Firefighter Jobs
 

I found an article in a website titled www.unemployementality.com. It was regarding applicants for Firefighter positions with the city of San Francisco. The article claimed that there were 1200 applicants for 200 jobs that started out at $68,0000 per year. Not bad odds for a job that pays that well. Most likely the average applicant has a high school diploma and an EMT.

I was a county firefighter for a while a long time ago and wish that I had stayed.

Skyhigh

Firefighting is a great job.

One day on two days off, with vacation leave, kelly days you can expect to work about 100-105 days a year! 260 or so days a year at home!! Around where I live they make about $75,000 with great bennies and pension.

My uncle was a firefighter in Racine, WI (between Chicago and Milwaukee) He enjoyed it and would say - oh its great! I get to break down someones door with an ax, walk in - destroy everything in sight and spray a high pressure hose all around, and they thank me for it!! and I don't even clean up! - Then again the job wore him out and made him lose his trust in people. He always talked about seeing the negative side of society and people at their worst, When I visited him one summer he was giving me a tour of the station with they got called out to a shooting where a 10 year old accidentally shot his friend in the back seat of their car while their mother was getting grocerys :eek: He talks about how he "locks up" in big crowds and I can't blame him for it after all his dealings with societys ills. So yeah - pro's AND cons.

My uncle is a fire chief and he does have an awesome schedule. Works 8 24 hour periods a month and can take one of those days off paid for personal reasons! Plus he makes around 120k...he has been a fire fighter for over 30 years! Not a bad gig if you can get into it, but its more of a who you know than what you can do.

Let’s all go be firefighters!:D

Don't forget about the challenges of being a firefighter in California. We have nasty wildfires that occur in hurricane-force Santa Ana winds and near zero humidity. Most wildfires are fought by firefighters from all over the state. Last fall I remember seeing fire trucks from the City of Davis (near Sacramento) during the fires in Orange County in Southern California. So no matter where in the state you work, you are likely to be called up when we have a major wildfire, which seems to happen every year now.

I did just field a call from a headhunter about several accounting positions, one of which is with a major homebuilder. Their business is down more 60% this year, but they are still adding to their finance ranks...

Financing you would think wouldn't be doing well, buy my cousin just switched to another accounting firm and is making over 100G's. Yes she has been at it for awhile so you just can't walk into those jobs, but according to her firms are hiring because clients want more clarification/accouting of expenditures(sign of the tight budget times I guess).

As for firefighters fighting wild fires. The gym I used to go to I met a Firefighter who said they loved that stuff. It was overtime pay and they were out of the firehouse getting paid overtime even when they were hanging out in the mountains waiting for firefighting assignments(like sitting ready reserve but getting paid overtime). Obviously alot harder and dirtier anyday than flying a plane for sure. But probably worth looking into if people don't mind the smoke, dirt and near death experiences...

The pay sounds good. However, how far does $68K go in San Francisco?

probably not very far. Hence, anyone that I know that doesn't make six figures that lives up there lives either south in San Jose or further.

My older brother became a fireman when he was 19. Retired a few years back at 50 or just before. Has 2 pensions, one of which he just sticks into savings each month. Really wishing I'd become an air traffic controller right out of college.

My brother is a FF/Paramedic in Northern VA. Best job you could every have. I did it for 2 years, I loved it, but the department I worked for was small and pay was low. Bigger departments make good money and benefits. Schedules vary, on average 10 days a month.

Average day is like flying, very boring with moments of excitement. It was always fun driving a big red truck making lots of noise :D

The best part of the job is the brotherhood. You work and live with the same guys. They become a second family.

One day a fellow pilot was over at my house helping me dismantle a car so we could sell the parts on craigslist and make a little extra money. My neighbor - 50 years years old and a retired firefighter -rode by on his Harley, on his way to enjoy his day off. He stopped and laughed at us a little.

As he rode off my friend and I looked at each other, both of us covered in grease up to our elbows on what should have been our day off, and realized that we screwed up: Here we were, "professional" airline pilots having to part out cars on our days off for extra money. And even if everything in our career worked out perfectly we would have to work until we are 65, will have no pension, and probably no medical coverage.

In my town the newspaper is a little upset that the firemen will be getting a 7.5% raise this year.

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.

I'm probably showing my age by posting this. Enjoy! :D

YouTube - Emergency! Theme Song

I was pretty excited when I saw this thread.

I used to be a full-time firefighter, but decided that I wanted to be an airline pilot more (I must have been drinking that night!).

I love both of the jobs. I am still a current EMT-P. I have been out of the fire service for about 9 years. I still have the helmet hanging on my wall (and not washed, of course!).

I, unfortunately, didn't have a whole lot of down time. Between being an Apprentice and having to work the Med Unit 2 out of every 3 shifts (avg of 16 calls in 24 hrs), it is still the greatest job in the world! When people say that all firefighters do is sit around the firehouse - sure, there are times when this happens. But when you go to a working house fire - it is probably the most labor intensive job and I wouldn't doubt it if you put in more hard work in 4 hours than most people do in a week.

Even with all the highjinks and picking on the "probee's," I can honestly say that to this day, those guys at St. #3 are still my family. There isn't anything in this world that these guys wouldn't do for you in a time of need. I remember a funeral of one firefighter's mother - we all went in our Class A uniforms to support him. Its really too bad that the same sentiments do not exist in the airlines.

Regarding competition for the jobs - when I got hired, it wasn't about who you knew. Everyone had to take the civil service exam. They were hiring 40 full-time firefighters and 3,500 took the test. You got credit for a variety of things (10% for living in the city, 10% for being a paramedic, 10% for ex-military, 10% for bacholor's degree, etc). Basically, if you didn't score at leat 105% on the test, you were not competitive. When I received my score, it was out to the 4th decimal place. Depending on where you work, it might be to your advantage to get your Basic Firefighter certificate prior to taking the test (it would be good test prep). However, most of the major full-time departments, put you through their own Fire Academy (which gets you all of your ratings). Plus, its also like boot camp. If you weren't in the military, it would be a good time to practice saying, "Yes Sir. Can I have another?"

If I can provide any more information, don't hesitate to send me a PM.

Nice informative post EE. Just out of curiosity, why did you leave the Fire department? Just information for myself and others who are looking at it. If you had to do it again would you do the same thing, or just stay at the fire department until your pension came to roost and then join the rank of those "liv'n the dream"? Thanks.

I left the FD because I was offered a job at an airline.

If I had to do it all over again - I never would have left the FD. 18 days off a month. Starting pay (in 1997) was $41,000. I would probably be a Captain and/or Battalion Commander now making about $80,000 per year.

Very, very, very secure job. I always said that as long as there are idiots out there, I will always be employed (smoking in bed, drinking and driving, marital affairs where the wife puts a slug in the husband, etc...) My biggest concern was that people would start thinking and acting responsibly.

Not to mention that I would have been able to retire with a full pension at age 52.

That's an awesome retirement right there. And you had +18 days off a month and making pretty good money? Add in the chicks dig it factor and it almost sounds like the pilot bennies at the airlines back in the 60's! LOL

Its awesome to be able to retire in the early 50's. However, I saw a lot of people die within 5 years after retirement (not sure of the correlation, but it seemed to be more than just a coincidence).

And you have to remember that its a lot of wear and tear on your body. Lots of people with blown discs, knee problems, various lung problems, etc. You really have to take precautions to keep yourself healthy (working out is a necessity as well).

Last thing - if you get on with a full-time department - its true what they say. You will eat some of the best food you have ever eaten! I hesitate to say that it was better than Mom's, but it was damn close!

Thanks for posting! Used to love that show - here are 2 more favorites of mine, and yes I am showing my age too!

Hawaii 5-0

YouTube - Hawaii Five 0 Intro

SWAT

YouTube - S.W.A.T.

The truth
 

Out of the guys that retired when I got on the job about 3/6 are dead and 2 others had massive medical problems. The one that nothing happened is now working as a flight medic out west in his 60's good love him. On my group we have a former chef and he is junior so he does all the cooking. I will say one thing the GF can't compete. I will also second keeping your self healthy working out is one of the biggest thing's you can do during the day at my dept. I love the job and will never give it up.

Yeah, with a retirement like that I wouldn't give it up either. With the airlines creeping up the age of retirement and pensions being cut, anyone working won't have to worry about retiring. They'll be forced to work to death... Guess the medical problems/exposure to strenous situations are the downside of being a firefighter.

I'll add this as well, and I think some others will back me up. You don't need to be a professional weightlifter or able to run a marathon to be a firefighter. You have to be in shape, but a lot of the job requirements can be accomplished by knowing HOW to do it rather than having the strength to do it.

I'm only 5'10" and weighed about 145 when I got hired. If can lug a 2 1/2" hotel pack up 4 flights of stairs in full turnout gear with an SCBA, then anyone can do it!

Thought you were going to add, "if you can carry a fully loaded rollaboard and busting at the seams flightcase you too can be a firefighter". LOL

The funny thing is that when I read your response - I could hear Jeff Foxworthy doing his,

"If you carry a fully loaded rollaboard and a busting at the seams flightcase...You might be <able to be> a firefighter!"

LOL!

I like the 5-0 as well. Just the mention of the show and I'll have the theme song stuck in my head for days!! At least it's a good tune. :D

Ur gonna drive whoever your working with on a trip nutz for the next couple of days with those hyms in the cockpit! LOL. The little things on the fun quirks of being stuck in a cockpit with someone on a trip :p

FF's in my neck of the woods start at around 32K. Still better than regional wages...but not much

Not much?
 

Don't forget that they usually do not have to pay for any training or education beyond getting an EMT. They get a nice retirement deal and they also enjoy only working 9 24 hour ****s a month. Wages usually reflect how hard they have to work and at a starting wage of 32K it sounds like they most likely sleep through the night when on duty.

Not a bad gig at all.

I stumbled into a county firefighting job over ten years ago. At the time starting wages were only 1600 per month. My heart wasn't into it so when a flying job came along I left. It was a huge mistake.

Skyhigh