Welcome,      You probably read the short version of how this site was started. It's a pretty simple story. Like most other firefighters out there, I got curious on what other departments were about. I searched the internet looking for as much information on as many departments as possible. I did this for a couple reasons. Mainly just to see how other departments trained. Being the training officer for my Volunteer Deparment I thought this could help me find more ideas. Once I started searching I realized that quite a few sites were hard to find. I knew they were there, but took me forever to find the address.      Hence, the idea for this site was born. I've setup a strict way of getting your site on here for a reason. I needed a way to verify the identify of each department. If I trusted every email that came in I could have people saying they're from a department and they really are not affiliated with that department at all. The idea was suggested that I have the departments submit the information on a business card by mail. I realize anyone can fake a card, but then I have all the information in front of me. If needed, I can easily locate the city hall number online and verify by phone the departments information.      I've added the option of having a picture of your department patch along side your name. I've bumped into a few firefighters over the years that are big into patch trading. Welcome to the online world of patch collecting. Now you can view all the patches submitted by departments that want to have thier patches displayed.      I welcome any comments, suggestions, or ideas. Please click on the "Contact Us" link at the top of this page and send us an email. Thanks, FireDeptsOnline.org