I see volunteer fire-fighters risking their lives and getting paid squat, while they could be at the least defending their own homes, and for what purpose?
Armchair Critic,
Well, the way the situation looks from my viewpoint is that staying home protecting your home is not as exiting & glorious as being flown to another State with TV cameras rolling etc which, I think, is the whole purpose.

No Flak ? It must be true then !

Wow ! This is really surprising as I expected tonnes of Flak for my assertion. Am I really right ?

Indiviual,

You could be partly right there has been an apparent element of 'Gung Ho' in some fire fighting groups.

Did see one up-market fire service ute marked "Command Resource Vehicle" or some such, which struck me as being a bit upmarket from the days when we considered ourselves well equipped if we had leather beaters instead of hessian bag tied to a handle (usually a hastily cut sapling).

is Mise,
unfortunately and, at the expense of the community many such services have been hijacked by people desperate to be somebody important, even if it's nothing more than wearing a uniform.
People have lost focus on what being a decent human being & citizen is all about.
The monetary cost of such egotism is blowing emergency services out of the water. Then, there's the being a Hero pursuit. All these traits amount to reduction in effectiveness & outcome.
If people really feel the need to be 'somebody" they should learn, study & get experience before they think they should be put onto a pedestal !