Chapter 1
Getting the Lowdown on the Job of Firefighter
In This Chapter
Understanding firefighters’ duties and work environment
Realizing the risks associated with firefighting
Identifying the levels of fire departments’ occupational hierarchy
Pinpointing where to find firefighting jobs
Looking ahead at the occupational outlook for firefighters
Why does a career in firefighting appeal to you? Do you enjoy the physical demands of the job? Do you cherish the opportunity to save a life? Do you like the feeling that your job gives something back to the community? Many career firefighters believe that they didn’t choose the job — the job chose them. Perhaps you’ve experienced a similar calling, or maybe you’re inspired by the good work you’ve seen other firefighters do. Regardless, before you become a firefighter, you need to understand exactly what the job entails.
In this chapter, we give you information about careers in firefighting, such as salaries, employment outlooks, work environments, ranks within fire organizations, and risks associated with the job. Although firefighter exams won’t likely test your knowledge of this information, it’s still important to know what you’re likely to encounter if you plan to make firefighting your career.
Understanding What It’s Like to Be a Firefighter
Firefighting has certainly changed from the early days of bucket brigades and horse-drawn fire trucks. Today’s firefighters must be prepared to not only fight fires but also respond to crises ranging from traffic accidents and medical emergencies to natural disasters, water rescues, and sadly, even terrorist attacks. Before entering a career in the fire service, it’s important that you understand what firefighters do and where they work, as well as the risks associated with the job.
Knowing your role
Movies and television would have you believe that you’ll spend most of your time tracking down serial arsonists or racing out of a burning building, an unconscious victim draped over each shoulder, just as the structure behind you explodes into a huge fireball. Although such scenarios do happen on occasion, you’ll more often respond to rush-hour fender benders and activated fire alarms caused by overcooked pot roast. The following sections cover some of the roles you may play, both at the station and away.
Responding to emergencies
As a firefighter, you’ll be responsible for a number of duties. Most obvious among those duties is fighting fires, but you’ll also respond to a variety of other emergencies, from minor nuisances such as a fallen tree blocking a roadway to major incidents such as gas leaks, traffic accidents, vehicle rollovers, plane crashes, building collapses, and floods.
When disasters occur, firefighters often are the first responders. As a result, many departments require firefighters to be trained as emergency medical technicians (EMTs) so they can provide first aid and perform other life-saving medical procedures on victims. Most departments require only the most basic EMT certification (EMT-Basic), but many are moving toward requiring more advanced training (EMT-Intermediate or EMT-Paramedic).
As a firefighter EMT, you’ll likely be the first person to encounter victims experiencing medical emergencies such as heart attacks, strokes, burns, broken bones, shock, blocked airways, bleeding, and more. Firefighting is not for the squeamish or the faint of heart. When you respond to an emergency, you never know what you might find when you arrive. Our best advice is to be prepared for anything and everything.
Other responsibilities include rescues, not only from burning buildings but also from hard-to-reach places, such as lakes or rivers or even steep cliffs. You may have to help clean up hazardous materials. For example, when a truck hauling oil overturns on a highway, fire departments are often called to block roadways, prevent fire, clean up the oil, assist injured victims, and more. During floods, you may have to notify people to evacuate their homes or help them pump water from their homes after flood waters begin to recede.
Firefighters often work in conjunction with other emergency services, including police departments, other fire departments (for example, a state- or county-run wildland firefighting team), and paramedics and ambulance personnel. When working with other emergency services, you’ll follow the direction of your superiors, who are responsible for coordinating with other units.
Working back at the station and in the community
Here are some of the tasks firefighters fulfill when they’re not on an emergency call:
Household chores: Firefighters in many departments, especially small or rural departments, have a lot of downtime between calls, which they spend at the station. There, you’ll take care of everyday tasks such as laundry (firefighting’s a dirty job), cooking (shifts are long; you’ll need food keep your motor running), and cleaning (treat the station like your home away from home).
Training and preparation: As a new firefighter, training and preparation will make up most of your job. After you’ve gotten a few years of service under your belt, you’ll likely use downtime to review new skills, read fire science literature, study for upcoming tests, run practice drills, prepare written reports, work out, and assist new firefighters with their training.
Equipment maintenance: You may be asked to assist in performing maintenance on fire apparatuses — that is, firefighting vehicles such as fire engines, ladder trucks, and tenders (sometimes called tankers, depending on the region in which you live) — or to clean and maintain other equipment. For example, you may have to refill empty air cylinders, which provide the air you breathe in your self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), or you may have to wash lengths of hose and hang them to dry.
Fire inspection: Firefighters specially trained as fire prevention inspectors may take time to enter structures and assess sprinkler systems, extinguishers, exits, and fire escapes to make sure they comply with fire codes. Those trained as fire investigators may revisit a fire scene to determine the fire’s cause.
Other programs: Some firefighters may be responsible for activities related to public relations — how the public views the fire department and its role in the community — such as public speaking engagements and creating and teaching fire prevention programs for schools.
Looking at shifts: Timing is everything
Firefighting is a time-consuming occupation. Fire departments are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and firefighters must be ready to respond to an emergency at a moment’s notice. This doesn’t mean that you have to strike family vacations from the calendar forever; however, it does mean that you should expect to work rotating shifts (a combination of day and night shifts), put in overtime hours, and give up some holidays here and there.
A typical shift for a firefighter may be 24 hours on the clock followed by 48 hours off the clock. Another department may require you to work three 10-hour days, followed by three 10-hour nights, followed by three days off. Shifts largely depend on the size and location of your department. Another thought to keep in mind: When emergencies occur, “quittin’ time” goes out the window. You’ll be expected to work until the job is done.
Picturing your work environment
As a firefighter, your work environment will generally alternate between the fire station and emergency scenes. The fire station is a relatively static work environment, but emergency scenes constantly change and evolve.
On a call
Firefighters respond to all types of emergency calls. The following are just a few:
Structure fires
Wildland (forest) fires
Gas leaks
Traffic accidents
Vehicle rollovers
Plane crashes
Building collapses
Fallen trees and natural disasters
Because emergency scenes vary so much — the weather alone can vary from hot, humid, and sunny to freezing, cloudy, and icy — it’s impossible to know exactly what your working environment will be like at each call. One day you may find yourself knee deep in floodwater. The next day you may respond to a car accident on a busy interstate highway. Another day you could be trekking through a forest.
Emergencies occur anywhere and anytime, but certain types of emergency scenes generally have the same type of environment. For example, at traffic accidents, you’ll likely be surrounded by moving traffic, so you always have to stay alert. During floods, your environment will likely include deep water, washed-out roadways, thick mud, and slippery surfaces. Emergency scenes involving structure fires could involve extremely high temperatures, thick smoke, and falling debris. Our best advice is to stay alert.
At the station
One part of your working environment that shouldn’t change too much is the fire station. As a firefighter, you won’t always be responding to calls and fighting fires. Depending on the size of your department and the area in which you live, you’ll probably spend much of your time at the station, preparing for the next emergency situation.
Fire station components and layouts vary greatly from one department to the next. Departments in large metropolitan areas have to accommodate more firefighters and are likely much larger than municipal departments in smaller communities. Certain areas are essential to all fire stations, however, and the following is a list of facilities that you may encounter in a fire station:
Apparatus room/garage/workshop/storage area: This room often serves as a combination garage and tool shed. You’ll find fire engines, brush trucks, tanker trucks, and ladder trucks parked here. You’ll also likely find a variety of tools and equipment.
Conference room/classroom: This room is likely equipped with either a large conference table and chairs or several smaller desks. Here, you’ll undergo training or take part in meetings with fellow firefighters.
Dormitory area: The dormitory area is where firefighters try to catch some z’s between calls. It’s usually equipped with beds or cots so firefighters have a place to rest.
Exercise facility/gym: This room contains exercise equipment, such as a weight bench, free weights, and a treadmill. Here, you can work out and maintain your physical fitness.
Kitchen/dining area: Because firefighters are often on duty for extended shifts of 10 to 24 hours, they need a place to cook and eat meals. Often the whole crew will gather for meals in the kitchen/dining area at the same time.
Laundry facility: Firefighting is a dirty job. Firefighters crawl on their knees through soot and other debris. They encounter liquids such as floodwater, oil, natural gas, and blood. In the laundry facility, you can clean your gear and make sure it’s ready for the next call.
Lounge: Many stations have a lounge area where firefighters can kick back and relax — when they can actually find a minute to do so.
Office: Most fire stations have an office where the chief or other senior officers create schedules, make phone calls, and fill out paperwork.
Restrooms/shower facilities: When you return from a call, you’ll probably want to get cleaned up. Most stations have a restroom/shower facility or a locker room where you can shower and change clothes.
Considering risks on the job
Nearly every call that firefighters face in the line of duty — whether a house fire, car accident, or tanker truck rollover — involves some degree of risk. Firefighters consistently put themselves in risky situations to save people’s property and, more important, their lives.
The following are some examples of the risks firefighters face on a regular basis:
Flames: Obviously firefighters will encounter fire at some point. Fires are unpredictable, and firefighters always run the risk of getting burned.
Smoke and fumes: Fires produce byproducts including smoke and soot, and burning objects — a plastic chair or the stuffing from a couch cushion, for example — can release noxious fumes. If firefighters aren’t properly wearing SCBAs, they may end up inhaling these harmful products of combustion and damaging their lungs.
Hazardous materials (hazmat): Firefighters may encounter any number of hazardous materials such as poisonous, flammable, or explosive gases; toxic chemicals; medical waste; and radioactive materials. Large trucks often haul these materials on the nation’s highways, and when one of them rolls over or gets into an accident, these materials can leak out, creating danger for everyone involved — including the firefighters who help clean up the mess.
Collapsing walls, ceilings, floors, and buildings: As fire spreads throughout a building, it weakens walls, ceilings, and floors. This puts firefighters at risk because a wall or ceiling could collapse on them or a floor could cave in beneath them, leaving firefighters trapped or injured.
Traffic accidents: Fire trucks often travel at high speeds to reach fires and other disasters as quickly as possible. Although other cars and trucks are supposed to yield to emergency vehicles, not all do, and this can result in collisions between fire trucks and other automobiles. A high volume of traffic and excessive speeding can also result in accidents.
Long-term health risks: A leading cause of death among firefighters is heart disease, which can result from high blood pressure, overexertion, and exposure to extreme heat. In addition, firefighters encounter numerous blood-borne pathogens, such as HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C, at emergency scenes. Exposure to certain toxins in the air can lead to an increased risk of developing certain forms of cancer. For example, exposure to asbestos, a material often found in old buildings, may lead to the development of a form of lung cancer called mesothelioma.
As a firefighter, you could encounter any of these hazards — and more — on any given day, and they could result in injury or even death. Our goal in sharing these risks isn’t to scare you into forgetting your dream of becoming a firefighter. Rather, we want to adequately prepare you for your future career so you know exactly what to expect — both the risks and the rewards.
Handling the highs and lows
Firefighting can take a toll on your psyche because of all the highs and lows firefighters face. The rewards of firefighting are numerous — making an amazing rescue, saving a family’s home, working as a team, bonding with other firefighters. Such scenarios can make you feel like you’re on top of the world. But some parts of the job may weigh on your mind and lead to psychological stress. For example, witnessing death and injury, losing co-workers, dealing with guilt after a failed rescue, coping with family issues, and facing angry members of the public can lead to stress.
In the past, many departments used a response approach to help firefighters deal with psychological stress — for example, intervening after a firefighter turned to alcohol or drugs to deal with his or her stress. Today, however, departments have begun to focus on stress management and prevention. Departments may set up education programs or workshops to teach firefighters stress-management techniques and methods for identifying signs of stress. Firefighters and their families may take part in such programs. In addition, fire departments may offer mentoring programs and spiritual guidance or recommend mental health experts to help firefighters deal with the psychological stress of the job.
From Firefighter to Fire Chief: Climbing the Fire Department Ladder
As a firefighter, you’ll work with all kinds of ladders: wall ladders, roof ladders, extension ladders, and so on. One more ladder you may want to consider is the occupational ladder. A fire department’s occupational ladder has many rungs. If you plan to make firefighting your career — which we assume you do, because you’re reading this book — chances are that you’ll want to start climbing that ladder someday.
In addition to the department positions we list in the following sections (which represent just one of the many rank structures used by fire departments throughout the country), other jobs within the firefighting industry include fire apparatus driver/operators, communications personnel, fire police personnel, airport firefighters, hazardous materials technicians, fire and arson investigators, and public fire and life safety educators.
Starting on the bottom rung
The saying goes, “The only job where you can start at the top is digging a hole.” In firefighting, you’ll have to start on the bottom rung of the career ladder. That means beginning your career as a recruit or probationary firefighter fresh out of a training academy and ready for some real, on-the-job training and, over time, working through the ranks to become a fire chief.
Firefighter
Firefighters respond to medical emergencies and activated fire alarms. They extinguish fires, ventilate buildings, perform salvage and overhaul duties, and remove people from danger. They also perform inspections. A firefighter’s salary may be between $30,000 and $55,000 per year.
Engineer
Engineers may perform standard firefighter duties, but they’re also responsible for training new firefighters and driving and operating heavy-duty fire apparatuses. They may also discuss fire safety regulations with the public. An engineer may earn $48,000 to $62,000 each year. (An engineer should not be confused with a fire engineer, also known as a fire protection engineer or a fire safety engineer, who has a fire engineering degree and would likely work outside the fire department in areas such as fire suppression system design, building design and layout, or risk analysis.)
Moving to middle management
Firefighters and engineers who want to be promoted to middle management often take exams that show their growing knowledge of the field. They may have to demonstrate their knowledge of building construction, equipment management, emergency medical practices, and public speaking.
Fire lieutenant
A fire lieutenant coordinates the operations of his or her company during emergencies. He or she may be responsible for regular equipment maintenance and developing training standards. The fire lieutenant may also participate in hiring new recruits and creating personnel schedules. The salary for a person in this position is between $50,000 and $62,000.
Fire captain
The fire captain of a department may be responsible for communicating with the public, overseeing the use and maintenance of department equipment, and maintaining personnel records. He or she may also participate in training and employee development. In some departments, captains are responsible for maintaining an individual station and its equipment. A fire captain’s annual salary may range from $60,000 to $72,000.
Battalion chief
The battalion chief creates a link between an assistant fire chief (see the next section) and a fire captain. He or she may supervise the fire captain in goal-setting and planning, budget preparation, and personnel management. A battalion chief may also create departmental policies. In many departments, battalion chiefs serve as shift commanders, who direct firefighters at emergency scenes. Battalion chiefs earn between $66,000 and $81,000.
Becoming the top dog
industrial firefighters.
Industrial firefighters receive highly specialized training to deal with emergency situations common to the industry in which they work. For example, firefighters who work for a department in the oil industry are skilled in handling fires, hazardous materials releases, emergency medical responses, and rescues. The goal of private industrial firefighters is to protect companies, factories, products, and employees. Among the many important jobs of industrial firefighters are routine inspections of company facilities to ensure that all precautions are in place to prevent a fire from starting.
Predicting the Future: How Many Firefighting Jobs Will There Be?
You’re in luck! According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), the number of firefighting jobs available in the decade between 2008 and 2018 is expected to grow by 19 percent, which is an increase of about 57,500 jobs. The BLS also expects that the majority of paid firefighting jobs will come from volunteer positions transitioning to paid positions.
Although the outlook for firefighting jobs in the next few years is good, competition for those positions is fierce. The number of applicants for firefighting jobs far surpasses the number of available positions, and the BLS cites several reasons for this:
A career in firefighting is both challenging and rewarding.
Firefighters usually need only a high school diploma or its equivalent to enter the fire service (although those who have completed additional firefighter education classes or have achieved other certifications may have an edge).
Most firefighters have the opportunity to retire and earn a pension after 25 years of service.
Don’t let the competition scare you away, though. You’ve already taken an important first step in preparing for a career in firefighting by picking up this book. In the chapters that follow, we prepare you for each step along the path toward firefighting career success. The key is persistence. Most applicants don’t get hired on their first pass through the firefighter hiring process, so don’t give up. With preparation and determination, we have no doubt that you’ll succeed.
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