I totally agree with what you say - I was a FF for 18 years in my local community long ago, trained all the way though Instructor and such and spent a lot of time specializing in vehicle rescue and hazmat as well. I remember the days before airpacks were required for vehicle fires - ugh. Marriage/kids and career caused me to stop - if either of my kids want to do it, I will support it. It was some of the best experiences I've ever had.
as for other than Buicks since I don't have one right now, the project car in my sig has kept me busy for the last couple of weeks, I'm about to turn that over to the wife as a DD. (Anyone want to buy a '05 Volvo XC70 w/36.5k miles?)