What is the Urania
Volunteer Fire Department?
The Urania Volunteer Fire Department is a nonprofit
private corporation providing public safety services to the town of Urania
and surrounding area. Its mission is the protection and preservation of
life and property for the people it serves. It is committed to doing so
through the provision of quality cost effective services in the areas of
fire suppression, emergency medicine, hazardous materials mitigation and
other technological and natural disasters.
What Does the Term 'Volunteer'
Mean?
The fire service in the United States has a rich tradition of volunteer
fire departments (or companies) dating back to the days of Benjamin Franklin.
These volunteer fire companies provided fire suppression services through
the time and talent of the members of the community. As time progressed
and some areas grew, the need for full-time (or career) firefighters developed.
This occurred mainly in medium to large cities where the industry and tax
base both required and could pay for a full-time staff. In other areas,
volunteer departments continued to provide quality cost effective service
to their community.
While there are many variations of 'volunteer' departments,
the most common in this area is the on-call completely volunteer departments.
All members of the department, including the Fire Chief, give of their
time when paged out for a fire or any other activity that the fire department
is sponsoring.
The Urania Volunteer Fire Department continues the rich tradition
of volunteerism through extensive involvement in the community assisting
and supporting a wide variety of organizations and events.
You Mean There Are Not
Always Firefighters at the Fire Station?
Correct. With the exception of meeting nights and other work details,
there are not usually firefighters at the fire station. When the Department
is alerted to a call the members of the Department must first respond to
the fire station to pick up their firefighting gear and the fire trucks
(apparatus).
How Are Firefighters Alerted
to Fire Calls?
In the Urania area we are very fortunate to have available the E911
service. E911 (enhanced 911) provides for the automatic routing of all
911 calls to the appropriate police, fire and ambulance dispatch service
providers. For our area,the service provider is the LaSalle Parish Sheriffs
Communications Division located in Jena, Louisiana. When a 911 call is
placed within our service area, it is automatically routed to the LaSalle
Parish Sheriffs dispatch center showing the address of the call and what
police, fire and ambulance agencies should be started. Through the use
of a special voice paging system, the Urania Volunteer Fire Department
is alerted to the call. Upon receipt of a unique coded signal, all of the
Departments' pagers are activated and the fire dispatcher is able to inform
every one of the location and type of incident. At this point all firefighters
(with the exception of some officers who report directly to the incident
scene) respond to the fire station to get their equipment and trucks.
Are Women Allowed to Join the
Fire Department?
Any person satisfying the requirements for a probationary firefighter
is allowed to apply for membership. The Urania Volunteer Fire Department
does not discriminate with regards to sex, race, religion, or any other
protected class. The Department does, however, reserve the right
to select firefighters based on their ability to satisfy the legitimate
business needs of the Department. Included in these needs are the ability
to respond in a timely manner to the station and/or during specific times
of the day (e.g. during the business day of 8 am to 4 pm).
How do I Find Out More About
the Urania Volunteer Fire Department?
Additional information and an application for membership can be obtained
by contacting the Department at the following address
Chief William Strain
Urania Volunteer Fire Department
P.O. Box 339
Urania, La. 71480
Phone: (318) 495-3452
Email: WilliamJStrain@centurytel.net
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