phyrngn
Member
Can o' worms
I don't know if would work in Bellevue, but we've actually looked at starting a live-in program here. And we don't have 1/10th of the call volume that BVFD has...it would be a lot cheaper. I know that the revolving door would be there, as you'd be staffing a lot of the stations with students who wind up getting careers elsewhere, but wouldn't it be a great way to get experience? Live-in programs are HUGE in PA and MD. I know they have their share of problems, but you get the response time without the price.
I know I've said it in another forum (about Plattsmouth), but I have guys that would probably move in to a Station in Bellevue right now if they knew they'd go on 3, 4, or 5 runs a day in exchange for room and board.
The 8 to 5 thing with volunteers covering the evening isn't too bad of an idea, but you'll still run into problems with combination departments. I know that there are some combo departments that make it work, but I'm still kind of an all-or-nothing guy (with the exception of some departments having a paid Chief or Administrator).
I'm told that the fact BVFD is Volunteer has been a source of debate for years. Guess it must've been turned up a notch. Hopefully things are done in the interest of the public.
Of course, the NPFFA will try to make it a response time issue. It's actually a Union issue. And I'm a member of the Union. But I see how cost prohibitive it can be to just magically start your very own fire department...I'm a realist.
I don't know if would work in Bellevue, but we've actually looked at starting a live-in program here. And we don't have 1/10th of the call volume that BVFD has...it would be a lot cheaper. I know that the revolving door would be there, as you'd be staffing a lot of the stations with students who wind up getting careers elsewhere, but wouldn't it be a great way to get experience? Live-in programs are HUGE in PA and MD. I know they have their share of problems, but you get the response time without the price.
I know I've said it in another forum (about Plattsmouth), but I have guys that would probably move in to a Station in Bellevue right now if they knew they'd go on 3, 4, or 5 runs a day in exchange for room and board.
The 8 to 5 thing with volunteers covering the evening isn't too bad of an idea, but you'll still run into problems with combination departments. I know that there are some combo departments that make it work, but I'm still kind of an all-or-nothing guy (with the exception of some departments having a paid Chief or Administrator).
I'm told that the fact BVFD is Volunteer has been a source of debate for years. Guess it must've been turned up a notch. Hopefully things are done in the interest of the public.
Of course, the NPFFA will try to make it a response time issue. It's actually a Union issue. And I'm a member of the Union. But I see how cost prohibitive it can be to just magically start your very own fire department...I'm a realist.
