Changing the Model of the Volunteer Fire Service

If you’re a firefighter and you’ve visited the City of Philadelphia, then I hope you took some time to visit one of the most important sites in American firefighting history – Firemen’s Hall. While this top-shelf museum deals mostly with the history of the Philadelphia Fire Department, it is also closely connected with the very first, organized volunteer fire department in, what was then the colonies – the Union Fire Company, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1736. In front of the museum is the carved, stone trough used to provide water to the horses.

The Union Fire Company was actually a, “bucket brigade,” and they did the best they could do with that they had. However, today’s volunteer and combination fire departments are a far cry from those of long ago. Yet, many of today’s volunteer fire departments are still working off the model that Franklin created, “neighbors helping neighbors.”

My guest on this podcast, Chief John M. Buckman III, is a past-president of the IAFC and one of the great leaders and mentors in the volunteer fire service. And with so many volunteer departments dealing with severe recruitment, retention and staffing problems, Chief Buckman is calling for a sweeping change in the “model” or “foundation” for the operation of today’s volunteer fire service.

If you are a member of a volunteer, combination or a paid-on-call department, you need to hear Chief Buckman’s message. And not just listen to it, but dive into it and learn from it. Then, bring it back to your department; encourage your fellow members, your officers and yes, even your chiefs, to listen to it. For if the volunteer fire service is going to survive as we enter the third decade of the twenty-first century, changes are going to be necessary, some very difficult changes!

Tune in at www.dalmatianproductions.tv or search for “5-Alarm Task Force” on your favorite podcast platform.