SA Firefighter
General Discussion => Country Fire Service => Topic started by: PJ on December 08, 2007, 10:29:03 AM
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I am no oldie but have been in service 14 years or so and the Firies seem to be getting much younger? Did anyone see page 4 of the Advertiser with the two what looked like cadets at the O'Halloran Hill fire?
These guys should be proud that they are out there doing their bit. By the look they must be just 16.
Well done young FF's keep them coming.
I wish we had some more coming in that age group.
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yeh youll find youngens like me and them look younger and younger each year :lol:
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We've just had three 17yr olds join and do their BFF1. even turned out to a couple jobs now, they're keen as mustard, brings back the 8-)memories
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lots of people start young, including myself, and we need these members... so im not gonna pretend to be some 20year veteran or anything,. but it makes me cringe when i look at some of the crews that go out to these jobs...
personally i didnt think that pic in the newspaper was a particularly good look for the service (but weve all had that argument before). mind you one of the paid DEH crews that drove past had a 19 and 17 y.o. crew. makes ya wonder sometimes, especially considering there cruising round in there own little landcruiser 14 type appliance...
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personally i think its the mind of the person, not really the age of the person that matters.....being physically capable is Great...if ya recruit is mentally capable and mature enough....your brigade's caught a beauty of a fish ;)
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As long as they are capable of doing the job, why shouldn't they be out there on the fireground? That 19 year old may have seen more action, be more qualified and capable of making decisions after only 3 years on the job than some captains of certain brigades that have been around for decades.
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You know the sad thing is everytime I see these kids (we have a couple too) it reminds me just how old I'm getting :-(
We were out at a job a couple of weeks ago (rollover) & some of the CFS crew, the kids from my crew and the occupants of the car (they got out with scratches) all knew each other, went to school together & were chatting away like a bunch of magpies sitting on the fence :-D. It was surreal, had a chuckle to myself & us oldies left them to it. Hate to think if the outcome was bad though.
I reckon good on em, we need to encourage more of that age group & we need to mentor them, guide them & step back and let em go! when they are ready of course.
Remember kids that are 17, 18, are busy defending our country as well & overseas they do lots of other stuff too.
As I said good on em! cheers
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yes,agree with chook.
its great starting young, because the older members are usually mroe then happy to take us under there wing and teach us things. they mentor us and are so willing to help us.
because they obvisouly know that they arent going to be around for ever to run the brigade, so why not start training the next generations. that way we know all the tricks of the trade as well!
cheers!
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I started responding to fire calls after turning 16 of course both of my parents were in the brigade at the same time :-)
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Would have to agree with all the post here...nice to see young people willing to do the job!!!! at 28 I'm nearly the youngest in our brigade quite sad I think!!!
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Nice to see the younger members getting a few runs under their belt before it gets toooo busy,give them ago and the CFS will have members to follow on from us old farts.....
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Maybe the subject of this thread should be Young Recruits at Fires rather than babies :?
We are supposed to be encouraging young people to join the service not belittle them :wink:
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I know of some fulltime firefighters who are very early 20's, have been in the CFS since they were 16 (plus cadets before that), and have seen more action, are trained at a higher level and more qualified, than some of the 20+ year veterans.. - I don't think people should descriminate against age..
+ Were the pictured crew CFS or paid Parks?
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We are supposed to be encouraging young people to join the service not belittle them
Too true!!
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i dont think people are realy fussed by being called the babies thou...Zippy doesnt seem to be, im not, and well honestly thats hw most people see it anyway becasue we are the youngest ones out there.
just how i see things though!
cheers country kid
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I agree with all.....yep.....they seem to be getting younger..this includes My own Brigade.....but remember 19 year olds fought for Our Country in the Great Wars.WW1-WW2.
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So did 15 and 16 year olds who lied about their age........
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I know of some fulltime firefighters who are very early 20's, have been in the CFS since they were 16 (plus cadets before that), and have seen more action, are trained at a higher level and more qualified, than some of the 20+ year veterans.. - I don't think people should descriminate against age..
Although, I know some fulltime firefighters in their early 20's who are eclipsed, outclassed, and out-trained by their similar aged CFS counterparts. They aren't worth a pinch of scheiße to be honest :)
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I know of some fulltime firefighters who are very early 20's, have been in the CFS since they were 16 (plus cadets before that), and have seen more action, are trained at a higher level and more qualified, than some of the 20+ year veterans.. - I don't think people should descriminate against age..
Although, I know some fulltime firefighters in their early 20's who are eclipsed, outclassed, and out-trained by their similar aged CFS counterparts. They aren't worth a pinch of filtered to be honest :)
Now Now lets not make this into a MFS Bashing thread :wink: remember it doesnt matter if the trucks and uniforms are a different colour or our techniques are different we are all fire fighters :-)
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I know of some fulltime firefighters who are very early 20's, have been in the CFS since they were 16 (plus cadets before that), and have seen more action, are trained at a higher level and more qualified, than some of the 20+ year veterans.. - I don't think people should descriminate against age..
Although, I know some fulltime firefighters in their early 20's who are eclipsed, outclassed, and out-trained by their similar aged CFS counterparts. They aren't worth a pinch of filtered to be honest :)
You almost sound bitter with that statement..
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I know of some fulltime firefighters who are very early 20's, have been in the CFS since they were 16 (plus cadets before that), and have seen more action, are trained at a higher level and more qualified, than some of the 20+ year veterans.. - I don't think people should descriminate against age..
Although, I know some fulltime firefighters in their early 20's who are eclipsed, outclassed, and out-trained by their similar aged CFS counterparts. They aren't worth a pinch of filtered to be honest :)
You almost sound bitter with that statement..
I'm very bitter, trust me :roll:
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I am no oldie but have been in service 14 years or so and the Firies seem to be getting much younger? Did anyone see page 4 of the Advertiser with the two what looked like cadets at the O'Halloran Hill fire?
These guys should be proud that they are out there doing their bit. By the look they must be just 16.
Well done young FF's keep them coming.
I wish we had some more coming in that age group.
Both just came up from cadets at Seaford about 6 months ago :D
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I dont no why u guys dont like the youngens, there the future captains and leuitenants of brigades. im 18 have been a cadet since i was in year 7 and active fire fighter for 2 years. in that time ive been to over 250 callouts, and been incharge of appliances.
Being out there on the fire ground is where they are going to learn the most especially from guys that have been there for 14 years. I can tell you... ive leart ten times as much from other FF at jobs than any course can teach.
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I know exactly what you mean Nick
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...in that time ive been to over 250 callouts, and been incharge of appliances...
And the lieutenants in nuff nuff brigade next door have only done 60 jobs in 10 years, but they still outrank you at an incident... How does that make you feel? :P
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Thats why I think the ranking system in both of the vollie services are weird.
SES get appointed/voted, CFS voted in as I said weird. How would that work with you paid members (refer other thread)
cheers
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Its not just because officers are voted positions, its also because you have brigades that do 350 calls a year right next to brigades that only do 35. Even appointing officers won't fix that problem...
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Just because you have been to heaps of jobs shouldn't make you automatic selection to be an officer nor does the fact that you have been in the service for 10 years. Officers SHOULD be elected on there knowledge, skill, job experience and also the respect that they have from and for there fellow firefighters and even neighbouring brigades, if that person is young so be it.
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Officers need to be trained in how to be officers, That is operationally, Administration, Human resources, Finance, Leadership & broad picture stuff.
Obviously to the level required by their position.
This has become more important in these enlightened times :wink:
And the person how is very good in the field may not be the best manager(after all thats what you are). If you think about a lot of the problems within our organisations they revolve around leadership (refer to list above).
I know personally that when we work with other units/ brigades I seek guidance from those more senior (in years and experience) to me - it makes sense.
Conversely those more senior individuals need to allow younger/less experienced officers to make the decisions in line with their positions without interfering.
One final thought the Unit manager/ Brigade/ Group captain is ultimately responsible for the actions of their Unit/Brigade/Group - payed staff will quickly point this out to you trust me :wink: Therefore the next time you are looking at changes to leadership positions, ask yourself this question Is this truely the right person? Because if you don't all soughts of bad stuff can happen!
cheers
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oh well not much u can do..........
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I dont no why u guys dont like the youngens, there the future captains and leuitenants of brigades. im 18 have been a cadet since i was in year 7 and active fire fighter for 2 years. in that time ive been to over 250 callouts, and been incharge of appliances.
Being out there on the fire ground is where they are going to learn the most especially from guys that have been there for 14 years. I can tell you... ive leart ten times as much from other FF at jobs than any course can teach.
Nick I've been a active fire fighter since 2000 with my brigade and have yet to hold an officer position or any kinda position at that matter so my advice is to prove to your superiors that you are capable of handling the big responsibility of being a lieutenant so they they take you into consideration at the next Brigade AGM
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I've been in the CFS for 15 years and are in my early 30's. Last year I was made up to a Lieutenant and before that a Senior F/F for a long time.
To be honest with you Nick don't be in a rush it's good that you're keen but you will miss wearing BA, using the tools at an RCR and being on the end of the hose at a rural incident. (All the fun stuff!)
Lieutenant's also do a lot of behind the scene stuff at brigades as well and some of it is not fun.
As for your other statement most of the young guys in my brigade are excellent keen, willing to learn but know their place and also know not to argue with me when I tell them to do something unless they've seen something dangerous that I have not!
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I've been in the CFS for 15 years and are in my early 30's. Last year I was made up to a Lieutenant and before that a Senior F/F for a long time.
To be honest with you Nick don't be in a rush it's good that you're keen but you will miss wearing BA, using the tools at an RCR and being on the end of the hose at a rural incident. (All the fun stuff!)
Lieutenant's also do a lot of behind the scene stuff at brigades as well and some of it is not fun.
As for your other statement most of the young guys in my brigade are excellent keen, willing to learn but know their place and also know not to argue with me when I tell them to do something unless they've seen something dangerous that I have not!
Hear, hear :-) have been in it since i was 11 am now 27, and i miss not getting my hands dirty, having to remember to stand back and leave it to the FF's
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Yep same same even worse when you have to deliberately stay behind at the station - so that others get to lead the teams :-(
I some times wish things were different (read simpler) & just be one of the guys!
At least (because of the team size) I still get to go to RCR jobs & play :-D
One of the things I forgot to mention about what an officer needs is to be politically astute :wink:
Anyway I'm sure Nick you will get your chance.
cheers
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Thanks 4 the concern guys.
I hav no plan to become a lieutenant anywhere in the near future.
I still have along way to go and like being at the end of the hose.
All i was suggesting is dont rule out the young guys on the fire ground. Because this is where they learn skills and techniques that someday in the future may prepare them to be a lieutenant.
Like i said before, ive learnt ten times as much on the fireground from other people than any course.
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I agree totally Nick when we respond into MFS area I make sure I've got 4 BA with those guys trained in RCR and then the 5th guy is a new lad so he can see what goes on and help the driver/pumpy set up.
Fire fighting is a blue collar job the appliance is your tool box and you will only become familiar and competent with those tools if you use them!