FireGuy

Hey everyone,

This is a great site btw, with a wealth of travel knowledge, so I thought I'd through out an off question.

Fire Departments in Europe? Has anyone toured a firehouse overseas?

I'm travelling to France, Czech, Poland and Hungary in June/July, and would love info on the best way to arrange a tour. It would honestly make my trip to have the chance to check out out a firehouse over there, see their rigs, etc. Here in the States we're fairly laid back on giving tours of our stations. You can just show up and, as long as we're not on a call, we'd be happy to assist. From the research I've been trying to find online, it seems most Depts over there are closely related to the military, so I'm not sure how it would take if a foreigner walked up and started asking questions.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

FireGuy

Canadian Dude

Being a Firefighter is like being a Cop, you can pretty much go in, flash your badge, and start the chatting...its like being in a fraternity, I belong to one and I have friends anywhere in the world I go. Its really a nice feeling, specially if I end up in trouble of some sort. If I were you I would not hesitate to go and visit firehalls in Europe, share stories, techniques, and interests. Chances are you will going out for drinks with the ladies and gentleman in red. As for being a "military related" outfit...I would not care, do it anyway!

Here are couple links for ya that might help you connect with some of your collegues...

Irish Fire Service
Firefighters Meet Up I know you will not be there for this, as it happens in a few days, BUT, great place to link up with some others.

And this one is great...

World Fire Departments

I hope these help help ya out, and thanks for being there when we need help!!!

And I would like to give you a big Travelpunk

__________________
"The father who does not teach his son his duties is equally guilty with the son who neglects them." Confucius
Support Travelpunk.com by Booking Your Hostel Here

FireGuy

Thanks a lot CD! For all the info and the welcome. This really is extremely helpful. I'll be spending hours alone on that world fire department site, that's a cool link. I'll do some research and make sure to write down the addresses of the stations and such, and maybe even bring a couple t-shirts to trade. I'm really getting excited about this trip now.

You're right about the commeraderie, fire service is like one big family. Anyone interested in news in the states, go to www.firehouse.com. It's a good site, but I wish they would post more on international news. It's mostly news from the US.

Canadian Dude

Dude, no worries on that...Thats what this family is all about..helping out other punkers..and now your stuck with this title hanging over your head!!!

Anything you need help with bro, we are here!!!

__________________
"The father who does not teach his son his duties is equally guilty with the son who neglects them." Confucius
Support Travelpunk.com by Booking Your Hostel Here