Every year, fires take thousands upon thousands of lives and destroy homes and properties amounting to billions of dollars. By becoming a firefighter, you have the chance to protect the public against such harm by tackling fires and a variety of other emergencies.
Firefighters put out fires in a variety of environments, not limited to metropolitan areas, rural areas, industrial / chemical sites and airports. In addition, they have assumed a range of other responsibilities, such as offering emergency medical aid.
Lots of people are attracted to the firefighting profession as it is challenging and provides the opportunity to genuinely help the members of their local community. As such, prospective firefighters face keen competition for available job openings.
How to become a firefighter varies somewhat from department to department, but general application requirements to enter a training program are to: be at least 18 years old (sometimes 21); be physically fit; not to have previously been in trouble with the police.
Among the personal qualities you need are strength, endurance, self-discipline, courage and mental alertness. Initiative and good judgment are an advantage too.
The majority of firefighters have a high school diploma, and completing a community college course, or even an associate degree, in fire science may improve your job prospects.
There is both a written exam and a physical test to be passed prior to being accepted on to a training program. Around a 100 multiple choice questions make up the written exam, and it covers memory, observation, logic, reasoning and spatial awareness. The primary focus of the physical ability test is agility, upper body strength and endurance.
If accepted on to a training program, you will spend about 600 hours in training, over the course of 12 to 14 weeks, learning how to become a firefighter. A combination of practical training and classroom instruction will see you study how to prevent fires from occurring and spreading and how to rescue people caught up in them. On completion of the training program, you will be undergo a period of probation at an assigned fire company.
Average salaries are around $30,000, but experience and working overtime will see you earning considerably more. You will also receive certain benefits, such as medical and liability insurance, vacation and sick leave, and some paid holidays.
For promotions to higher level positions, you need to acquire expertise in advanced firefighting equipment and techniques, building construction, emergency medical technology, writing, public speaking, management and budgeting procedures, and public relations. Usually, after becoming a firefighter, the first promotion is to engineer, then lieutenant, captain, battalion chief, assistant chief, deputy chief, and, finally, chief.
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