What are the downfalls of being a volunteer firefighter?
The biggest downfalls of the volunteer fire service are fundraising and management. A volunteer fire department must have all members assist with fundraising. You must learn the skills to be able to safely help others and also learn the tricks and ways to earn money just to be able to pay the bills and keep the doors open. The volunteer fire department, anyway you try to look at it, is a business. It also can be very difficult after returning from an emergency call when no matter what anyone could have done, the end result was tragic.
The biggest downfalls of the volunteer fire service are fundraising and management. A volunteer fire department must have all members assist with fundraising. You must learn the skills to be able to safely help others and also learn the tricks and ways to earn money just to be able to pay the bills and keep the doors open. The volunteer fire department, anyway you try to look at it, is a business. Decisions must be made regularly on how to spend money, raise funds, make proper investments keeping fiduciary responsibility in mind, plan for capital equipment replacement, building construction, renovations and additions, make decisions that may or may not be viewed as wise choice in the public eye, and plans must be made how to adapt to new and changing government regulations. We also must make decisions and take a stance on many issues involving the fire service, often having to appeal to public officials at the federal, state, county and local levels of the political arena. It also can
