3 alarm fire

Google is your friend. Try "firefighter qualifications education". Payscale would depend on location, of course, but "firefighter pay scale" gives a lot of stats.

Agree with ^^ that some of this info is available online via searches. I'd suggest identifying the specific fire department you're using for your book, then going to their website and drilling down to the hiring requirements page.

I live in Fairfax County, VA, a huge county (1.2 M people), with a fully professionalized fire and rescue force that is supplemented by a small number of volunteer fire stations (yes, even here!). This past spring, I took the Citizens Fire & Rescue Academy, a nine-week program offered by my county's fire department. You might check around to see if one is offered in your area, too. It was a fabulous experience -- we even got to put out a fire (simulated, of course) at their fire academy, all of us in full firefighter gear. It was a lot harder than it looks -- the force of that water coming out of a fire hose is unbelievable! My respect for our firefighters is off the charts.

Don't know how Fairfax's requirements for new hires and for continued employment compare to other departments, but you can check them out here. The process includes a background check, polygraph, med and psych exams -- lots of stuff. Interestingly enough, while candidates have to be at least 18 years old, there is no upper limit on age. Several years ago, they had a cadet who was in his mid-50s -- he passed all the tests and is working for the department still! They also told us that a lot of their candidates are coming in with college degrees and experience with other departments either as firefighters or EMTs. (Even those who have worked in other fire departments have to go through their fire academy to make sure they understand the "Fairfax way".)

The job is pretty physically demanding, so part of the hiring process for our fire department includes a challenging physical ability test. You can see details of it here in this booklet. Not only do candidates have to pass the test, but each year all firefighters have to retake the test and pass, including those who are in management positions. Reasoning is that if there is ever a huge fire emergency that requires all hands on deck, everyone -- every single person at a scene -- has to be physically able to help fight that fire.

Good luck with your research!

Our local FD (largish city, all paid) requires applicants to be between 19 and 32 years old, be residents of the city and pass a civil service exam. They start out at 60k and most of our more experienced firefighters make six figures, although that's due to the high cost of living, the residency requirement and a powerful union.

Prep guide for the written and the physical test.

Post recruitment you go through sixteen weeks of academy training and then get assigned to a firehouse.

First off, there's not a lot of difference between volunteer and full-time, other then the hours you work and the pay scale.

Second is that probably still the best book on the subject is REPORT FROM ENGINE COMPANY 82 by Dennis Smith. But there's tons of material out there.

Different departments have different requirements, and each state has slightly different requirements as well. For many of the certifications, you do it once and you're done. However, for firefighter, there are usually a couple of levels, and then some command stuff that most firefighters take. If you're an EMT, you have to take something like 48 hours training every two years and take a test.

Then there are a bunch of esoteric certifications, like Haz-Mat, radioactive, farm rescue, brush fire, water rescue, and on and on and on. Some of these certifications last forever, others need to be renewed.

Most departments will run some of these classes, while others might be more regional. You'll probably do some of this on your own time.

Typical schedule for a firefighter might be 24 hours on, 48 off. During their 24 hours on, from 8 AM to 4 PM for instance, would be official time, where you do 2 hours cleaning the station, 2 hours checking the truck's equipment, 2 hours training, and 2 hours eating, bathroom, and things like that.

But virtually every day you're going to be doing some training, run by the truck's officer. That's because you've got to have these automatic responses, ranging from knowing exactly where Smith Street is, to using an SCBA. You can't think about this stuff in an emergency.

Firefighters tend to be an unusual personality type. For instance, I've never lost a cellar hole or had a patient die in the rescue. They're either dead when I get there, or the doctor kills them off. Firefighters know that everything resolves.

Many firefighters, as well as their fire department job, work part time.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

jclarkdawe said:

Second is that probably still the best book on the subject is REPORT FROM ENGINE COMPANY 82 by Dennis Smith.

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Holy Heck! I read that as a kid and I've always remembered certain scenes, but never could remember the title. I had no idea it was a well known book, it was just one of those things I read among all the other stuff.

I'm going to order a copy now.

I don't know that it's a well known book except for in the fire service. Dennis Smith is still known within the fire service, and started up FIREHOUSE magazine. He also wrote a book on 9/11.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

Well, in a moment without modesty I would recommend my own book: "24 Hours At A Time: Life As A Dallas Firefighter-Paramedic." I retired 2 years ago so the contents are not too far out of date...

I'd also suggest going to your local fire station and asking.

I've never asked an author question, but we've been to our closest fire station numerous times, sometimes checking on car seats, sometimes asking about smoke alarm advice. Even before I had kids with me (they always give out the plastic fire hats, if they have them in stock) they've always been very friendly and willing to help. I would imagine that introducing yourself as an author and asking if they have time to answer a few questions would get you a lot of what you want to know.