Fire Police... anyone know?

I was asked by a local fire police guy if I wanted to work for them. Evidently a primarily volunteer position, there are paid positions and ad hoc gigs that he said "pays pretty well."

I had always thought (forgive the prejudiced stereotype) that fire police were white trash people who just wanted cool lights and a CB in their Cavalier and to justify wearing camo with Nascar numbers on it.

Anyone have experience? Can anyone enlighten me? What are their actual duties? Trying to determine if it would be a good fit for me.

My dad was the captain of the volunteer fire company where I was growing up. It was in PA. They responded to fires to direct traffic, accidents to assist in the traffic control and traffic control at other events. He wasn't white trash, drive a cavalier and did not use CB radios in the execution of his duties. If you want a rewarding volunteer position in your community, go for it.

Don't you have a pontiac with a diesel, an Impala SS, and haven't you played with CB's in the past?

How are you not running to this?

What the hell is "fire police"? I've heard of volunteer firemen, and volunteer police deputies etc. But I have never heard of a fire police before.

Some of the departments here have them as well. The direct traffic, help with crowd control, things like that.

In PA they use them a lot.

Fire police are volunteer fire brigade/company members who receive sworn police powers, special training, and support firefighting efforts at moderate to major incidents. In addition to securing firefighting equipment, incident and fire scenes, and the station itself, Fire police perform traffic and crowd control. In some jurisdictions, fire police are exterior firefighters and may be called upon at fire scenes to perform any of the duties of an interior firefighter except those that require a self-contained breathing apparatus. On occasion, fire police also assist regular police: they perform road closures, traffic control, crowd control at public events, missing persons searches, parade details, salvage, security, and other miscellaneous tasks as requested.

Some more info on PA Fire Police

Pennsylvania

Fire police in Pennsylvania are volunteer fire company members and are sworn in by the mayor, borough council president, township supervisor, or the local district justice of the peace. While they are usually under the direct control of the local police, they are under the Pennsylvania State Police if no local department is available. The first fire police officers in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania were appointed in Meadville, Crawford County in 1896 and until the passage of Title 35 in 1941, had no greater authority than that which could be provided by their respective fire company and municipality.

However, the passage of the aforementioned bill granted Pennsylvania's special fire police officers the police power to provide protection. In addition, fire police were legally created to assist their fire department during emergency situations. Moreover, Title 35 was amended in 1949, 1959, and again in 1980 (Act 74, 388, 209, 122) to broaden the scope of authority of the fire police. In 1949, the law was amended (Act 388) to give fire police the power to act without fire company involvement if requested to do so by their municipality. In 1959, (Act 209) the law was again amended to allow fire police to use their police powers in any non-emergency public function conducted by or under the auspices of any volunteer fire company and the requirement of the request of the municipality was later removed from the law.

Furthermore, the provision that allows fire police to use their police power in non-emergency events was later amended to authorize these officers to provide police services for organizations other than volunteer fire companies if requested to do so by their respective municipality. In 1980 (Act 122 - current law), the Fire Police Act was amended to, among other things, make it clear that the act does not grant fire police officers the right or power to use firearms or other weapons while performing their duty.

In conclusion, these amendments widened the scope of authority of fire police in Pennsylvania to have limited police powers, and although they have no authority to make arrests, they do have the right to detain someone within reason.

Fire police may control the flow of traffic to ensure emergency vehicles have a quick, safe entrance and egress to an incident. They may halt traffic or detour traffic because of the situation and the dangers involved. They take orders from the police authority in charge.

All fire police officers are sworn officers of the law and when on duty shall display a badge of authority and shall be subject to control of the chief of police of the city, borough, town or township in which they are serving, or if none, of a member of the Pennsylvania state police. Disobeying a fire police officer is the same as disobeying a police officer, sheriff's deputy, state constable or state trooper and assaulting one is a felony.

Current Pennsylvania fire police law is found in Title 35, Chapter 74, subchapters 7431 to 7437.

hUH... NEVER HEARd of that before. Look ma! I learnt sumfin.

mtn wrote: Don't you have a pontiac with a diesel, an Impala SS, and haven't you played with CB's in the past? How are you not running to this?

And I am kinda white trash.

Maybe I'm also looking for an excuse to own a P71?

In reply to 68TR250:

Wow. Very thorough. Thank you

In reply to 68TR250:

DOES THIS GUY KNOW HOW TO PARTY OR WHAT?!?!?

I just grabbed the info off Wikipedia. I was a LEO in PHL for awhile and then in GA when I moved here.

interesting. I never knew they existed.. and I lived in PA for a number of years before escaping back to NJ

curtis73 wrote: Maybe I'm also looking for an excuse to own a P71?

Fugitive apprehension. We have coookies....

P71 primer

mad_machine wrote: ...before escaping back to NJ

People escape to Jersey?

curtis73 wrote: I had always thought (forgive the prejudiced stereotype) that fire police were white trash people who just wanted cool lights and a CB in their Cavalier and to justify wearing camo with Nascar numbers on it.

this is my neighbor to a tee, but replace the cavalier with a 80's ford crew cab dually that he drives like a jackass. so for some of them (not saying all) you hit the nail on the head

In reply to 02Pilot:

Who knew?

I don't know the particulars - but the mustache in your photo ain't gunna cut it.

You are going to have to grow a real c0ck broom.

Why does this come to mind?

How is a volunteer position paid?

Enyar wrote: How is a volunteer position paid?

This. I wanna volunteer to have people pay me.

Around here there is the Delaware State Fire Police, who are a quasi-official mostly-volunteer group that support the various local volunteer fire companies. They are not affiliated directly with any particular company, though there is a lot of crosstalk, I'm sure. No idea about paying gigs, but the guy I know who is involved has a daytime job as head of safety at a VERY LARGE local venue, and also consults nationwide with some national-level organizations. He's no redneck.

Appleseed wrote: P71 primer

There is so much truth in that video. But I still want one.

Enyar wrote: How is a volunteer position paid?

I'm still trying to ascertain that. Apparently the bulk of the crew is volunteer Cavalier owners, but the positions above it are paid. I highly doubt that is what I would be doing since I have little experience, but maybe.

My guess is that the paid part is much like regular police do it in some states with "detail" jobs. During off-duty time they sometimes get paid to work high school sports games, event security, etc. Not sure.

But I have a meeting with the guy in charge tomorrow. Hope to learn a lot.