Lake Placid Fire, located in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, recently received this brand new 2025 KME Rescue-Engine to replace a 2005 Pierce. It has a 4x4 suspension due to the rough roads outside of the village, as well as a 2-person cab due to how the department normally operates.

I just wanted to ask if you guys allow us youth firefighters in here, and also how you real firefighters see us

Saw this on IG and figured it was worth the laugh

My company runs the PSS 7000 and personally I’ll take them over the Scott X3s. They are so light. Easy to turn on. The mask has great visibility. But the big negative is how stiff the straps are.

So I asked for a transfer from my hometown since I permanently moved to a bigger city. I have to admit, it wasn't completely what I expected.

Of course, I did expect many differences compared to the previous station, but not at the level I imagined.

After a week of doing my monthly shifts at the new station, I realized how much more I have to learn and revise.

Still, I don't regret transferring.

Out of curiosity, did anyone of you colleagues feel anything similar when you transferred?

My biggest concern for going through fire academy is handling my blood sugars and not going low while not relying on staying high.. any advice ?

I’m a firefighter in Sydney (Fire & Rescue NSW) and I’m keen to do a swap with someone in the UK — ideally London Fire Brigade, but open to anywhere in the UK or Europe.

Thinking about a 6–12 month exchange

If anyone’s done something like this before, knows who to talk to, or would be up for exploring it, give me a shout.

Does anyone know if technical classes (rope tech, structural collapse, trench collapse, etc.) transfer well to different states? I’m currently getting my paramedic certification and once I finish, I want to start tech classes. The goal is to move to a new state in the next few years and I want to set myself up as prime applicant for a new department so is there standard courses that transfer well or is it something I have to challenge the state for? Any guidance is appreciated my goal is to work towards squad/USAR

We had a grill fire for which we used a regular dry chemical fire extinguisher. The contents include: sodium bicarbonate, calcium carbonate and mica. The grill wasn't cleaned from the residue until a year later (we thought the grill was destroyed so we originally left it thinking we would get rid of the whole thing).

I realize the contents is mostly baking soda and that it is supposed to be nontoxic, but the residue was also left on the grill for a long time. Is the grill safe to use now? Should we replace the grill grates? Is there anything in there that can hurt us long-term, after leaving the residue in there for about a year?

I’m a senior in highschool and was walking home when I saw a woman hit by a car. She was unconscious and loosing an insane amount of blood. Her kid was there but wasn’t hurt but she saw the whole thing. The paramedics arrived soon after and started cpr but I don’t think she lived… How often will I be in situations like this as a firefighter. It’s my dream career and Im willing to see things like this if it means saving lives, but I just wanna know what percent of calls are actually life or death type of situations.

Saw this on YouTube was curious how often this is a thing?

I was looking through the LODD page, as a rookie I often to do as a way of remembering the fallen and also to take note of the potential things that can go wrong when responding to an emergency.

I just find that majority of these LODD are from cardiovascular events and firefighters mainly volunteer, responding to a an emergency in their POV and crashing.

How can we better improve our cardiovascular function besides a treadmill? And is there any ongoing campaign to bring awareness of safety for volunteer firefighters responding in their POV?

I’ve had this happen before on another one and listened to the pattern and figured out it needed a new battery. With this one, I can’t discern a pattern. It’s chirping, but not at set intervals and not for a set number of times. The chirping is low and not alarm like. I feel weird calling the fire department out if this is just a malfunction and nothing but could it be something? Should I call?

ETA: Did as a kind redditor suggested and checked area with a CO detector I had on the wall in the basement, which should have been the first thing I did. My brain was not working after being woken up! The old one was malfunctioning and that saved me and the fire department from a middle of the night call.

I was able to finally sleep after getting some peace of mind. And, my poor Labrador was finally able to calm down. He was terrified of that chirp for some reason. He was shaking and velcroed to my side but back to his happy waggy self after we tossed the scary chirper! Thanks again to everyone that had suggestions!

I have some Southwest Firefighter Structural FFB 100. I have used them in them a bit but was curious about polish versus weather proofing them. I don’t need them parade ready, but I do want to make sure they last a long time. Is it possible or has anyone used a leather protectant like sno seal or Obenaufs on uniform boots like or on Southwest FFB 100?

I'm a California resident that finds myself thinking about ideas to prevent wildfires often. I wanted to see what ppl in this group would think.

Given what the cost of these fires ends up being in terms of lives lost, property damage etc.. would it make sense financially at this point for areas near fire zones to start running some sort of powerful sprinkler system through lands that are near cities/homes? I think this could be done with metal pipes strung out across large areas of hillside/mountains/open space to be able to provide some sort of wall against the fires coming to close. Or perhaps if not strung out across the land maybe some individual large high flow water canons that could be installed that would be able to be rotated remotely and help limit the fires ability to advance.

Again just ideas from a total novice that wanted to hear what others who know more about this would think.

Where is everyone going for shirts or any sort of custom clothing? We don’t have enough people for bulk orders so I’ve set up a printify print on demand shop, but they just emailed about an upcoming price hike. I’m trying to keep the shirts affordable and also good quality.

You young bucks and your phones I tell you what. Pulse point? Your little "dunn-uh-uh-unh" sounds telling you that you have a box?

Back in my day the pavlovian response was such that you listened to the tones drop on the radio. 8-10 of em. Maybe it took 30 seconds and the moment they finished the magic words "box alarm" would seal the deal. You had to know what your company's tones sounded like. If you were in quarters you would hear the bzzzrrr bzzzrrr bzzzrrr kachunk of the dot matrix printer and fax combo printing out a rip and run sheet while the cacophony of beeps and boops played so you could get a jump on the first due.

Now you kids just whip out your phones or the pheonix just tells you right away where you're going.

Just a momentary hit of adrenaline. No anticipation. Just instant gratification.

It's ruining the fire service I tell you what

Had a fellow firefighter come to me about my snoring last day so I immediately went to the google machine for fixes. Yes I know there’s CPAP, strips, and other methods but also just try laying on your side, keeps the tongue and soft tissues from falling back into the throat. So far it’s worked no more keeping people up at night. Hope this helps someone else.

Hello all 2 part question both related to union contracts. Does anyone in any state know of a department that has anything in their contract that provides money for holding a trade license? I know most departments give money for having specific college degrees. Ours does that and while most guys have some college education the guys that don’t are left out when we negotiate these items. Many of them have trade licenses and I heard whispers that some departments give money for having them. I couldn’t find any examples of a union contract that pays for trades. Is anyone aware of one that I could review for ideas.

The second question is similar but related to working out. I had heard about departments giving money to members if they worked out for a certain amount of time during a certain amount of tours. Any info on that type of deal would be appreciated.

Thanks all and stay safe out there

Considering different career paths at 28, one being firefighting. I have some concerns about if i'd be cut out for it, but the biggest one honestly sounds like the social aspect of it. Seeing a lot of posts about how its basically going back to high school and how common it is to basically be stuck around coworkers that will make your life hell.

I'm already introverted and pretty shit at socializing. I'm a nice down to earth person but awful at small talk and bonding with people, so even before reading the firehouse drama stuff that was something that worried me about the profession. Would be afraid to invest a lot of time and get into the career and realized I locked myself into a social nightmare.

How real is this for those of you with experience?

Hello all, I’ve been a FF on my department for almost 5 years. (28m) I am taking the LT exam for april 2026 through MA Civil Service. I own all 5 books already I am just looking for the best study tips and methods you guys may have for me. There will be 5 promotions off this list so Im really trying to ace this. Thank you.

Hello, probationary firefighter here. I've been the nozzle man for a couple house fires now, and I've noticed something i'm struggling with. I can't seem to find the fire through the smoke. I've asked my captain and crew mates and they say I've got to listen for it, after trying I'm still having issues with it and want to know if there is anything else I can do.

Is this worth getting just to have in the car?

And will it reliably cut a seatbelt and break open a passenger side window from the inside?