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Who Puts Out the Fires?


 

I’m not at all sure I’m going to brave the heat much this weekend. Of course I have a ticket to the concert at the Chrysalis tomorrow evening, and I hope it will be cooler by then. But, other than that? I feel a strong desire to hunker down inside with a cool drink.

I learned something this week that you may already know. More than seventy per cent of fire departments across the United States rely on volunteers. The Howard County Fire and Rescue Services web page states:

We are a combination system of nearly 900 career and volunteer providers operating from 14 stations across Howard County. The department is located between Baltimore City and the District of Columbia and provides and receives automatic aid to and from our surrounding partners in Prince George's, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Montgomery and Frederick counties. The department is statutorily responsible for the administration of the affairs for the county in fire suppression and prevention, fire training, arson investigation, rescue services and emergency medical services.

“Career and volunteer.” So we have both. I wonder what the per centage of each is? While doing basic research I learned that, in addition to Howard County Fire and Rescue Services, there is also the Howard County Volunteer Firefighters Association.

The Howard County Volunteer Firefighters Association (HCVFA) is an association of the volunteer firefighters, EMTs and paramedics serving under Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services (HCDFS). Our volunteers operate at the county’s seven volunteer stations located in Clarksville, Elkridge, Ellicott City, Lisbon, Savage and West Friendship. Free training is provided to all volunteers through the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute. 

So, Howard County has 14 fire stations and half are staffed by volunteers. I wonder how that evolved? I do know that there was some controversy during the Ulman administration that had to do with contingent firefighters and EMTs. This makes me wonder if there’s a strong difference in culture between career vs volunteer fire stations in Howard County. (And possibly elsewhere throughout the country.)

The reason I’m thinking about all this is a show from NPR on 1A this week.

The Fraught Nature of Volunteer Firefighting, 1A, NPR (Hosted by Indira Lakshmanan)

It’s 35 minutes long, engaging and informative. Something struck me as I listened to the host interview the guests about what drew them to volunteer firefighting. Even though their reasons were varied, all of the reasons were ones that people generally use to describe why they were drawn to religious communities and/or church. 

It really made me wonder. Do some people get involved with volunteer firefighting because its mission and culture are harmonious with the religious community feeling that they participate in and value? Or, are they drawn to it because they have that deep need and it is missing from their lives?

Furthermore, is this something which is unique to volunteer firefighters or are there other volunteer/community activities which border on what, in generations past, we might have called “the church experience” or “the need for church”? 

There are many sorts of communities or circles of people that we can choose to become a part of. But firefighting feels unique to me in its risk taking and inherent danger. In some ways it is akin to serving in the military, and there appears to be substantial crossover between the two. Years ago the Peace Corps promoted itself with the slogan, “The Toughest Job You’ll Ever Love.” Is that the essence of the volunteer firefighting commitment? And, is career firefighting substantially different?

It seems counterintuitive for me to recommend learning about firefighting as a way to beat the heat. But the show is worth a listen. One concern raised is that the numbers are way down since the start of then COVID pandemic and have made a huge dent on how some communities can respond to local emergencies. 

Do you have any inside stories on local firefighting? Is your closest station career or volunteer? Did you even know there was a difference? Fill me in.

Village Green/Town² Comments


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