Moonlighting Firefighters

Status
Not open for further replies.
George Stolz

George Stolz

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Windsor, CO NEC: 2017
Occupation
Hospital Master Electrician
I am curious how common it is for electricians to also do firefighting, either volunteer or otherwise. It seems like the more electricians I talk to (or visit with on internet forums) the more I discover are volunteer firefighters as well.

Is this as common as it seems to be?
 
I can say that I use to be a volunteer firefighter but I see more firefighters moonlight as electricians and handy men then the reverse.
 
I know of three full time firefighters that work as eletricians ,one has a shop of at least eight people, making money, while making money:smile: .

population 17,000
 
If something's on fire, you'll find me making my way out. I privately wonder (not so privately now) what basic malfunction might exist that would cause a person to want to run into a burning building? A neighbor had a barn on fire. The hogs ran out and were spared. The sheep, even though they were in the pasture at the time, ran in and were consumed.
 
Volunteer and Full time

Volunteer and Full time

Hello All,

I finished my apprenticeship in 01' and around that same time I decided to Volunteer. Now I am an electrician working for TVA. I am also appart of the Fire brigade here too. Trained me to be a first responder for medicals also.
 
My full-time job, if thats what you want to call it, only requires me to work 8 days a month. I work 1 24 hour day, then I get 3 days off. This is before any vacation time. The pay and bennys are good but I need something to do with all that time off, deer season doesn't last all year.

I run my own business on my days off. I like the problem solving aspects as well as the freedom.
 
mdshunk said:
If something's on fire, you'll find me making my way out. I privately wonder (not so privately now) what basic malfunction might exist that would cause a person to want to run into a burning building? A neighbor had a barn on fire. The hogs ran out and were spared. The sheep, even though they were in the pasture at the time, ran in and were consumed.
Click to expand...

As a volunteer, I mostly responded to medical calls. A couple of them were pretty grizzly. You can PM me if you want details.

My first dispatch, on a "band-aid" call, I ran my 1968 Mercury Coguar XR7 G 390 to the accident. I was first on the scene.:grin: Note the "G".

Most of the other calls were wild land fires. Back breaking work with a back pump on my back, or working a McCloud tool. Not much fun.

A couple of times, I went into burning houses. The adrenaline rush was intense. Thats why I did it.
 
I started in construction in 1981 and worked as a residential electrician until 1989. Joined the fire department in 1983 and currently serve as Assistant Fire Chief and Safety Officer. I am also the building official for the community since 1989 with 5 national certification as a construction code inspector. With all that training, I still qualify as one of those sheep that goes into a building on fire. It is all about the "rush" of facing the beast head on. Although as I get older, it takes a little longer to get to the beast. My electrical background comes in handy on the investigation afterwards. Too many times the electricians get a bad rap because it is too easy to say "it was electrical" when determining cause and origin.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top