#160622 - 12/31/08 01:39 AM
I just quit the fire company
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 01/21/03
Posts: 2203
Loc: Bucks County PA
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It had been building for all of 2008, I was President of the company, I had been a Lieutenant, and I, like all the other officers, had issues with the Chief's lack of ability to delegate and collaborate on the scene. I stepped out of the Lieutenant post mid '08. Stayed on as President of the company, with intentions to drop back to Treasurer in '09, assuming also that Chief would not be re-elected.
Unfortunately, nobody wanted Chief and for a month, we didn't have a candidate. With great reluctance, the membership voted him in for a 4th one-year term this month.
Tonight, a long-simmering dispute over how to finance the replacement of an engine boiled over, the culmination of three years of frustrating arguments and situations on the fireground. I decided that I wasn't able to do a 4th year with this Chief on the scene or at the firehouse. With a hearty stream of expletives and a dramatic tossing of a pile of paper, out the door I went.
When I came home, I turned off my pager. Unless you've been a volunteer firefighter, you have no idea how hard that is. Here I am one of a few rescue medics and extrication specialists in an area where the majority of calls are for car wrecks and tonight, if someone calls 911, I'm not coming. I'll still get the text message dispatch and if the wind is right, I'll hear the siren.
My wife says she "can't imagine" me not running emergency calls, and to be honest, I can't either. But respect and dignity count for something, and I can only hope that I'll be able to connect with another company (I'm equidistant between three companies) and get back to it.
I feel exactly like I have after a breakup of a long-term romance, possibly worse.
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#160623 - 12/31/08 01:57 AM
Re: I just quit the fire company
[Re: MartinFocazio]
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Enthusiast
Registered: 07/02/08
Posts: 395
Loc: Ohio
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I'm sure that this was one of the toughest things that you've ever done. Good luck on getting on one of the other departments!
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#160624 - 12/31/08 02:00 AM
Re: I just quit the fire company
[Re: Grouch]
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Old Hand
Registered: 11/27/06
Posts: 707
Loc: Alamogordo, NM
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That's tough, Martin. Being a volunteer for so long, in any outfit, requires such dedication and love that I can;t imagine you'll stay gone for long. I mean, it sure seems you'll get "talked back into" service before too long....
_________________________
DON'T BE SCARED -Stretch
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#160628 - 12/31/08 02:13 AM
Re: I just quit the fire company
[Re: Stretch]
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"Be Prepared"
Pooh-Bah
Registered: 06/26/04
Posts: 2209
Loc: NE Wisconsin
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Martin,
My heart absolutely aches for you. Please consider this forum full of shoulders to lean on.
Ken
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#160629 - 12/31/08 02:15 AM
Re: I just quit the fire company
[Re: MartinFocazio]
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Veteran
Registered: 11/01/08
Posts: 1530
Loc: DFW, Texas
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Tough break. I know the feeling. When I left the sheriff's department the only advantage I had was that I was moving. Since the pager was my personal pager, I would still see the requests for reserves when it was a one paid deputy night.
I wish you luck in finding a new home (company).
_________________________
I do the things that I must, and really regret, are unfortunately necessary.
RIP OBG
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#160633 - 12/31/08 02:27 AM
Re: I just quit the fire company
[Re: MartinFocazio]
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Sherpadog
Unregistered
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Martin:
I know how you feel. I left the fire service for many reasons...and none for the reasons that you had to experience and left because of.
It was the most difficult decision I ever made and haunted me every time the trucks rolled from the hall ( we lived 1/2 block away).
Over years, I have had my share of romances and got over all them. However almost 12 years later, I still have never really gotten over leaving the fire service and even though I am hundreds of miles away, I think about it still every day when the trucks roll from a different fire dept which is only 2 blocks away from our present home.
In our living room, I have a photo of a fireman holding a 3-4 year old little girl who was saved from a fire. I wrote a caption for it (partly from a Dan Rather quote) that says:
We are older now, and irrevocably changed, however we can look back with no second thoughts and a measure of quiet pride and say "We cared, we tried, and we gave it everything we had...because we knew it mattered."
I look at and read this every day and that Martin, is all that matters.
PM me if you would like a copy.
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#160637 - 12/31/08 02:38 AM
Re: I just quit the fire company
[Re: snoman]
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Geezer
Registered: 01/21/04
Posts: 5163
Loc: W. WA
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I'm sorry you had to reach the point where that had to happen. It has been obvious to all here how much you cared.
Sue
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