What to Ask Before a Teenager Volunteer Firefighter Joins
Your teenager came home asking to join the fire department. You don’t want to answer yes or no on a gut reaction, and that’s a sound instinct. Maryland sets ground rules for any teenager volunteer firefighter, and Reese has published a handful of facts about its own process. What a minor does on a call and who’s responsible for them don’t have published answers yet. This post covers what’s on record and gives you a list to take to the station.
What Should Parents Ask Before Saying Yes?
Six questions cover most of the ground, and the station is the only place that can answer the biggest ones.
- What will my teenager do on a call, and what stays off limits until age 18?
- Who is responsible for my teenager at a scene, and who do I call afterward?
- How many hours should our family plan on in the first year?
- What happens when a call comes during the school day or on a school night?
- What training and protective gear come before a first live call?
- What happens if my teenager decides to step back?
Some of these have partial answers further down. Where Reese has written rules for members under 18, ask for a copy.
What Does Maryland Law Say About a Teenager Volunteer Firefighter?
Maryland lets a minor do hazardous volunteer work in a fire company starting at 16, once four conditions are met together. They come from Section 3-203 of the state’s Labor and Employment Article. That section covers volunteer fire departments and rescue squads.
| Condition | What the statute requires |
|---|---|
| Age | The minor is at least 16 |
| Training | The minor has completed, or is taking, a course on firefighting or rescue |
| Consent | A parent, or a person standing in the parent’s place, consents in writing |
| Timing | The work happens outside the school hours set for that minor |
The law stops at entry requirements. It doesn’t say which tasks a minor can take on at a fire scene. It doesn’t say who supervises them either. Each department fills that gap with its own rules, which is why Reese’s answers matter so much.
What Will a 16- or 17-Year-Old Do on a Call?
Reese’s published material says membership starts at 16 and includes live calls after training. It doesn’t describe different duties for members under 18.
What Reese Has Put in Writing
Reese’s Junior Firefighter Program covers ages 12 to 15 and sticks to non-hazardous roles. At 16, a young person can apply for regular membership. That brings the full training path, standby shifts, and live calls. New members train before they take a call, and anyone who rides the apparatus (the trucks) passes a physical first. Reese’s posts don’t describe any extra rules for a regular member who is still a minor.
The federal government has studied why that matters. In 2024, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reported that it had investigated eight incidents involving junior firefighters ages 14 to 17 since 2000. Five ended in the death of a junior firefighter on duty. NIOSH told departments to write standard operating procedures (SOPs, the written rules a department runs on). Those rules should spell out what junior members may and may not do. NIOSH also called for the right protective equipment on every junior member.
What Only the Chief Can Answer
Reese hasn’t published what a member under 18 does at a scene, who supervises, or how a school night changes the picture. Each fact below leaves a question open, and the chief is the person to put it to.
| What’s published | What to ask the chief |
|---|---|
| Regular membership starts at 16, with live calls after training | Which tasks can a member under 18 take on at a scene, and which are off limits? |
| Riding members pass a physical first | Does a member under 18 ride on every call, or are some calls off limits? |
| Maryland requires a firefighting or rescue course | Which course does Reese require, and can a member take calls while still in it? |
| Nothing published on supervision | Who is responsible for my teenager at a scene, and who do I call afterward? |
Get Reese’s limits for members under 18 before you decide anything else, because every other answer depends on them.
How Do the Hours Fit Around School?
Reese puts a first year at 300 to 400 hours, counting training, drills, and standby shifts. That’s the general figure for new members, and the station hasn’t published a separate one for anyone under 18. The department asks members to show up, and keep showing up. In year one, that adds up to 300 to 400 hours.
School adds its own limits. Maryland keeps a minor’s volunteer fire work outside school hours. A call that comes in during class leaves a gap, and the station should say how it handles that. Company meetings run on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 7:30 PM, and they’re closed to non-members, parents included. Ask whether a member under 18 is expected to attend, since a Tuesday night is a school night.
Ask the station for a sample month of training, drills, and standby shifts, then lay it next to your teenager’s school calendar.
What Do Parents Sign Before the First Shift?
Maryland requires a parent’s written consent before a minor does hazardous volunteer fire work. Reese hasn’t published the form it uses for that. What Reese has published is the path an application follows.
- Submit an application and watch for an email with next steps.
- Complete the background check Carroll County requires of every applicant.
- Sit for an interview at the station.
- Go before Reese’s Board of Directors.
- Face a vote by the full membership.
The county’s background check policy took effect April 1, 2025. It covers anyone applying to join a fire company in Carroll County. It doesn’t mention applicants under 18, so ask how it applies to your teenager. Ask, too, where the consent form fits in that sequence, who signs it, and what it covers.
Read the consent form before your teenager submits an application, and ask about anything it leaves out.
Bring Your Questions to Reese
Maryland sets four conditions for a minor in a fire company. Reese adds a path of its own, with training, a background check, a physical for riders, a board review, and a membership vote. The gaps are the limits on a call, who supervises, and how school nights work. Only the station can fill them, so take your six questions to Reese and talk them through before you decide.
You can call the non-emergency line at 410-848-7172, email info@reesevfc.org, or reach out through Reese’s contact page. The station is at 1745 Baltimore Blvd in Westminster, MD 21157. Reese has protected this community for more than 75 years, and the next 75 depend on families who feel sure about the yes they give.
