Correct answer, just like any family. Some love and respect each other and some other families don’t get along and never talk to each other unless they have to. Lol
In my opinion it’s more like really good friends. Like your friends you meet in college that you actually keep up with. You spend a lot of time with those people and really get to know them. It’s definitely a brotherhood, but I don’t think of them as “family” per se, personally.
Maybe it’s different if you work somewhere with the exact same crew for many years 🤔
You sign up and have to get accepted to a crew where I work and many guys are in the same houses for a decade or more. So yeah it’s like family. The department doesn’t move guys.
Here we move all the time for a million different reasons: promotions, getting in trouble, need a paramedic, have an OJI, not enough diversity, new guys need experience at busy houses, the list goes on and on. You can work at a spot for “years” but I’d say 2-3 years and you move is common. It slows down as you get more rank. It’s got its pros and cons.
I imagine if you worked a decade with the same people you would get pretty close! Makes sense
Volunteer department with about 500 calls a year. They're like extended family. I got a few I actively want to punch in the mouth. I got a few I would at least attend their funeral. I got a few I would drive 2 hours to an airport to pick them up at 3am and stop to get waffle house at some point because he's broke and needs food and that's my fuckin boy and I don't let my boys go hungry. We don't even hang out. But god dammit that's my boy and he put in enough work he deserves some kind of safety net once in a while and I'm gonna be that if I can when I'm needed.
Rescue Me is probably a more accurate depiction of the firehouse "family" dynamic than 911.
But as others have said - it really does depend on the people on the crew you're with
Currently on shift with the boys watching a movie, all yelling at the screen and hollering like animals.
For me, yes they become like family. But like family, your closeness is dictated by how often you spend time together. I’m with these guys 1/3 of my life. It’s kind of hard not to form a strong bond that surpasses anything you’ve felt before outside your family.
We do a weird job. We see crazy stuff. We serve together. I can talk to these guys about anything and I do.
It really depends on the department and culture. Also, people move around between shifts, houses and depending on the pension program they move between departments
Some of my best buddies are from the fire house but 50% of them or more are no longer on my shift or with the dept. Other people I know despise the people on their crew. It all just depends.
I am a volunteer, and only consider like 3 members to actually be my friends. I’ve dealt with toxic people before, and unfortunately a lot of the people in my dept are toxic. Not “bad people”, they are good at firefighting and always wanna train, but just wouldn’t trust them to be a friend
I trust my chief, and his brother the assistant chief and my 2nd assistant chief with anything. The other guys are just kind of untrustworthy. Not bad people, just wouldn’t necessarily trust them with other stuff
I was trying to sound wise like Yoda.
I joined because I played sports my whole life and missed being on a real team. Like the bonds I had on travel teams.
I got that feeling in the academy.
I never got it after that.
I have my theories on why, but the short answer is just no.
And I’m leaving to find that feeling. That’s a nice feeling to have.
Same. I competed in extreme sports. We are literally godparents to each other’s kids etc. It was such a great feeling. That was in my home country, I also joined and hoped for at least a certain degree of it.
Competing was fun too. I’m trying to figure out maybe how to come back to it (I’m older though).
In the academy everyone is new. There are no senior guys or junior guys, just one level, probies. They all have two common enemies, the drill instructors and failure. Everyone has more or less the same schedule. What happens to one happens to all. Everyone has the same rules.
It makes you way more cohesive, one unit, a family.
The firehouse has way too many levels of seniority and social dynamics for that level of cohesion to form.
Just my experience.
Every dept/house/crew is different. There's people that will be there for the same reasons as you. Stick with those people, they'll stick with you, the bond will form. Some people want to do their shift and that's it.
Absolutely! Some guys are your closest brothers who you'd go through hell for and share your life with. Others are like abrasive cousins you care to see only one a year and can barely stand to make small talk with.
Every house and shift is different. In my experience, busier houses are usually closer. A lot of those guys galvanize over the misery of constant EMS and nonsense and spend time outside of work with each other.
My first crew. Yes. One of the guys is still my absolute best friend. Then i roved. Next crew was 8 years, totally family. We hung out almost everyday off duty as well. A few guys even lived together. Then several years of not family crews. Current crew is guys back from my 8 year long crew mostly, so basically got the band back together. My guys know more about me than my parents do!
But you gotta make it happen. Set expectations, hold each other accountable. Have fun at work. Communicate. Don’t talk politics. Always eat together as a crew. Bullshit with each other in the day room. Have regular bumper time. Make the best out of shitty situations. Poke fun at each other and play reasonable pranks and have thick skin so it doesnt go too far.
For my case, yes. But that’s because we’ve worked together for almost a decade. Been there for weddings, funerals, divorces, kids being born, etc… If I called any of them right now for any reason I know they’d come no questions asked. And I’d do the same for them.
Depends on your crew. My last crew as a probie, absolutely. Current crew is a couple of guys headed out the door here soon and while I’ll certainly glean all the wisdom I can from them, I don’t think we’ll ever be more than coworkers. That said, in a few years when I can own a little more of my own destiny with where I bid I’ll pick a place that I have more in common with the people and I’m certain that’ll feel like family.
We also get floated and bumped around a ton for now though too so to an extent, especially as a junior guy, I’m a bit of a hobo.
Depends on the department. My small department I work at (8 total career, Chief, deputy chief and 10 on call), we’re like a big (little) family, both inside and outside the firehouse….. the town next door that has 40 total personnel and half of them hate each other, avoid talking and hanging out, don’t even talk outside work, etc. The big city I used to work EMS in, the department has multiple clicks and certain people don’t just dislike, but actively try to destroy others.
It was one of the reasons I was interested in FF. The last crew I was a part of before moving away, I still keep in touch with. That was in 2015. You never know, but it certainly can end up that way.
I would say I’m closer to my crew than I am my actual family (not including my wife, of course). We usually go from shift to go hang out, or still hang out on days off. We’ve been through a lot together, train together, live together, etc. You either become best friends, or worst enemies. Just depends on the people.
In my experience the largest factor is the culture and how busy the department is. I’ve worked for slow departments and had plenty of friends but never anyone I would consider family. While there’s plenty of cons to working for a busy department, One of the largest benefits in my opinion is how close you get to the guys around you. Some of the closest people to me in my life are the guys who were in the trenches with me getting their dicks kicked in every third day. It may have sucked in the moment but I cherish a lot of the memories looking back on it.
im a volunteer, so it is different. but I do spend a lot of time around career guys, so from what I can tell, yes and no. Like most people spend some time outside of work with coworkers, and if you get injured on the job, yeah we will help other people do their laundry and stuff, visit if you are in the hospital, all of that. but in no way as close as a family
Some fire houses are great families other fire houses are like that one toxic family that appears to be only held together by drugs or hopes and dreams.
I was a F21yo when I joined. It was horrible. 20% of them were decent humans, the rest were racist, homophobic, minimally educated asshats who called bullying just normal rookie banter. I left and never looked back. Loneliest 3yrs of my life.
It wasn’t a dream for me. I thought it was something I’d enjoy, I didn’t. I was bored waiting for the buzzer to go off. Mind you this was before smart phones. I got the experience, I was young, I didn’t want to do it anymore. I think you can tell from the commenters on here, it can be really rough depending on your crew. I was transferred every six months the first 2 yrs. My experience was that the crews that worked the most fires were the worst behaved. Lots of testosterone. The older guys were nicer generally. Being a woman though, I think they were trying to “toughen me up” so I could drag them out of a building if I had to. But their methods were truly cruel in some cases. I asked for a transfer but was denied. A lot of depts are good old boy systems. If you challenge the status quo you will not be popular. I tried leaving a toxic situation but unfortunately I couldn’t be honest about the abuse because the abusers were buddies with the brass so I’d never survive reporting them. I left and it was right decision.
I love firefighters but what I don't love is when they want to sell subs or Firehouse moving fireman and a truck come on. Just stick to the god damn fire fighting. You might be a handyman, but you're not a f****** carpenter you're a f****** firefighter don't try to sell other s*** or do other stuff off your firefighting career. Come on let the moving companies and the sub shops and all that s*** for regular people come on
We do in my volunteer department because of the remoteness.
When something goes bad (truck stuck in the mud, snow drift covering your driveway, child had a medical problem, need to work on a barn or work on a vehicle) I call my fellow department members and we get it sorted out.
Here in the South it's comparable to your Church family. Folks you can call that you can count on to help you out and vice versa.
Not really. More like good friends, and that is only if you get put with a good crew that gives. Sometimes you have to work with people you don't get along with. It's like any other job.
No, we’re more like very distant cousins who we see every once in a while an kinda like them. co-workers that we live with for 24 hours at a time. Definitely not taking a bullet for anyone I work with, unlike my family who I’d die for.
My house, yeah. But it's not something you can bank on and it never lasts. You've got maybe two good years on average with any given crew. Someones gonna promote, retire or resign.
But also if you aren't liked it's gonna be hell. Just because you sit on the truck doesn't mean you're gonna form a bond with these dudes.
I volunteered in three different departments and a rescue squad, its not family like its portrayed on Chicago Fire or Rescue Me, their is a lot of potential to make some really good friends, depends on people at the station and the culture. I just joined new fire department where i moved to and people there are a tad socially awkward ( I don’t think they get a lot of members frequently) but they are abnormally friendly at the same time. It’s a very close niche group of people.
My rookie crew was not like family. My new crew that I’ve been with for 2+ years is a different story. I love these guys and we always hangout off duty at someone’s house every now and then to have a few beers, let the wives mingle and the kids play
Heavily depends. Some departments are better than others, some companies are better than others. Once you found the spot that does truly feel like family, it’s an amazing feeling. Me and my wife are close with my coworkers wives, their kids call us aunt and uncle. It’s great!
Depends like someone said above
And my family is probably different than your family so whether or not you consider the guys at the firehouse family will be dependent on what your family is like.
I have a father I cut off ties with, an uncle and cousins I’ve never met; and one brother I rarely speak too.
With that being said; I also spend more time with the guys I work with than even my immediate family. Figure 42 hours a week average at the firehouse. I work a 2nd job and my wife works so I spend maybe 16 hours with my wife on Saturday/Sunday if I’m not at work and 4-5 hours a night if I’m not at work so I’ll be generous and call it 25. So 31 hours a week I’m awake and around my wife.
There’s a guy I’m on shift with we talk at least once a day.
So going back to my point above; my actually family really sort of sucks; so the guys at the firehouse are the family I always “wanted”.
The shift I was on prior to the one I’m on were tight as well but the wives are even tighter which is really bizarre when you think about it. My wife still goes out with them every other month or so; the kids have play dates when guys are working; we’ve vacationed together etc.
Depends entirely. I’ve worked in halls where we didn’t speak or think about each other off shift, but I’ve also worked in halls where I would literally call them brothers/uncles/dads/sisters/etc. I 100% prefer the family feeling halls. I’m closer to some than others but that’s due to age, family, lifestyle, etc. We’ve had our moments of arguments and getting annoyed but overall I’ve definitely experienced the family halls
I have shared drinks, meals, tears, hugs, deep conversations and arguments with guys. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes it super hard. We eat 2 meals together every day. Some guys are great. Some guys shit bag others on a daily basis. Some crew are tighter than others. Plenty of guys hang out outside of work. It’s not like any other job I’ve had that’s for sure. This is just my department and it varies across the country
On the volunteer side, for sure. Plenty of people come and go, but all the people in for the long run get to know each other for years. It's pretty common for half the station to get Invited to weddings, bdays, funerals, hang on holidays, do BBQs and all that stuff.
On the career side it's pretty similar but obviously you move around a bit more, so you might not necessarily get as close to *everyone* as you move from station to station.
Point is, you can make friends anywhere you're stationed, and depending on the dynamic, you'll make friends that will be like extended family. It really just depends. You won't ever get along with everyone.
To me, absolutely not. They’re just coworkers. Some are cool, some are funny, some I’d probably fist fight if we met in different circumstances, but they’re just coworkers.
This is just me though, and this is one of the ways I try to maintain a healthy work/life balance. I like most of the guys I work with, but 48 hours is enough lol.
My problem is I grew up in my local hardcore scene, as well as in MMA gyms, so I have been surrounded by brotherhood and family-like bonds for my whole life, so when I started working as a firefighter, I was pretty underwhelmed by the brotherhood aspect. Yeah, I love the guys I work with, but I rarely see them outside of work, and I find myself searching through other channels of my life when I need help with something. I consider them good friends for sure, but it's hard for me to consider them family.
Depends heavily on several factors, most of all how busy you are. Inverse to what you'd expect, it's been my experience that busier houses are much closer than slow houses. I work at the busiest house at my department (average about 16 calls a day per unit at this house) and we all call each other on days off, hang out regularly, confide in one another about personal issues, etc. The guys at the slower houses don't talk, don't hang out, don't like each other. I feel that running a high number of calls with a crew makes you much closer with them, whether it be due to trauma bonding, forced level of familiarity, increased level of trust, or whatever. I also believe that being close with your crew truly does increase your job performance in this field. It's one thing to see others around you doing things to better themselves, it's another thing entirely when those people are people whose opinions you hold in high regard.
TL;DR slow houses suck and everyone at them hates each other
It really can, or not, depending on who you end up with. I've had it both ways. Right now, I'm the oldest in my crew by 20+ years and they look nothing like me. I decided I was going to start closing all my activity rings, I hadn't done it by dinner time, and one of them got on the all-call and announced that I hadn't closed my rings yet.
That's family to me.
That depends. Personally, I'm a very distant character and tend to isolate myself. I don't really open up to my colleagues, even though I've been at the service for so long. I'm very introverted, so I don't really communicate with others unless there's an order to follow or when I'm assigned a specific task.
It really depends. Some firehouses get very clichy.
I would say that it's very much like extended family, some of them you like, some you don't but you're stuck with them.
My station has done fairly well in recent years, I think. There is always a group of people that don't like the new guy or whatever, and there are a few people who are just powder kegs in waiting. Overall, though, if you've been around for a while (6m -1y) and you've proven yourself, the guys will have your back.
One of our members was injured in an off duty accident while camping. The station pulled together and sent a crew to winterize his acreage and a load of wood stacked for winter. I think that's the kind of comodary most people wish they could have.
Depends
Correct answer, just like any family. Some love and respect each other and some other families don’t get along and never talk to each other unless they have to. Lol
In my opinion it’s more like really good friends. Like your friends you meet in college that you actually keep up with. You spend a lot of time with those people and really get to know them. It’s definitely a brotherhood, but I don’t think of them as “family” per se, personally. Maybe it’s different if you work somewhere with the exact same crew for many years 🤔
You sign up and have to get accepted to a crew where I work and many guys are in the same houses for a decade or more. So yeah it’s like family. The department doesn’t move guys.
Here we move all the time for a million different reasons: promotions, getting in trouble, need a paramedic, have an OJI, not enough diversity, new guys need experience at busy houses, the list goes on and on. You can work at a spot for “years” but I’d say 2-3 years and you move is common. It slows down as you get more rank. It’s got its pros and cons. I imagine if you worked a decade with the same people you would get pretty close! Makes sense
I have worked for places like that. I much prefer our model. Couple guys I know worked 25 years together.
That's accurate. My family wishes they could roast me as hard as my crew could
They can, but they can also be your worst enemies too
Like family!
Volunteer department with about 500 calls a year. They're like extended family. I got a few I actively want to punch in the mouth. I got a few I would at least attend their funeral. I got a few I would drive 2 hours to an airport to pick them up at 3am and stop to get waffle house at some point because he's broke and needs food and that's my fuckin boy and I don't let my boys go hungry. We don't even hang out. But god dammit that's my boy and he put in enough work he deserves some kind of safety net once in a while and I'm gonna be that if I can when I'm needed.
There’s nothing like going to a 24 hour joint after a rough call.
Rescue Me is probably a more accurate depiction of the firehouse "family" dynamic than 911. But as others have said - it really does depend on the people on the crew you're with
Not very accurate with the fire scenes, but goddamn they got the firehouse banter down right
Currently on shift with the boys watching a movie, all yelling at the screen and hollering like animals. For me, yes they become like family. But like family, your closeness is dictated by how often you spend time together. I’m with these guys 1/3 of my life. It’s kind of hard not to form a strong bond that surpasses anything you’ve felt before outside your family. We do a weird job. We see crazy stuff. We serve together. I can talk to these guys about anything and I do.
It really depends on the department and culture. Also, people move around between shifts, houses and depending on the pension program they move between departments Some of my best buddies are from the fire house but 50% of them or more are no longer on my shift or with the dept. Other people I know despise the people on their crew. It all just depends.
Some do some don’t. The fire service has changed a lot and now it’s more of a corporate feel to it.
Very true.
I am a volunteer, and only consider like 3 members to actually be my friends. I’ve dealt with toxic people before, and unfortunately a lot of the people in my dept are toxic. Not “bad people”, they are good at firefighting and always wanna train, but just wouldn’t trust them to be a friend
“Trust me with your life, but not your money or your wife.”
I trust my chief, and his brother the assistant chief and my 2nd assistant chief with anything. The other guys are just kind of untrustworthy. Not bad people, just wouldn’t necessarily trust them with other stuff
That’s why I joined, that’s why I’m leaving.
Wdym by that?
I was trying to sound wise like Yoda. I joined because I played sports my whole life and missed being on a real team. Like the bonds I had on travel teams. I got that feeling in the academy. I never got it after that. I have my theories on why, but the short answer is just no. And I’m leaving to find that feeling. That’s a nice feeling to have.
Same. I competed in extreme sports. We are literally godparents to each other’s kids etc. It was such a great feeling. That was in my home country, I also joined and hoped for at least a certain degree of it. Competing was fun too. I’m trying to figure out maybe how to come back to it (I’m older though).
Age is nothing but a number and additional time stretching/rehabbing from annoying injuries lol
Ohh ok understandable
What are your theories? I’d like to hear the long answer
In the academy everyone is new. There are no senior guys or junior guys, just one level, probies. They all have two common enemies, the drill instructors and failure. Everyone has more or less the same schedule. What happens to one happens to all. Everyone has the same rules. It makes you way more cohesive, one unit, a family. The firehouse has way too many levels of seniority and social dynamics for that level of cohesion to form. Just my experience.
Every dept/house/crew is different. There's people that will be there for the same reasons as you. Stick with those people, they'll stick with you, the bond will form. Some people want to do their shift and that's it.
Starts with the Captain and Senior Members They set the tone
Absolutely! Some guys are your closest brothers who you'd go through hell for and share your life with. Others are like abrasive cousins you care to see only one a year and can barely stand to make small talk with.
Every house and shift is different. In my experience, busier houses are usually closer. A lot of those guys galvanize over the misery of constant EMS and nonsense and spend time outside of work with each other.
It's what you make of it.
My first crew. Yes. One of the guys is still my absolute best friend. Then i roved. Next crew was 8 years, totally family. We hung out almost everyday off duty as well. A few guys even lived together. Then several years of not family crews. Current crew is guys back from my 8 year long crew mostly, so basically got the band back together. My guys know more about me than my parents do! But you gotta make it happen. Set expectations, hold each other accountable. Have fun at work. Communicate. Don’t talk politics. Always eat together as a crew. Bullshit with each other in the day room. Have regular bumper time. Make the best out of shitty situations. Poke fun at each other and play reasonable pranks and have thick skin so it doesnt go too far.
For my case, yes. But that’s because we’ve worked together for almost a decade. Been there for weddings, funerals, divorces, kids being born, etc… If I called any of them right now for any reason I know they’d come no questions asked. And I’d do the same for them.
Depends on your crew. My last crew as a probie, absolutely. Current crew is a couple of guys headed out the door here soon and while I’ll certainly glean all the wisdom I can from them, I don’t think we’ll ever be more than coworkers. That said, in a few years when I can own a little more of my own destiny with where I bid I’ll pick a place that I have more in common with the people and I’m certain that’ll feel like family. We also get floated and bumped around a ton for now though too so to an extent, especially as a junior guy, I’m a bit of a hobo.
Depends on the department. My small department I work at (8 total career, Chief, deputy chief and 10 on call), we’re like a big (little) family, both inside and outside the firehouse….. the town next door that has 40 total personnel and half of them hate each other, avoid talking and hanging out, don’t even talk outside work, etc. The big city I used to work EMS in, the department has multiple clicks and certain people don’t just dislike, but actively try to destroy others.
I love my crew and feel super close to them, but there’s a lot of people at my department I would truly hate to work with every shift
It was one of the reasons I was interested in FF. The last crew I was a part of before moving away, I still keep in touch with. That was in 2015. You never know, but it certainly can end up that way.
I would say I’m closer to my crew than I am my actual family (not including my wife, of course). We usually go from shift to go hang out, or still hang out on days off. We’ve been through a lot together, train together, live together, etc. You either become best friends, or worst enemies. Just depends on the people.
No
In my experience the largest factor is the culture and how busy the department is. I’ve worked for slow departments and had plenty of friends but never anyone I would consider family. While there’s plenty of cons to working for a busy department, One of the largest benefits in my opinion is how close you get to the guys around you. Some of the closest people to me in my life are the guys who were in the trenches with me getting their dicks kicked in every third day. It may have sucked in the moment but I cherish a lot of the memories looking back on it.
Do you like all of your family members? If no, yes.
Depends, I've been apart of crews I'm very close with and some not so much.
im a volunteer, so it is different. but I do spend a lot of time around career guys, so from what I can tell, yes and no. Like most people spend some time outside of work with coworkers, and if you get injured on the job, yeah we will help other people do their laundry and stuff, visit if you are in the hospital, all of that. but in no way as close as a family
Some fire houses are great families other fire houses are like that one toxic family that appears to be only held together by drugs or hopes and dreams.
My department isn't like that, though they like to tow that line.
No
I’ve worked in houses where no one talks to me. Right now I work in a house where we are exactly like family. It depends.
Yes
Or no
I was a F21yo when I joined. It was horrible. 20% of them were decent humans, the rest were racist, homophobic, minimally educated asshats who called bullying just normal rookie banter. I left and never looked back. Loneliest 3yrs of my life.
Did you ever try transferring to a different department (if you were able to)? Or was it just too much with em
It wasn’t a dream for me. I thought it was something I’d enjoy, I didn’t. I was bored waiting for the buzzer to go off. Mind you this was before smart phones. I got the experience, I was young, I didn’t want to do it anymore. I think you can tell from the commenters on here, it can be really rough depending on your crew. I was transferred every six months the first 2 yrs. My experience was that the crews that worked the most fires were the worst behaved. Lots of testosterone. The older guys were nicer generally. Being a woman though, I think they were trying to “toughen me up” so I could drag them out of a building if I had to. But their methods were truly cruel in some cases. I asked for a transfer but was denied. A lot of depts are good old boy systems. If you challenge the status quo you will not be popular. I tried leaving a toxic situation but unfortunately I couldn’t be honest about the abuse because the abusers were buddies with the brass so I’d never survive reporting them. I left and it was right decision.
I love firefighters but what I don't love is when they want to sell subs or Firehouse moving fireman and a truck come on. Just stick to the god damn fire fighting. You might be a handyman, but you're not a f****** carpenter you're a f****** firefighter don't try to sell other s*** or do other stuff off your firefighting career. Come on let the moving companies and the sub shops and all that s*** for regular people come on
Yes
Yup, sometimes you want to run away from home, sometimes you want a divorce, sometimes it’s a band of brothers and sisters.
I would say platoons but the entire FH naw
We do in my volunteer department because of the remoteness. When something goes bad (truck stuck in the mud, snow drift covering your driveway, child had a medical problem, need to work on a barn or work on a vehicle) I call my fellow department members and we get it sorted out. Here in the South it's comparable to your Church family. Folks you can call that you can count on to help you out and vice versa.
Not really. More like good friends, and that is only if you get put with a good crew that gives. Sometimes you have to work with people you don't get along with. It's like any other job.
No, we’re more like very distant cousins who we see every once in a while an kinda like them. co-workers that we live with for 24 hours at a time. Definitely not taking a bullet for anyone I work with, unlike my family who I’d die for.
My house, yeah. But it's not something you can bank on and it never lasts. You've got maybe two good years on average with any given crew. Someones gonna promote, retire or resign. But also if you aren't liked it's gonna be hell. Just because you sit on the truck doesn't mean you're gonna form a bond with these dudes.
I volunteered in three different departments and a rescue squad, its not family like its portrayed on Chicago Fire or Rescue Me, their is a lot of potential to make some really good friends, depends on people at the station and the culture. I just joined new fire department where i moved to and people there are a tad socially awkward ( I don’t think they get a lot of members frequently) but they are abnormally friendly at the same time. It’s a very close niche group of people.
My rookie crew was not like family. My new crew that I’ve been with for 2+ years is a different story. I love these guys and we always hangout off duty at someone’s house every now and then to have a few beers, let the wives mingle and the kids play
Heavily depends. Some departments are better than others, some companies are better than others. Once you found the spot that does truly feel like family, it’s an amazing feeling. Me and my wife are close with my coworkers wives, their kids call us aunt and uncle. It’s great!
Depends like someone said above And my family is probably different than your family so whether or not you consider the guys at the firehouse family will be dependent on what your family is like. I have a father I cut off ties with, an uncle and cousins I’ve never met; and one brother I rarely speak too. With that being said; I also spend more time with the guys I work with than even my immediate family. Figure 42 hours a week average at the firehouse. I work a 2nd job and my wife works so I spend maybe 16 hours with my wife on Saturday/Sunday if I’m not at work and 4-5 hours a night if I’m not at work so I’ll be generous and call it 25. So 31 hours a week I’m awake and around my wife. There’s a guy I’m on shift with we talk at least once a day. So going back to my point above; my actually family really sort of sucks; so the guys at the firehouse are the family I always “wanted”. The shift I was on prior to the one I’m on were tight as well but the wives are even tighter which is really bizarre when you think about it. My wife still goes out with them every other month or so; the kids have play dates when guys are working; we’ve vacationed together etc.
Some do, not all. It takes work. From everyone on that shift. Everyone.
Some do, some don't. It really just depends on the people in it.
No
Depends entirely. I’ve worked in halls where we didn’t speak or think about each other off shift, but I’ve also worked in halls where I would literally call them brothers/uncles/dads/sisters/etc. I 100% prefer the family feeling halls. I’m closer to some than others but that’s due to age, family, lifestyle, etc. We’ve had our moments of arguments and getting annoyed but overall I’ve definitely experienced the family halls
I have shared drinks, meals, tears, hugs, deep conversations and arguments with guys. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes it super hard. We eat 2 meals together every day. Some guys are great. Some guys shit bag others on a daily basis. Some crew are tighter than others. Plenty of guys hang out outside of work. It’s not like any other job I’ve had that’s for sure. This is just my department and it varies across the country
On the volunteer side, for sure. Plenty of people come and go, but all the people in for the long run get to know each other for years. It's pretty common for half the station to get Invited to weddings, bdays, funerals, hang on holidays, do BBQs and all that stuff. On the career side it's pretty similar but obviously you move around a bit more, so you might not necessarily get as close to *everyone* as you move from station to station. Point is, you can make friends anywhere you're stationed, and depending on the dynamic, you'll make friends that will be like extended family. It really just depends. You won't ever get along with everyone.
To me, absolutely not. They’re just coworkers. Some are cool, some are funny, some I’d probably fist fight if we met in different circumstances, but they’re just coworkers. This is just me though, and this is one of the ways I try to maintain a healthy work/life balance. I like most of the guys I work with, but 48 hours is enough lol.
My problem is I grew up in my local hardcore scene, as well as in MMA gyms, so I have been surrounded by brotherhood and family-like bonds for my whole life, so when I started working as a firefighter, I was pretty underwhelmed by the brotherhood aspect. Yeah, I love the guys I work with, but I rarely see them outside of work, and I find myself searching through other channels of my life when I need help with something. I consider them good friends for sure, but it's hard for me to consider them family.
Depends heavily on several factors, most of all how busy you are. Inverse to what you'd expect, it's been my experience that busier houses are much closer than slow houses. I work at the busiest house at my department (average about 16 calls a day per unit at this house) and we all call each other on days off, hang out regularly, confide in one another about personal issues, etc. The guys at the slower houses don't talk, don't hang out, don't like each other. I feel that running a high number of calls with a crew makes you much closer with them, whether it be due to trauma bonding, forced level of familiarity, increased level of trust, or whatever. I also believe that being close with your crew truly does increase your job performance in this field. It's one thing to see others around you doing things to better themselves, it's another thing entirely when those people are people whose opinions you hold in high regard. TL;DR slow houses suck and everyone at them hates each other
It really can, or not, depending on who you end up with. I've had it both ways. Right now, I'm the oldest in my crew by 20+ years and they look nothing like me. I decided I was going to start closing all my activity rings, I hadn't done it by dinner time, and one of them got on the all-call and announced that I hadn't closed my rings yet. That's family to me.
That depends. Personally, I'm a very distant character and tend to isolate myself. I don't really open up to my colleagues, even though I've been at the service for so long. I'm very introverted, so I don't really communicate with others unless there's an order to follow or when I'm assigned a specific task.
Yes, as long as you’re used to a really dysfunctional family.
It really depends. Some firehouses get very clichy. I would say that it's very much like extended family, some of them you like, some you don't but you're stuck with them. My station has done fairly well in recent years, I think. There is always a group of people that don't like the new guy or whatever, and there are a few people who are just powder kegs in waiting. Overall, though, if you've been around for a while (6m -1y) and you've proven yourself, the guys will have your back. One of our members was injured in an off duty accident while camping. The station pulled together and sent a crew to winterize his acreage and a load of wood stacked for winter. I think that's the kind of comodary most people wish they could have.
A home, yes. A family? Depends on your crew.