Probably get shot for this but......

[Buckster]

Anyone know of any good online forums for firefighters in Canada? Not interested in ads, people looking for jobs etc....

[Roadwarrior]

Rotflmao........:d

[dentedhead]

Anyone know of any good online forums for firefighters in Canada? Not interested in ads, people looking for jobs etc....

Well played my son!!

Dentedhead

[irsqyu]

Anyone know of any good online forums for firefighters in Canada? Not interested in ads, people looking for jobs etc....


:congrats::congrats::congrats::congrats::congrats:

[Buckster]

just askin....

[Buckster]

just checked in......10 out of 10 new posts are jobseeker related lol

[dentedhead]

just checked in......10 out of 10 new posts are jobseeker related lol

Its either job seekers,same daft questions that can easily be found with a minimal amount of effort or some other stoopid shit. FH used to be a place that always had good threads going on tactics, equipment Jasons in depth scenarios etc.

Im gonna hurt some feelings here but it then became pretty much the domain ofte POC and volly guys.It seemed that whenever a FT guy tried to defend his or her position FC would wade in and lock threads delete posts etc.We surmise it likely due to him knowing that they were his customer base for the store.My observation nobody elses.There was a huge blowout with a ton of nasty shit thrown by everyone I was especially nasty to one member in particular who I in turn apologized to and he accepted it.ONe by one we all started leaving,well all but me LOL.Both experienced and educated POC guys and most of the contrbuting full timers.Some guys still kick around or stop in from time to time I personally know several that will not even set foot in here to put it euphiemisticly,thankfully I still talk with many of them in person or through email.....What would old Smasher think about what has happened to the once excellent site that spoke to issues in Canada.

At least I know where to find out about jobs!

Dentedhead

[Buckster]

I dunno, I'm a volly myself and I'm just interested in firefighting discussions with whoever is willing to join in, not 1001 ways to get hired.......and people's feelings will only get hurt if they really value the opinion of the person giving it

[nocomment]

.....and people's feelings will only get hurt if they really value the opinion of the person giving it

Gotta disagree there, i've seen threads go sideways on here when someone reads something they deem to be offensive and then proceed to "snap" for lack of a better word. And it doesn't matter who said it or whether they valued their opinion.

[LFD_FF17]

Yeah I miss the way this place used to be....thankfully I can still talk to most of the people on FB

[couchyfireman]

How about all the resume and cps ads wow!!

[HightowerAcres]

I dunno. I put a firehall.com sticker on my tailgate cuz I like the logo. The sites not bad but the forum is a little dry. Maybe all that's needed is more members? Seems the only thread getting any action is the "jobs".

So firehall.com, you are welcome for the free use of advertising space on my truck.

[dentedhead]

I dunno. I put a firehall.com sticker on my tailgate cuz I like the logo. The sites not bad but the forum is a little dry. Maybe all that's needed is more members? Seems the only thread getting any action is the "jobs".

So firehall.com, you are welcome for the free use of advertising space on my truck.


Point set and match !!

Dentedhead

[mutts252]

How about all the resume and cps ads wow!!

Not to mention the spam website postings that have started in the last week or two... :( I keep flagging the posts, and the moderators don't seem to be doing anything about it.

[Buckster]

Gotta disagree there, i've seen threads go sideways on here when someone reads something they deem to be offensive and then proceed to "snap" for lack of a better word. And it doesn't matter who said it or whether they valued their opinion.

What I mean is......if someone says something offensive to me I couldn't care less.....unless its a person whose opinion I actually valued

[nocomment]

What I mean is......if someone says something offensive to me I couldn't care less.....unless its a person whose opinion I actually valued

Roger that.

[PLGSERTL]

So I've been back for a whole 2 hours and see NOTHING has changed since I left lol... I would have reactivated under my old name, but thought there might be a some newer stuff and go with a newer name. Good to see some familiar names on here (DH still trying to make people cry lol j/k). Buckster I'm up for some discussions anytime Bro!

Ryan

Formerly MFDFF33

[ndvfd_ff33]

So I've been back for a whole 2 hours and see NOTHING has changed since I left lol... I would have reactivated under my old name, but thought there might be a some newer stuff and go with a newer name. Good to see some familiar names on here (DH still trying to make people cry lol j/k). Buckster I'm up for some discussions anytime Bro!

Ryan

Formerly MFDFF33

Nice to see you back Ryan.

[PLGSERTL]

Nice to see you back Ryan.

Glad to see another familiar face, Ryan... How have you been? Still with the Forces out west?

[ndvfd_ff33]

Glad to see another familiar face, Ryan... How have you been? Still with the Forces out west?

I've been good. Wife is due in July with baby #2 so we're pretty excited about that although I'm not looking forward to the long, sleepless nights. I'm still in the forces and still out west. Not sure how much longer we'll be posted here before we move on to somewhere new....hopefully somewhere back east.

How's things with you?

[PFD023]

If some of you are seriously interested in firefighting discussions (outside of hiring) you can try fireengineering.com....they have a "Community" section. You can join a million different discussions or groups.
You can also try vententersearch.com or the Brotherhood of Instructors site/blog or firehouse.com (blog or forum section).

I have the strange feeling that firehall.com is the site that many love to hate....and hate to love....but keep coming back.

[kriand]

If some of you are seriously interested in firefighting discussions (outside of hiring) you can try fireengineering.com....they have a "Community" section. You can join a million different discussions or groups.
You can also try vententersearch.com or the Brotherhood of Instructors site/blog or firehouse.com (blog or forum section).

I have the strange feeling that firehall.com is the site that many love to hate....and hate to love....but keep coming back.

It's Canadian eh!!

[Buckster]

thanks PFD

[FLASHOVER05]

So I need to vent, since this thread popped up I have posted a few threads, mostly event based stuff, and as usual nothing more than people having viewed the thread and not replied. Everytime I check the new posts tab I see more crap about what I need to be a firefighter, go to school or be a firefighter for this and that department.

I HAVE AN IDEA... READ, RESPOND, REMEMBER!!!!

That is all!

[Buckster]

So I need to vent, since this thread popped up I have posted a few threads, mostly event based stuff, and as usual nothing more than people having viewed the thread and not replied. Everytime I check the new posts tab I see more crap about what I need to be a firefighter, go to school or be a firefighter for this and that department.

I HAVE AN IDEA... READ, RESPOND, REMEMBER!!!!

That is all!

lol vent away brother

[kriand]

lol vent away brother

PPV or Vertical:)

[FLASHOVER05]

PPV or Vertical:)

What tell me does this have to do with Toronto Hiring? ;)

[dentedhead]

Seems like regardless of what gets said we arent getting the message across.Check in today,7 new posts........ 6 hiring 1 EMS .....and prolly hiring related judging the name of the poster.

Dentedhead

[Roadwarrior]

We need a feature that we can check a box to "never recieve posts from.."
I'b be the first to check the "Hiring" box...:D

[Berty_409]

If some of you are seriously interested in firefighting discussions (outside of hiring) you can try fireengineering.com....they have a "Community" section. You can join a million different discussions or groups.
You can also try vententersearch.com or the Brotherhood of Instructors site/blog or firehouse.com (blog or forum section).

I have the strange feeling that firehall.com is the site that many love to hate....and hate to love....but keep coming back.

I just started checking out vententersearch.com. I had never heard of it. I've been checking it out for about 15 mins now, what a great site. Very helpfull tips. Good post PFD023. These are the kinds of links they should have on here.

Berty

[PLGSERTL]

We need a feature that we can check a box to "never recieve posts from.."
I'b be the first to check the "Hiring" box...:D

On the brightside we don't get notifications every two minutes about so and so viewing or liking certain Hiring threads... but I agree with you Roadwarrior, I came back hoping to chat with a few people I haven't heard from in years (a lot who had left too) and only to find out that the hiring posts are worse then before!

[Buckster]

PPV or Vertical:)

enough hot air blows through here ya don't need PPV

[dentedhead]

I just started checking out vententersearch.com. I had never heard of it. I've been checking it out for about 15 mins now, what a great site. Very helpfull tips. Good post PFD023. These are the kinds of links they should have on here.

Berty

Why it has SFA about hiring.I also find it odd tat once some of these guys get hired they dont come back and share their new found knowledge

Dentedhead

[LFD_FF17]

IACOJ is a good site, thats where I spend my time now. It is run by guys on the job who check in everyday. Lots of good discussions, every little disagreement isn't shut down. And the guys have a mutual respect for one another. No spamming either, those accounts don't last very long.

[hmckay91]

.I also find it odd tat once some of these guys get hired they dont come back and share their new found knowledge

Dentedhead

+1 Dentedhead

I also find it strange that once most of them are hired they do not come back and contribute (even to say thank you) OR to continue asking questions to learn the trade.

[PFD023]

Well I think that the reason that alot of guys who get on full time don't come back is for the very same reason we are having this discussion.....this website has become (for the most part) a "hiring" website. Since the guys are now full time they have little use for it.....ya I know they don't come back to "share" their "how to get hired knowledge" probably because they don't really care who gets on at that point....they got on and thats all that matters.....they will however care in a few years when they wind up seeing what caliber of candidates they are working with...maybe thats why it seems to be alot of senior career guys who continue to post their thoughts. They've got a vested interest in where their service is going.

Another reason why junior guys don't post all that often is that we junior guys are better left seen.....not heard.....or so we are told....lol.

[carmen]

Phew! Just finished reading this entire thread and at times I felt butterflies in my stomach... Is that a good thing? I think yes! Don't stop just keep going at it...good thread guys! Vent, just don't leave this forum!

[AxeInHand]

I am one of those people that left a couple of years ago, and I have this gut feeling that I strongly going to regret hitting the "forgot my password" button, but here I go.

While I know that it is very annoying when people keep asking the same hiring questions, especially when they could have easily found the information on their own, I think that the hiring portion is really the strongest, and certainly the most vigourous and that attacking it is a mistake.

Before I was hired full-time, I spent a lot of time in the hiring section, and commented on other areas where I thought I could contribute. I stuck around for a while, but I started to notice certain things. Some people would run their mouths, which is easy to do when hiding behind code names, simple conversations or discussions about firefighting would sidetrack into arguments or inside jokes.

One of my pet peeves was when people came across an annoying question, instead of ignoring it, letting it die and moving on they took the time to log in, launch some sort of insult or personal attack, and never took the time to actually help (which would probably have taken less time). The worse part is that as soon as a respected member did it, people who should have leadership roles, everyone else seemed to jump in and it became a crowd mentality - I bet those people don't come back after they get hired to contribute to the site. Intelligence and experience often took a backseat to "postcounts" or time spent on the site (I personally witnessed a situation where a candidate won an argument about tactics over a vetran fire fighter because he had more posts...), and the cliques ran wild.

And if I found a topic about what I was looking for, it was probably old (hey, the haligan has been around for a while, what do you expect), and you risk people jumping on for raising on old topic. Create a new one and the helpful critics would jump on you for not searching. Don't believe me? How many people start with "I already searched for this and didn't find anything so...." How bad does it have to be in order for people to start with a disclaimer?! Where do you think they learned that fear from?

It got to a point where I realized that I could login and ask what everyone else was using for pressure into a jet strainer for department research, wait a couple days for the arguments to end, and then jump to the 2nd last page for the answer (the last page is just people making fun of the hiring section) when I could just go right to the manufacturer. The information I was looking for was buried in layers of BS, and yes, hiring issues made up a large part of it, but the biggest part was all the other BS that some members seemed so very fond of. So rather than fight it, I left.

As for shaping the next generation of recruits, that is true, this site can do that, but I can do it with my own recruits who are on my crew, and they are the recruits that I care the most about. The faceless user "named" "ILoveRescueMe" (if there is one, my apologies) who ends up on a department across the country that does things completely differently than my own I don't care as much about. So I became a T/F instead.

Honestly, the reason I am back is because I am considering moving and am back and looking at the hiring section until I noticed this. The section that is thriving the most, the section with "the next generation," the section that has all those people that you want to stay around and pass on their knowledge, and instead we are here making fun of them and insulting their questions.

I am not surprised that the vitality of the rest of the sections is decreasing, for all the aforementioned reasons. I can get all the firefighting information I want from Fire Fighting In Canada (which bought out FH.com 2 years ago if I remember correctly), Fire Engineering, Fire House, etc. without all the whining, complaining, and critisisms, and I can check out the store without going to the forums.



What do I believe can be done to revitalize this site? I'm not all doom and gloom, and I think there is a lot of potential with this site.

1) Incorporate it into Fire Fighting In Canada, or at least put FFIC content directly to the site. Give people those great training articles to discuss and let them discuss it rather than come up with "on-topic" stuff to talk about - have you ever seen fire fighters stay on topic at work? Probably the best article I ever read was a back to basics article in FFIC about how to hold and advance hoses (hint: if you are holding the nozzle at your hip like just about every picture you've seen you are doing it wrong).

2) Give people something to come for other than the hiring section. There isn't a whole lot of information - like I said, I get that from the articles/magazines, FDIC, etc. I know there are some great people on here, but I don't know them, and I do know people that I don't need a computer to talk to. I need real training material to justify logging in.

3) Loose the anti-hiring / firefighter vs. candidate mentality. That could be a reason why the candidates don't come back as fire fighters. People will only take so much abuse.

4) Liven up the mods. Don't wait for someone to complain about a hiring thread in the firefighting section, move it before people notice and complain. Sure it is high volume, so maybe look at making some of the retired seasoned vetrans lending a hand with some of the housekeeping issues that get everyone so twisted.

5) Get some featured members. Some people with unique or special skills, knowledge or experience. Someone with some serious credibility, who is certified as the real deal by the admin on this site (I saw a user named TommyGavin on here, and I'm pretty sure he's not actually Tommy Gavin, but hey, I've been wrong before). Find a Human Resources expert who deals exclusively in the Fire Services to head up the Hiring Section. Get some instructors from the provincial fire colleges or private fire service colleges to lead Pump Ops, or Curriculum topics. Maybe find a certified Driver Trainer to talk about safe driving, or a Chief Mechanical Officer to discuss EVT topics. How do I know if "ChiefImaBigDeal" know jack-all about forcible entry? I know for a fact that Mark van der Feyst and Andrew Brassard do, so get someone like that on here. Get someone like Fred leBlanc or Mark McKinnon to discuss union issues - maybe they already are (itsnotahobby, is that you???), but maybe they go by "BrothersUnite" instead and I don't even know that they are a credible source.

6) Take a serious look at loosing the code names. People act a lot more responsible and respectful when their reputation is on the line, it is a lot more personable, and credible sources can be taken seriously instead of being overrun by some completely incredulous candidate or fire fighter with verbal diarreaha and a high post count.


Anyways, someone asked a serious question about what can be done to revitalize these forums. These are my insights, you can pick out a thing or to, sleep on it and disagree, or can me an idiot (just know that advances my case!). That is my serious answer, and I hope nobody takes it personally, but those are some of the reasons I left, and some things that might just bring me back if I saw them change! I love a good firefighting resource, hope you guys can turn it around.

Stay Safe.

[alwaysremember]

I am one of those people that left a couple of years ago, and I have this gut feeling that I strongly going to regret hitting the "forgot my password" button, but here I go.

While I know that it is very annoying when people keep asking the same hiring questions, especially when they could have easily found the information on their own, I think that the hiring portion is really the strongest, and certainly the most vigourous and that attacking it is a mistake.

Before I was hired full-time, I spent a lot of time in the hiring section, and commented on other areas where I thought I could contribute. I stuck around for a while, but I started to notice certain things. Some people would run their mouths, which is easy to do when hiding behind code names, simple conversations or discussions about firefighting would sidetrack into arguments or inside jokes.

One of my pet peeves was when people came across an annoying question, instead of ignoring it, letting it die and moving on they took the time to log in, launch some sort of insult or personal attack, and never took the time to actually help (which would probably have taken less time). The worse part is that as soon as a respected member did it, people who should have leadership roles, everyone else seemed to jump in and it became a crowd mentality - I bet those people don't come back after they get hired to contribute to the site. Intelligence and experience often took a backseat to "postcounts" or time spent on the site (I personally witnessed a situation where a candidate won an argument about tactics over a vetran fire fighter because he had more posts...), and the cliques ran wild.

And if I found a topic about what I was looking for, it was probably old (hey, the haligan has been around for a while, what do you expect), and you risk people jumping on for raising on old topic. Create a new one and the helpful critics would jump on you for not searching. Don't believe me? How many people start with "I already searched for this and didn't find anything so...." How bad does it have to be in order for people to start with a disclaimer?! Where do you think they learned that fear from?

It got to a point where I realized that I could login and ask what everyone else was using for pressure into a jet strainer for department research, wait a couple days for the arguments to end, and then jump to the 2nd last page for the answer (the last page is just people making fun of the hiring section) when I could just go right to the manufacturer. The information I was looking for was buried in layers of BS, and yes, hiring issues made up a large part of it, but the biggest part was all the other BS that some members seemed so very fond of. So rather than fight it, I left.

As for shaping the next generation of recruits, that is true, this site can do that, but I can do it with my own recruits who are on my crew, and they are the recruits that I care the most about. The faceless user "named" "ILoveRescueMe" (if there is one, my apologies) who ends up on a department across the country that does things completely differently than my own I don't care as much about. So I became a T/F instead.

Honestly, the reason I am back is because I am considering moving and am back and looking at the hiring section until I noticed this. The section that is thriving the most, the section with "the next generation," the section that has all those people that you want to stay around and pass on their knowledge, and instead we are here making fun of them and insulting their questions.

I am not surprised that the vitality of the rest of the sections is decreasing, for all the aforementioned reasons. I can get all the firefighting information I want from Fire Fighting In Canada (which bought out FH.com 2 years ago if I remember correctly), Fire Engineering, Fire House, etc. without all the whining, complaining, and critisisms, and I can check out the store without going to the forums.



What do I believe can be done to revitalize this site? I'm not all doom and gloom, and I think there is a lot of potential with this site.

1) Incorporate it into Fire Fighting In Canada, or at least put FFIC content directly to the site. Give people those great training articles to discuss and let them discuss it rather than come up with "on-topic" stuff to talk about - have you ever seen fire fighters stay on topic at work? Probably the best article I ever read was a back to basics article in FFIC about how to hold and advance hoses (hint: if you are holding the nozzle at your hip like just about every picture you've seen you are doing it wrong).

2) Give people something to come for other than the hiring section. There isn't a whole lot of information - like I said, I get that from the articles/magazines, FDIC, etc. I know there are some great people on here, but I don't know them, and I do know people that I don't need a computer to talk to. I need real training material to justify logging in.

3) Loose the anti-hiring / firefighter vs. candidate mentality. That could be a reason why the candidates don't come back as fire fighters. People will only take so much abuse.

4) Liven up the mods. Don't wait for someone to complain about a hiring thread in the firefighting section, move it before people notice and complain. Sure it is high volume, so maybe look at making some of the retired seasoned vetrans lending a hand with some of the housekeeping issues that get everyone so twisted.

5) Get some featured members. Some people with unique or special skills, knowledge or experience. Someone with some serious credibility, who is certified as the real deal by the admin on this site (I saw a user named TommyGavin on here, and I'm pretty sure he's not actually Tommy Gavin, but hey, I've been wrong before). Find a Human Resources expert who deals exclusively in the Fire Services to head up the Hiring Section. Get some instructors from the provincial fire colleges or private fire service colleges to lead Pump Ops, or Curriculum topics. Maybe find a certified Driver Trainer to talk about safe driving, or a Chief Mechanical Officer to discuss EVT topics. How do I know if "ChiefImaBigDeal" know jack-all about forcible entry? I know for a fact that Mark van der Feyst and Andrew Brassard do, so get someone like that on here. Get someone like Fred leBlanc or Mark McKinnon to discuss union issues - maybe they already are (itsnotahobby, is that you???), but maybe they go by "BrothersUnite" instead and I don't even know that they are a credible source.

6) Take a serious look at loosing the code names. People act a lot more responsible and respectful when their reputation is on the line, it is a lot more personable, and credible sources can be taken seriously instead of being overrun by some completely incredulous candidate or fire fighter with verbal diarreaha and a high post count.


Anyways, someone asked a serious question about what can be done to revitalize these forums. These are my insights, you can pick out a thing or to, sleep on it and disagree, or can me an idiot (just know that advances my case!). That is my serious answer, and I hope nobody takes it personally, but those are some of the reasons I left, and some things that might just bring me back if I saw them change! I love a good firefighting resource, hope you guys can turn it around.

Stay Safe.

100% on each and every point.