Well I am currently a full time firefighter/paramedic IAFF. My second job is flying i am able to balance out my schedule to work two full time jobs. Firefighting was my first choice job and will always be my job depending on what my flying job will do. Let me tell you a little more about it. The work schedule is great I work 24 on 48 off then 24 on then 4 days off. I will have a full pension and insurance when I retire. I work on a ladder co and ambulance. I do half my month on the ladder then the other on the ambulance/rescue. I have a bachelor degree and am licenced as a paramedic. (about 3 years school time in all). I work in the big house and we have 8 guys floating around. All of them are great and would trust them with my life( and I do). There is a lot of goofing off and we all make fun of each other non stop. Out of a 24 hour shift we laugh most of it. I get paid to sleep(some times). However there are inherent dangers of the job. Unlike when I go to my second job, if I find something wrong with my plane I don't fly. When your officer orders you to do something you do it. The ambulance is probably the hardest part of the job. You deal with every thing from I have toe pain(yes this is a call I really went on once) to messy deaths. Kids die and people that you know will never breath again. However every once in a while you get to see life brought in to this world. The fire department has changed over the years as more of a problem solving department. Just when you thought you scene it all, you haven't. You have to be able to jump from a dead sleep to full dressed with 100 extra pound of gear on and expected to be as nimble as a 16 y/o gymnast. Lot of sleepless night and lost days. However the pay and bennies are great. I made 100k just with firefighting alone last year and I am only a firefighter by rank.