Volunteer Firemen

[PittPharm2002]

Yeah neither am I. You made it an issue because, well it's what you do. Softie.

Because there is not enough of them and maybe this would encourage??

 

[PittPharm2002]

i think it's fair to say that there are way too many fire depts than the demand for it. here in south hills, someone's smoke detector goes off and you get fire trucks from baldwin, broughton, bethel, lebo, usc and castle shannon.. all arriving within 3 minutes of each other

you dont need a fire station in every little borough and township.

Perhaps you all should have a single local tax rate and actually pay for a single one ?

 

[jivecat]

The timing on this thread is odd. I know the intent was to mock the "stereotype", but once again we see a volunteer firemen risk his life (to protect his family) and dies.

 

[OH Pete]

The timing on this thread is odd. I know the intent was to mock the "stereotype", but once again we see a volunteer firemen risk his life (to protect his family) and dies.

Don't get me wrong here - I have total respect for firemen. But most of us would've done the same thing he did in that situation. I'm not trying to diminish what he did - it was a selfless act and I feel very badly for him and his family. Just pointing out that this isn't exactly much of a defense of volunteer firemen. Their willingness to put their lives on the line for strangers is what separates volunteer firemen from the rest of us.

 

[pittdan77]

Part of that, though, is that a smoke detector going off is dispatched as a fire until a unit is on scene and determines whether it is an actual fire or not. That’s what sucks about automatic alarms. You have to treat them as a real incident, but 99 out of 100 aren’t.

Something to keep in mind, too is that each department doesn’t have everything. We had a rescue pumper, engine, mini-pumper and tanker. Our sister department didn’t have a rescue truck, but had an air truck. So for any vehicle accident in their jurisdiction they automatically dispatched us for our rescue truck. For any structure fire they were automatically dispatched for their air truck and manpower. And while consolidation of our departments may have made sense (and we had very preliminary discussions about it), centralizing the firehouses to one location and closing the other two would have put less volunteers in close proximity to the station. Especially in more rural areas that is a challenge.

Yes. This is the case where I live. Tuesday was a good example. Structure fire in progress but nothing is really going well because half the units are from up to 20 miles away and can't find the fire because it's on a back road in the middle of nowhere. Needed this departments ladder, that one's air, that one's rehab, and tankers from all over. Then, some moron on the opposite end of the county decides to burn trash despite the fact that everything is brown and the wind is gusting to 20 mph. Now, units from the neighboring county are coming but they're all struggling because there's an MVA. Before it was all said and done with assembling manpower and transfers, four counties and units from two different states were dispatched. And that's not really all that unusual when the shit hits the fan. Weather will be decent this Saturday and not oppressively hot. Several events are planned and the ole county fair is ramping up. Whistle will be going off all weekend.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

Travel ball umps in the good tournaments (i.e. the one where college scouts actually show up to) pay between $75 and $100 per game. Great money because those games all have time limits in pool play, usually 1 hour and 45 minutes. They get unpaid breaks between games of about 20 to 30 minutes while the next teams warm up. So basically they are making around $40 per hour. Many work 3 to 4 games per day from Thursday to Sunday and alternate with a partner on home plate and base work. So $1200 for 4 days of work. Not a bad side hustle. I'm thinking of going to umpire school when my kids are done with sports (which will happen next year unless my younger plays in college). After 20 years now of youth sports dominating my life, I'm going to need a hobby and I appreciate the value that they brought to my kids over the years.

The downside is that you are on your feet the entire day and in uncomfortable and hot clothes. June and July games are crazy hot. The work is all on weekends. Parents are often pretty good, but you can almost always count on 1 or 2 assholes, especially the ones that still coach after their kids turn 12. The work dries up in August, although August and fall ball are starting to become very popular.

If I do it, I would probably go for HS certification and try to limit the all weekend events. Maybe do some local rec league stuff.

You don’t need to attend umpire school unless you have plans on umping college or above. There are a lot of good youtube videos on umpiring. I’d start there and get in touch with any good current umpires who have connections in your area.

 

[pittdan77]

You don’t need to attend umpire school unless you have plans on umping college or above. There are a lot of good youtube videos on umpiring. I’d start there and get in touch with any good current umpires who have connections in your area.

Probably should get your PIAA patch. That's what I was told back when I did Pony league games.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

Probably should get your PIAA patch. That's what I was told back when I did Pony league games.

Yes, if you live in PA but not a requirement if you know the assignor(s) and don’t have a desire to do school sanctioned games. The poster was from OH, so I’d assume the same applies but not completely sure since I don’t live in OH.

 

[pittdan77]

Yes, if you live in PA but not a requirement if you know the assignor(s) and don’t have a desire to do school sanctioned games. The poster was from OH, so I’d assume the same applies but not completely sure since I don’t live in OH.

Well, I meant it as a suggestion that was posed to me if I wanted to work bigger events as if it was the minimum bar for entry. It really wasn't necessary at all if you weren't going to bother doing PIAA games but it at least showed you understood the bare minimum when it came to rules and understanding the game. Was also a way to get into a broader group where you could get scheduled for games and make connections. As far as tournaments go, I don't know how they handle things for baseball.

 

[Dan1911]

Um, treading lightly here, because there are exceptions to every rule. But my gosh does this seem to attract a consistently specific type of person.

Because “other” types of people are too busy looking down on their neighbors to actually help them???