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Joining the Vestal Fire Department
HELP WANTED: Must enjoy working under strenuous, unpredictable conditions, in all types of weather, and be willing to report for work at any hour of the day or night. We offer no pay, but will provide all the necessary equipment, free training, and a retirement plan for qualifying members. Applicants must be at least 16 years old and live or work in the Town of Vestal. Applications accepted every Monday at 9am and 7pm at the Vestal Fire Station nearest you.| Table of Contents: |
Introduction - The purpose of this page is to provide you, the prospective member, with a step-by-step list of the procedures that a person seeking to join the Vestal Fire Department should be prepared to go through. While every effort has been made to include, at the time this was posted, all the steps required, more recent changes in the procedure may not be listed here. These changes will be relayed to the you at the time an application is turned in. It should also be noted that the Town of Vestal does not discriminate in any way against any applicant for town employment, including membership in the Vestal Volunteer Fire Department.
Keeping in mind that fire fighting is one of the most strenuous jobs in the world today, you should be prepared to sustain the rigors of fire fighting. It requires a healthy, physically fit body and a clear thinking mind. Persons with alcohol and/or drug dependencies should think twice before attempting to do the dangerous job of fire fighting.
The following is the list of the steps required to enter into the Vestal Volunteer Fire Department. They are more or less in order, but items may be omitted or added as situations warrant.
Applying for Membership - You should visit the Fire Station nearest you to get an idea of what you will be facing in the months ahead and to obtain an application form. The fire fighters are a friendly lot and are very happy to welcome new prospective members. The Town of Vestal has four fire stations spread out in various locations around the town. You must join the station nearest to your home. You may, when membership is granted, respond to any of the four stations for an alarm. The station locations are as follows:
- Station # 1 is located in the Four Corners area, on Main Street just north of the Vestal Parkway.
- Station # 2 is located in Vestal Center on State Route 26. It is just south of the intersection of Powderhouse Road and Route 26.
- Station # 3 is located in Ross Corners, in the western end of the town, on Old Owego Road.
- Station # 4 is located in the east end of town on the corner of the Vestal Parkway East and Earl Road.
The Vestal Fire Department holds weekly practice on Monday nights, starting at 7pm. It also has training for day fire fighters on Monday mornings, starting at 9am. These times would be the best times to visit the station and obtain the application form. You may wish to stay on that night to view the fire fighters performing the various maintenance tasks required to keep the trucks and equipment in top operating condition. They will then go out of the station for training or stay at the station for classroom studies. Forms may be filled out on the first visit or filled out later and returned on the next meeting night.
Your First Company Meeting - The Vestal Volunteer Fire Department has a "Company Meeting" in each of the four stations on the first Monday of each month. This is an open business meeting for all station members to discuss the running of the station and to deal with the financial and operating obligations of each respective station. While the Vestal Volunteer Fire Department is made up of the collective group of the four stations, each station is responsible for its own book work and the running of their station. It, in turn, gets its orders from the governing body of the Vestal Fire Department, the Fire Advisory Board.
On the first Monday night of the month, the Company Meeting night, you will be expected to appear in person to attend the meeting and to turn in the filled out application for processing. A small fee of $3.00 is charged to pay for the processing of the application. The application form will be read out loud in front of the membership body of the station. You will be then asked to stand and be recognized by the membership. This is done, not to embarrass you, but so that all members can put a face with the name on the application form. The application form will then be "tabled" for one month.
Your First Month as a New Applicant - During the month before the next company meeting you should make every attempt to visit the station for Monday training. This will give you a chance to learn more about the workings of the department and give the membership the opportunity to get to know you better before a formal vote is taken. These visits also make it clear to all members that you are serious about joining the Fire Department. The quickest way to not be accepted as a member is to not show up at all during the month after the application is turned in.
It should be noted that while the application form is "tabled" by the station, it will actually be transferred to the Vestal Police Department for processing by them. They will run your name through Federal, State and Local Law Enforcement Agency data bases to see if you have any prior record that would interfere in the duties of a Volunteer Fire Fighter. If you do, or are currently involved in any criminal activities, you should think twice about attempting to join the Vestal Fire Department.
Being Voted in as a New Member - At the next company meeting the station membership will vote on whether or not to accept you as a new member. Voting is done by a show of hands, and you may be asked to leave the meeting room while the vote is carried out. While this may seem intimidating, it is done to assure an unbiased vote from the membership. It is rare that an applicant is turned down, but it has happened in the past for various reasons. After the vote is counted and an affirmative vote is found, you will be asked to return to the meeting room and will be advised of the positive outcome of the vote. You will be then welcomed as a "member" and a round of applause usually follows. The journey has just begun!
Physical Examination - Even though you have been voted in as a member, you cannot do anything other than observe. You cannot respond to alarms until you have passed a physical and have been approved by the Board of Fire Commissioners (the Vestal Town Board).
Each and every member has to undergo a thorough physical exam every two or four years, depending on the members age. You will be mailed instructions for scheduling your first physical. The testing is totally free to all members, and includes blood work, a lung capacity test, hearing and eye tests, and cardiac testing (for those over 40 years of age). If problems are found you will be asked to see your personal physician. The results of the physical are returned to the Fire Department as "pass or fail". All other data is maintained by the doctor's office that performed the physical, and is not released to the Fire Department.
Upon passing the physical your membership will be approved by the Board of Fire Commissioners. You will be notified of this approval in the form of a letter from the Vestal Town Board announcing your full acceptance as a Vestal Volunteer Fire Fighter. Your receiving "The Letter" will be the high point of your first year in the Fire Service and will be a moment not soon forgotten.
Issuing of Equipment - After receiving the letter from the Town Board, you are ready to begin training. You will be issued turn out gear (personal fire fighting equipment) at this time. All equipment will be provided free of charge to all members. This equipment and its upkeep are your responsibility. It should be noted that the turn out gear is very expensive and should be treated with the utmost care and caution, your life will depend on it. Fire radio alerting equipment such as tone activated pocket pagers and home alert base units are issued to each firefighter. These too are provided free of charge. Some stations also issue a "Blue Light" or blue courtesy light that firemen are entitled to display on their vehicles. While this light imparts no special privileges to the operator of the motor vehicle (example; not stopping at red lights, speeding, etc..), it is a "courtesy light" and other motorist may or may not feel obligated to pull over to allow you to pass. Great caution should be exercised when this light is turned on, you are representing the Fire Department and should act in a safe and cautious manner while responding to an alarm. It is not, nor has it ever been, or ever implied to have been, a license to speed. Immediate suspension or dismissal from the Fire Service may be the direct result of such behavior.
Required Training - Each new member is required to attend a 13 week course, one evening a week, in initial firefighter training. The New York State Basic Firefighting Course is a beginners course, which is given several times a year, but not always in the Vestal area of the County, and not always on Monday nights. You may have to travel to other parts of Broome County to attend the course, and may choose to meet at the station and car pool to the training class site with other new members.
Remember that this list is not meant to be the definitive source for information on joining the Vestal Volunteer Fire Department. That information should come from the officers of the station you wish to join. This list is provided as a guide to hopefully prepare you for the steps needed to become a full-fledged member of one of the finest fire fighting units in the state, the Vestal Volunteer Fire Department. Good Luck!