It takes a special person to fill the boots of a volunteer firefighter. It starts with the desire to help, and the courage to act. It requires dedication, responsibility, hard work and the willingness to learn and accept the challenges of a difficult job. It requires someone who considers respect and appreciation reward enough.
Today’s Bayport Fire Department volunteers are a highly-trained team of men and women who have made an extraordinary commitment to serving those in need. When you join the Bayport Fire Department you will serve a minimum of 1 year as a Probationary firefighter or “Probie” as we affectionately call all new members. During this time period, the probies must successfully complete a nationally recognized firefighter training course provided by the Suffolk County Fire Academy. Firefighter 1, consists of 110 hours of classroom and hands-on training and is followed by a written examination. This is one of the requirements needed to become a Bayport Firefighter. Additionally, probationary members will attend in-house training on Sunday mornings. These classes’ are taught by the Officers and members of the Fire Department and begin at 9 am and last between 2 and 3 hours. You will be certified in the use of Self Contained Breathing Apparatus, CPR, heavy rescue equipment and much more. All of these classes utilize the fundamentals of Firefighter 1 but clearly define the Bayport Fire Departments' best practices for our Department.
At the Bayport Fire Department, we take training seriously. All training is needed in order to provide the best possible service to our community. We demand a lot to ensure that the public gets a lot, and we require that this extensive training be put to good use. While on probation, members are encouraged to attend all Department drills, Company meetings, and Department functions. However, once our probies get a taste of what it feels like to truly make a difference and help people, many probies far exceed the bare minimum. Probation in the Bayport Fire Department is not easy, but things that are worthwhile seldom are.
Once our probies graduate to full-fledged members of the Bayport Fire Department they have the satisfaction of knowing they have achieved their place in our department and have become a part of a long-standing tradition and a legacy of local heroes. The training does not stop here, and all Bayport Firefighters are required to attend many hours of training each year to maintain their status of “active” firefighters.
While training and responding to emergencies take up many hours, there are additional roles we ask Bayport Firefighters to play. There are educational programs and fire prevention class’s we provide to the schools and other community organizations and out bi-annual open house in which the public gets to see demonstrations on fire safety and the equipment we use to protect them.
Of course, parades, funerals, memorial services, fundraising activities, and meetings also become a regular part of one’s life as a member of the Department. New members often find that the Bayport Fire Department can quickly become a home away from home and its members …. another family! And as such, we stand together. We train, work hard, and play together; we learn and grow together; we laugh and mourn together.
Is being a volunteer firefighter for the Bayport Fire Department tough? You bet it is, but to borrow an old slogan from the U.S. Army, it’s the toughest job you’ll ever love! There is nothing that can compare to the feeling of truly making a difference in people’s lives; the feeling of being at your best when things are at their worst; the feeling of being part of something bigger than ourselves; being part of a united family who sacrifices for each other and for those we serve; the feeling of doing a job that not many others are willing to do, not because you have to, but because you want to help. There is a hero inside of all of us, waiting to emerge if just given the chance…. Are you ready to give yourself that chance?
