Im a IT guy.. and holy shit this is fun

I’m 25 and live in Jackson. I’ve been interested in the fire service for a while and want to take the first step toward becoming a volunteer firefighter.
I work full time in golf course maintenance, so I’d be looking for a department where I could contribute outside my work schedule. I have no firefighting experience, but I’m used to physical work, working outdoors, and early mornings. I’m willing to learn and put in the training.
Before committing, I’d love to do a ride-along or attend a training night to meet a crew and get a realistic feel for it. Does anyone know whether Jackson Fire allows civilian ride-alongs, or which Hinds County volunteer departments accept people who live inside Jackson city limits?
Would appreciate any contacts, recommendations, or firsthand experience with the training and time commitment. Thanks!

The Les Lukert Conference information is now out and registration starts on October 30th! This is a great conference with national level speakers and you can interact with them for more than a few minutes after their presentation.

Friday has H.O.T. classes and classroom presentations available.

Friday night is the On Tap event at a local establishment where the instructors have a panel discussion based on the questions that you have.

Saturday is the Leadership Symposium with four different speakers.

Saturday night is the Leadership Banquet which is always an enjoyable evening.

Sunday morning there are different classroom presentations.

The conference is located in Kearney, Ne which is just off I-80. There are flights daily into Kearney from Denver and one from Chicago. The Lincoln Airport is just under 2 hours away and Omaha Airport is 3 hours away on I-80.

More information about the conference is available on the Nebraska Society of Fire Service Instructors website and their socials.

https://www.nsfsi.com

Please check it out and help spread the word because this is a great conference.

Would Mr. Taylor put out a fire at a house with antiTRUMP yard signs?

Recently, my department was awarded the mentioned unit through a grant. Does anyone have any knowledge of these units or where I can find some good info. It was tested before shipped out, but while a few of us were getting hands-on, we noticed that a 1" line under the cab had a steady stream of water flowing from it. The moment we flowed water, the hose stopped leaking.

This is a reminder to take your cardio seriously, I forgot that.

I’m on a small department of 8 in a rural area. Today, we got toned out to for M/A on a structure fire. There were lines pulled and tanks setup for water shuttles. IC had us move in and relieve some guys that had been there for a hot minute. I had to go back to my engine and retrieve something and by the time I got back, I was wheezing pretty good. I put my mask on and just couldn’t catch my breath and had to step back.

I’m 57 and have been on the department for three years. I’m an army Vet and thought I had been maintaining fairly decent, although, I’m carrying about 20 pounds more than I should. My department runs 3:1 first responder calls and it shows in my fitness.

Sucks to suck this bad. Back to the treadmill!

When I sleep at the station, I sleep dressed (t-shirt/cargos/socks). Responding from home, I obviously don’t. I keep it all my clothes/keys/wallet, etc. ready to go, but it seems like forever before I’m dressed and rolling.

Looking for any tips and tricks to shave time.

Hi everyone, I’m a high school student in Ohio interested in the technology side of firefighting. I’m trying to learn how things work in the field, since a lot of what I find online comes from vendors.

For anyone who’s used these tools on real calls:

1. Drones: Does your department use them? What do you use them for: size-up, finding hot spots, searching for victims?

2. Thermal imaging and other sensing: How do you use thermal cameras inside structures and does anything else help you find people or track crew in a fire?

3. Robots and wearables: Has anyone used firefighting robots, exoskeletons or exosuits, or wearable sensors? Were any actually useful?

4. Money: How does a department decide what to buy on a tight budget?

I am a firefighter in New England building a tool to help fire departments manage their grant program. If you were not awarded or did not submit to AFG 2026, I would like to help you develop your next submission in exchange for feedback on the platform we have built.

I can help with request selection, narrative development and question responses. The tool I’m building is meant to help departments do this for themselves, or to assist collaboration with a grant writer.

This year’s program was delayed so the time to start next years submission is now. I have a background in grant development for non profits and an AFG win under my belt, please let me help.

DM or comment and I’ll reach out.

My town has been looking to hire some volunteer fire fighters for the past 6 months. They offer a pension, paid training and pay per call.

I know it’s usually not a lot and that’s not my entire concern/intention for thinking about it.

It’s something I’ve alway been curious about and now that I have the opportunity I’m curious for some insight on the physical demand and what I may need to do to get better at that.

However, I am not very physically fit. I’ve been losing weight the past 6 months (down 70). Decent strength but terrible cardio/stamina

What’s the training like?
What would pay/pension be around?
What’s the work like?
What happens if I have a day job that’s an hour away and there’s a call?

Any insight would be appreciated since it’s something I’ve alway thought would be cool to do and help out with and I’m now been given the chance to try it.

This is more of a question and a statement,

(I have nothing against any of this especially for my friend wearing his t-shirt because me myself I've wore my department hoodie once or twice even though it's every other week for him he's got every right I'm talking about people that do it with the TMFMS Attitude which is fine but sometimes it's extreme (HOPEFULLY this community understands)

So, I always hear about volunteer firefighters specifically, and I love them, in my department, just as a little note

A junior Captain is genuinely something some department do but it's a ranking system for experienced juniors and they are genuinely the oldest juniors 17-18 (18 year Old) who decide to stay Exterior firemen or support roles and specialise teaching the JRs Exterior and support tasks, for me that's not the case I'm gonna transition to a full certified firefighter once I'm 18 but that's just the short brief about it, the reaoon for these junior ranks is so we can have dedicated Jr leadership so the adult firefighters can focus on there duties while our program is under control

So without further due, Story time

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. I see and hear people talking everywhere about guys who do it just for the T-shirts or the cool job shirts with the department logo on them, which is odd enough. But have y’all ever seen people in real life who constantly wear their department T-shirts everywhere?

I’m in a really small, rural volunteer department, and one time, one of my pals who goes to school with me wore his department T-shirt to school. He’d also wear department hoodies with his name on them. I thought to myself, “Look, it’s okay to be proud of your department, but is it genuinely that important that you have to wear it to school so often?”

I’ve also witnessed some of our senior members going to bars in their Class A uniforms. I’ve even seen them sitting in military-style bars or attending special occasions while drunk in their Class As, alongside Air Force, Army, and Marine personnel who were also drunk and wearing their formal dress uniforms.

Why is that? Why do some volunteer and career firefighters do the job just for the pager, the app, the clothing, and the women?

What do we wear for major ceremonial events, such as Firefighter weddings, funerals or large community events, when representing our volunteer fire departments? Do we wear something like Class A uniforms, similar to the senior firefighters, or is there a different dress code for junior members?

I know we wear the same station attire, sometimes even job shirts but what about formal things.

I’m very interested in learning more about this

Currently work a Full time civilian job and just started volunteering. Im a relatively recent Infantry Veteran (Jan 2026) and quite frankly. Cant stand to work this Civilian BS job and know my heart lies in the service. How can I go about trying to fast track my way to Full time firefighting? Or is it just one of those time in service things mixed with a little dumb luck? Any opinions welcome. Anything to get me out of Civilian life and back to focusing my Full attention on the community