Any NF firefighters?

[illc]

Hey All,  I'm wondering if any of you are working or have ever worked as fire fighters?

 

After 6 years working with geographic information systems and aerial survey (yes, like "Google stuff") and am finding myself fairly unmotivated to continue in that field, and really am not drawn to conventional office jobs at all.  While I've got no illusion it is easy work, from the bit I know about it I feel that work as a fire fighter might be the right kind of "hard" for me.  I'm dedicated to detail and procedure, can flex with situational necessity, pursue fitness and readiness and am seeking a way to serve my community - both the educational and emergency service sides of the work appeal to me.  In addition to those, I understand that blocks of shifts (such as 4 on 4 off, etc.) are common and this sort of schedule has worked well for me in the past when it comes to balancing work and other interests.

 

Any experiences and feedback would be greatly appreciated, cheers.

[Frost of the Gloaming]

I am not; my father was a volunteer and a few of my friends are paid. Honestly if you aren't sure I highly recommend that route that a few of my friends took and that was to volunteer at the one station while studying to become a paid firemen, because not only does it look better on your application but your also going to know what to do when the time comes, drills and book learning only takes you so far. 

[MedicTWO]

Hey I'm an EMT and I grew up at a volunteer firehouse!

 

The above comment about trying out a volunteer station is a great suggestion.

 

Sorry but my impression of your job is one that has you familiar with GPS systems? If so have you considered wildfire fighting? Someone who can navigate and survey is an invaluable asset to a team. They hate getting lost in the bush! You are outside and the job is very challenging physically but a season of it will look fantastic on a resume if you choose to head to an urban setting.

 

Also, keep in mind the emotional requirements for the job. Your good days will feel like no high ever experienced! But your bad days will be bad. Not to discourage you from your goals but reality does bite sometimes. Wildfire has less of this 

[Squeak]

I'm a career firefighter now. After I got out of the Marines I started as a volunteer while I was taking the test. If it's something you are seriously interested in doing you will need to either start volunteering somewhere and/or get at least an Associates Degree in Fire Science. It's getting harder and harder to find cities that don't what at least the AD. Also you will have to be willing to move generally for a small city there will be 100-200 people taking the test and goes up exponentially from there. For instance when I took the test for the city I work for now there were about 150 of us, when I took the test for Virginia Beach a few weeks prior there were about 300 of us and we were only the ones who lived greater than 50 miles away. Out of the 150 of us that took the test about 30 scored high enough to take the Physical Agility Test, and out of those 30 only about 10-15 of us made it entirely through to be put on the list. Out of those there were 3 of us hired. I don't tell you all this to dampen your spirit just telling you the odds you will be going against.

[Hong WeiLoh]

Crew boss with USFS here, though I've spent all of my volly (4 yrs) and most of my career time (6 yrs) in Engines and Prevention (and currently doing a hopefully-ending-soon ECC stint).

 

Wildland is a whole diff animal from the structure ("red engine") world. You won't work 24s, you won't be cutting people out of wrecked cars, and you won't be rushing into burning buildings to be a hero and save the damsel/make an amazing interior attack and "save"... But if you like the outdoors and the hard work aspect of things, then maybe a career with a Fed wildland agency is for you. You know GIS, and that's a huge asset for Fire Effects monitoring on Rx and "managed" wildfires -- you might look into a position with a Wildland Fire Module nearby. I spent a year as a squaddie on a WFM back in 2010 and it was quite fun, definite departure from the "run and gun" nature of Hotshot and Initial Attack crews. You go camp in the backcountry for a week or two, watch, map, monitor, and herd a lightning fire around, vice cutting and burning out handline or supporting dozers and engines (most of the time anyway -- we spent plenty of time as a "Not-Shot" crew on suppression fires too). Might give that a look.

Getting the basic certs to start in wildland is pretty easy and short compared to an Pro-Board, IFSAC, or CSFM FF1 certificate. Any questions feel free to PM me. :-)

[ShadowLion]

A little late to the party and everyone else covered the big points, but wanted to put my two cents worth in anyway.

 

I really think HongWeiLoh's suggestions make a lot of sense for someone with your background. I've done volly  and paid on call, structure & wildland, plus working EMS, and wildland is what I want to get back into. I'm old, so it'll be an engine crew or on the support side, but you're young enough you could make a very nice career for yourself in wildland.

 

Good luck!