I am a volunteer firefighter (Equipment Operator). I've been in the fire service for about 13 years and I love it so much but for about the last 2 years I've been put in the position of an officer (managing a shift and all the other duties that follow) and with no promotion. I have asked several times why I've haven't been promoted and I get the answer "I'm trying to set new standards and you are the lucky one for me to start with. You need to get your firefighter 2, Fire Officer, and so on" but I don't feel it's the truth. Every time I get close to what he wants he adds more to it. I feel the chief doesn't feel confident enough to promote me yet I have the same duties as the other officers. Now when we have our monthly meetings the paid guys gripe and complain about how they are getting screwed and how they aren't treated right. Then we have other volunteers that gripe and complain about others and it has nothing to do with them. I know this is the same everywhere you go but It's get old and I need to vent. I'm thinking about quitting cause it not worth the stress of being on call every third day, training every Tuesday night, and dealing with everyone elses crap. It's just not fun anymore. That's the whole reason I joined 13 years ago.
I was in nearly the exact position about 9 months ago, so I'll tell you what I did, and you can take it or leave it. I've been on my local volunteer department for 12 years June 1. I became Chief in 2007 when we had a leadership change for the good of the department. The stress of leading a department, carrying a full time paid job, and dealing with people and politics in town greatly soured my attitude toward the department and the job. In July of last year we made the transition to a combination department like yours. At that time I resigned as Chief because it was what I needed to do for my family financially, but I remained as Captain of one of our stations. We train weekly like you do, and I have responsibilities as an officer. I took a 30 day break from the officer corp to get a perspective on the department and how I felt about it. It was the best thing I had done. I guess a question I have is what is the ratio of paid to volunteers? When we made the transition, we put the daily responsibilities of running the department onto the paid guys. The volunteers pretty much just run calls and train now. The break to evaluate your priorities would probably be good for you. What kept me going is knowing that all the BS you deal with is worth it when you save someone's life or property. Try to go back to having fun with it like when you first started. The other comments were right on about not letting the gossip spread. However, the Chief ought to man up and stop that. In the end, you have to do what's best for you and your family. You've already done more than alot of folks in the town. Good luck, hope some of this helped.
