11/21/2025
For the politics and general public:
I have taken some time off from rants but I’m due for one..
Imagine, you have a full time job in your off time from that you pick up a side gig. Here’s the catch. You dont get paid for it. Youre gonna work for a package delivery company. For. Free. On top of that , you’re going to go to 1,000 hours of training for this job. Also unpaid. But in this economy you already have to work long hours to make ends meet or maybe work 2 paying jobs and still decide to do this “side gig” for free.
Why is there a shortage of volunteer firefighters?
Now, for this package delivery company, your company gets a portion of funding from its large corporation to cover the BARE. MINIMUM. not only are you doing this all for free. You are required to fundraise for all of your essentials for this job and for the company you work for so they can sustain operations. Yes. You’re fundraising to keep them in business, at something you’re not getting paid to do.
Your company is struggling to provide the delivery service you advertise due to funding, your customers tell you, “eh just fundraise more” how? Do a bingo that are becoming less and less filled rooms? Do some type of food sale that we have to price gouge to make a profit? Ahh just sell a ticket. But, those who throw those suggestions at you also don’t support a single fundraiser for your business when you have one. But, how can we be mad at them? Remember, they’re in the same economy we are that they’re barely making ends meet.
Why is there a shortage of volunteer firefighters?
What is your time worth? Time away from family, events, functions etc?
But, you’re volunteering for this, you’re not getting paid, no one’s telling you to be here. You don’t have to do it. Just walk away from it. All things that are easily said, until that person that said it doesn’t get their package delivered next day when they order something they need. Imagine a world where all the Amazon, fed ex, ups workers all didn’t get paid and just quit tomorrow.
You’re company is barely keeping their head above water and goes to the large corporation to ask for funding, they ask the consumers their opinion, “we’ll give them more funding, but we’re going to pass the cost burden onto you in fees”..outrage..people fight “absolutely not”, “I pay enough already”, “they’ve been doing fine doing it for free, why do they need more money now”.
Seems crazy right?
Now, take this whole scenario, and make it about public saftey. A high risk job where lives are on the line. Why do we constantly allow it to be “okay” for that being the standard especially regarding fire protection. Utility companies increase rates by large percentages year over year, for profit companies mind you, but you have to pay it because utilities are essential to survival. But, we can dictate and push off protecting our own survival, we allow public saftey to come to a vote consistently.
Volunteering is a thing of the past, generational firefighters are a dying breed, and most communities have such a turnaround in residency the same families don’t commit to a location for more than 3-5 years(and that’s for home owners, 6 months- 1 year for rentals). Politicians and the general public are so under and ill informed of how much is actually on the line and how much risk actually exists by allowing these ways of the past to continue.
For those in the vounteer fire service, we all know there’s a problem, we acknowledge it, but what do we do about it? What can we do to change it? The reality is, stop sugar coating it. We need to stop boasting about how great we are and the services we can provide, when the reality is, we can’t guarantee that we’ll have enough people to carry out that service, safely and efficiently in their time of need. The public needs to know the rawness of this crisis, the risks, the long term effects (increased ISO ratings affecting their insurance rates) etc. Bottom line is, funding is necessary, and paid staffing is a necessity.
I know some departments don’t struggle as bad as others, but for those that are extremely successful and have a ton of guys and outstanding full funding, tip of the hat to you. But just imagine, if you could take what you have now, and go back 20 years and have the amount of guys you had then and now, how much more of a power house you’d be.
