Volunteer Firefighter Jobs

Volunteer firefighters perform the same kind of duties as their salaries counterparts for municipalities all over the United States.

According to the National Volunteer Fire Council (“NVFC”), volunteer firefighters greatly outnumber paid ones. There are over 1.1 million firefighters in the U.S. and an estimated 825,450 of them are volunteer firefighters. In fact, the majority of fire departments in the country are volunteer ones.

People who become volunteer firefighters spend time training so that they can respond to a number of emergency situations, including:

1. Fires
2. Emergency medical incidents
3. Act of terrorism
4. Natural disasters
5. Hazardous material spills
6. Water rescues

For people interested in firefighting as a career, starting as a volunteer may be a savvy career move. The number of volunteer firefighters is declining, and the average age of people involved in this activity is increasing. This combination means that more opportunities will open up for people interested in firefighting work.

The fact that more families have two income earners and people are spending more time commuting to and from work means that there is less time to participate in leisure activities, hobbies, and community service. Time spent on volunteer firefighting duties means less time to spend with family and friends.

The NVFC is attempting to interest young people in becoming volunteer firefighters by launching a National Junior Firefighter Program. Participants in the program can track their hours of service and get motivational rewards for doing so. Hopefully, by involving youth in this type of community service will lead to more of them continuing on in the same vein once they reach adulthood.