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 Volunteer
firefighters are a special group of people that protect us and our
property. Even though they are on call 24 hours every day they never
seem to get the recognition they deserve. Maybe because these men
and women are just always there we forget what would happen if they
were not. Take these fire related statistics into consideration:
1. Most of the career
firefighters (74%) are in communities that
protect 25,000 or more people.
2. Most of the
volunteer
firefighters (94%) are in departments that
protect fewer than 25,000 people
More than half are located in small, rural departments protecting
fewer than 2,500 people.
3. In 2008, a total of 104 firefighters were fatally injured while
on duty.
Of these, 42 were career firefighters, 54 were
volunteer
firefighters, and 8 were
no-municipal.
The 2009 U.S.
fire statistics
A fire department responded to a fire every 23 seconds.
One structure fire was reported every 66 seconds.
One home structure fire was reported every 87 seconds
One civilian fire injury was reported every 31 minutes.
One civilian fire death occurred every 2 hours and 55 minutes.
One outside fire was reported every 49 seconds.
One vehicle fire was reported every 146 seconds.
Source:
NFPA
Volunteer firefighters are
just that. Volunteers. That means there is no pay for them. In fact
there are relatively few perks to these volunteer positions. That is
why it is nice to hear about a program that will pay for their
college tuition in full in exchange for their volunteer firefighting
service.
The Community College of
Allegheny county offers an incredible free
tuition incentive.
A
full scholarship can be awarded to those who serve as a volunteer
firefighter for five years. One of the requirements for the tuition
waiver is that the
volunteer firefighter maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average.
Get the
FireVEST scholarship program brochure here.
 From the CCAC website:
PITTSBURGH—Residents of Allegheny County can receive full
scholarships to the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) by
committing to serve with a volunteer fire department for the next
five years. The registration deadline for the spring term is Nov.
15.
A partnership between CCAC and Allegheny County, the FireVEST
program provides scholarships to residents of Allegheny County who
are either current volunteers or who join a volunteer fire
department in Allegheny County. Applicants must apply and be
accepted to CCAC; file for federal and state financial aid; and
complete the financial aid process on time and in its entirety.
Applications for the FireVEST program are available on CCAC’s web
site at www.ccac.edu (search keyword “FireVEST”) or by contacting
the Allegheny County Fire Academy at 412-931-3158, ext. 5.
If awarded a scholarship, the
recipient must meet the following obligations:
* Serve as a
volunteer firefighter for five years in Allegheny County;
* Maintain an acceptable level of service as monitored by his or her fire
volunteer fire department;
* Complete two required courses at the Allegheny County Fire Academy and a
course in first aid and CPR;
* Obtain Firefighter I Certification through the Allegheny County Fire
Academy;
* Maintain a minimum semester grade point average of 2.0 for the duration
of his or her studies; and
* Repay a portion of the scholarship if service or academic requirements
are not met. The FireVEST
Advisory Board will review all applications and other forms to assess
scholarship eligibility and to determine scholarship recipients. Being
accepted into membership of the sponsoring agency (Volunteer
fire company)
and/or being accepted for enrollment at CCAC does not guarantee the
student will be awarded a scholarship under the FireVEST program, nor does
it guarantee acceptance into limited-enrollment CCAC programs. Instead,
the recruitment needs of the sponsoring agencies are the first priority
when selecting scholarship recipients.
More information can be found about this program online.
http://www.ccac.edu/default.aspx?id=151913
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/westmoreland/s_679186.html
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