Volunteering to be a Firefighter

Tuesday night’s meeting at the Upper Jay Volunteer Fire Department was terrific. The tiny town has a 38 member VFD. As a measure of effective teamwork and dedication, typically 35 of them show up for calls, rather impressive for volunteers. Actually that would be a good turnout for paid employees.

Most of the members were taking a training class in another nearby station so it was an unusually small meeting. But big enough to introduce me to the department, the Assistant Chief, check out the equipment, fool around with the jaws of life and fill out an application for membership. Robbie, the Assistant Chief, a 34-year member, took me for a spin in the ’93 Peterbilt pumper. It’s a fine machine in impeccable condition. We bounced up and down a very dark and utterly deserted 9N, exercising the truck, which hadn’t been run in a week. We bounced because the tires were flat-spotted from lack of movement and 9N is a bit wavy in spots due to the severe winter. I’m 56, and I’ve been in the control rooms of nuclear submarines, the cockpits of fighter jets, and the flight decks of space shuttles and commercial jets but I’d have to say that I had as much fun riding in that fire truck as any 6-year old.

A new fire station is under construction, courtesy of FEMA, the State of NY and a special tax voted in by the residents. The existing station built in 1950 is actually condemned but they have a variance to use it until the new one is ready in about six weeks. When Irene struck the area the AuSable river flooded the building, and that's been a recurring event as the climate becomes more extreme. The new station is on high ground, up by the Highway Department.

Despite an endowment of equipment (two, soon to be three trucks and an ambulance) the department doesn’t have many local fire calls. They do respond to many EMS calls, and I suppose that’s typical for any FD. They are equipped for wilderness firefighting and rescues, as expected for this area. They will also respond to neighboring towns and sent firefighters downstate to help out after 9-11.

The meeting dissipated more than adjourned, and I drove home along the same deserted and dark stretch of 9N, no moon or stars to light the way, just a darkened silhouette of mountains on each side. Then I trudged up the driveway, darker still, but navigable. After a bit of a hike, the cabin, solitary in the woods with the warm glow of gas lights, S and the beagle, were awaiting.

The whole experience was a throwback to Norman Rockwell's America, what I envision life was like in the 1950's - people helping each other just because that's what able-bodied citizens are supposed to do.

Anyway, my application will be vetted and the members will vote on it in a month or two. There's a lot of training required because I don't know anything about firefighting or EMS. Most of it is intuitive or common sense, but even operating something ostensibly basic as the jaws of life involves more training than I would have expected. Robbie said he’d check me out on the pumper so I can drive it. I hope he doesn’t ask S about my truck-driving abilities, as backing up her Tundra is well beyond my driving ability.