vehicles of all types parked in the roadway with various types of lights, many with just 4 way flashers on.

Someone forgot the water…

30+ responders, a firetruck with fully dressed/equipped emergency firefighters and they couldn’t decide to kick in a door and save the animals that were barking in the one room that burned. Oh yes, let’s not forget they brought the truck, but forgot to make sure it was full of water.

Sadly volunteer firefighting has become more of a business in some areas. They get funds from federal grants based on how many “calls” they respond to. They have even been known to “generate” their own business. This results in all of them from surrounding areas running over one another to get there first, to claim the call. Federal funds means free money, which opens some departments to the temptation of misuse.

Volunteer firefighting used to be an honorable calling. A service you gave of your time to help your fellow man for very little reward. You held bake sales and donation drives. You cobbled together equipment to serve. Now it has learned to nurse at the breast of the federal government funds, this invariably leads to corruption with most. They also don’t seem to screen volunteers for egos, or maybe they rely on recruiting those with egos just to fill slots to get funds for training and equipment.

It is a sad change that I have witnessed over the last 30+ years. From a time when people responded to help others, with just your flashers running and driving as safely as possible, to dressed up personal vehicles with tons of flashing lights doing 70-80mph. NONE, of these vehicles are “legal” unless approved by the director of public safety of the state, or a police chief. How many of the fore mentioned persons do you think will sign off on being responsible/liable, for the driving of a personally owned volunteer firefighter vehicle.

Comments welcome,

A couple Alabama homemade emergency response vehicles.