[Chief Penick]
Please sign our guest book !
BTFD Welcomes new Pumper to our fleet
Click on picture to go to the pumper page for more pictures and details
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So you want to be a Firefighter??
So, you want to be a firefighter? Maybe not. Before you become on of us, we want you to know what you do not. We cannot offer you the pay or benefit packages of more typical employers. That’s why we are called “public servants” and “volunteers”. You should also know that you “volunteer” to belong --- everything that follows in the fire service is “mandatory”. It has to be. The services we provide quite literally involve life and death, including you own.
Fire Departments are not social clubs. The days of the “good old boys”, “bearded wonders”, and “banquet fireman” are gone. It has to be. Buildings burn with more intensity, hazardous material content, and risk of collapse then ever before. Other organizations exist to fill your “party” needs.
Belonging will be time-consuming. Training. More training. Always, training. Fire fighting is a “gamble”. The only means you have of placing “odds” in your favor is education. Knowing how fire burns, clues of color and smoke, building construction and all the other things that must be learned may save your life, and the lives of others.
It also takes the time to respond to alarms, do your duty, and then get all the equipment and tools of the trade back in service. The work doesn’t end when the fire goes out. Time is needed for the station and vehicle maintenance, prevention, inspections, investigations, record keeping, parades, and fund raisers (there is never enough money). Time….the fire service requires lots of time.
Firefighting is physically demanding. Not all of the time --- just each time you step foot on the truck to answer a call. Your heart pounds, adrenaline flows, and if you are sane, you are also scared. You’ll wear almost 50 pounds of protective equipment. While wearing it, you will pull, push, climb, stretch, carry, lift, crouch, crawl, and breathe harder than you thought possible. Smoke and soot become your cologne. You will learn a new meaning of what it is to be truly “cold”, “hot”, “sore”, and “tired”. You may bleed, you will sweat, and sometimes; you will shed tears.
Firefighting can be truly ugly. It can be blinding bright or blindingly dark. It can be deadly quiet,, or have a deafening roar. You will see suffering carnage in fires of the future --- like those of the past. So you want to be a Firefighter? Then you might make it, you can make it, many have. The “bad” in firefighting is part of the “good”. It is what makes us different. We do what others can’t. If you become one of us, you’ll share the challenges, comradery, and when we’re successful, a sense of accomplishment that is second to none.
Your family becomes ours, and our becomes yours. In our breed, you will experience an often strange sense of humor, and you’ll develop pride. Not boastful, bragging, cocky pride; rather an inner pride known only by those who have worn the gear. You will develop a respect for co-workers across the nation, and for their job, that exists in no other profession.
It is often said that “firefighting gets in your blood”. That’s not true. If you become one of us, it gets in your heart.
-Author unknown
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He's the guy next door--a man's man with the memory of a little boy.
He never got over the excitement of engines and sirens and smoke and danger.
He's a guy like you and me with problems, worries and unfulfilled dreams.
Yet he stands taller than most of us.
He is a Firefighter!
He puts it all on the line when the bell rings. A firefighter is at once
the most fortunate and the least fortunate of men. He's a man who
saves lives because he has seen too much death.
He's a gentle man because he has seen too much of the awesome
power of violent forces out of control.
He's responsive to a child's laughter because his arms have held
too many small bodies that will never laugh again.
He's a man who appreciates the simpler pleasures of life - hot coffee
held in numb, unbending fingers - the flush of fresh air pumping through
smoke and fire convulsed lungs - a warm bed for bone and muscle compelled
beyond feeling - the camaraderie of brave men - the divine peace of selfless
service and a job well -done in the name of all men.
He doesn't wear buttons or wave flags or shout obscenities. When he marches,
it is to honor a fallen comrade. He doesn't preach the brotherhood of man,
He lives it, as the Firefighter!
----Author Unknown
Are you a resident of Brown Township, in Carroll county, Ohio, that has a Question, comment , or concern? if so you can E-mail the public relations committee, of the Brown Township Fire Dept. We will be glad to assist you in any way. Just click the link below!
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