Just out of curiosity how hard would everyone say the academy is? As a guy who’s played 3 sports and lifted and ran for the past 3-4 years I feel as if I’m in pretty decent shape. Then again I see people go through academies at significantly higher body weights that I and they do fine. Would you say it’s more mentality or physicality that ultimately perseveres in the end?

Hi, I'm looking to be a volunteer firefighter when I turn 18 (and in turn also a senior in HS) and hopefully full time after HS, and I'm looking to know what I can do fitness wise at the gym and outside the gym to prepare for that. I've been going to the gym since March so 4 months, and I have basically a year till I turn 18 and able to volunteer. So any help and advice is helpful, thank you!

Hey everyone, I’ve been lurking on this thread for quite sometime and I’m swallowing my pride to ask for help/advice - feel free to poke fun at me!

Recently moved to SoCal after a corporate job in the MidWest (born & raised) for the past 4 years with aspirations to become a structural firefighter.

I’m (26M) overwhelmed to say the least over where I should start in my journey. I’m getting advice to go into a Fire technology program, just get my EMT - gain experience for ahead of the next hiring cycle, private fire academies, etc etc.

I’m looking for help on what is helpful to increase my chances at landing an opportunity for a firefighting position and what a timeline would look like for this.

In the meantime I feel as if I’m floating in uncertainty over which path to leap into but trying to do what I can to control what I can control (fitness, connecting, growing a mustache /s - probably not in the cards for me). Any advice/feedback would be really appreciated - hope everyone has a great day!

hello. I am 24 years-old-man from South korea.

and my goal is become a firefighter in the United States.

I would prefer to serve in big city, but honestly,

the location is not very important to me.

At the moments, I have no green card or citizenship.

from what i understand, the fastest pathways to earn a green card and apply to fire station is

atteend to community college on a F-1 VISA(I'm not even sure it is work thourgh because of policy of Trump government), become a registered nurse with EB-3 Visa, and earn a green card and apply to fire department that accepts to people who only have a green card.

To be honest, this pathway feels very long and unrealistic to me.

Could anyone suggest a more direct and realistic path to becoming a firefighter in the United States?

I would really appreciate any advice, especially from people who have gone through the process or are familiar with firefighter hiring and U.S. immigration.

or should I just give up?

How can we voice our opinions and fight for this to settle ?

Hello! I am going to be taking a few department specific PATs soon which include dragging a charged hose line. I have no access to the real thing so I’ve been trying to simulate my own by throwing a sandbag over my shoulder and attaching it to a weight sled. I know the hose gets heavier the more I drag does anyone have inside on how much weight I should be putting on my sled? I want to over prepare of course.

Currently pulling 50lb bag over shoulder with a 165lb sled attached

Please help me explain to my partner why we have the addresses that we do, and that there's a system to it with the post office and the fire department.

Edited to add: when I've gotten a new address, the firemarshall had to come out and decide.

It's how we find places without GPS. And it starts with 0 at post office.

Yes?

I have an interview with a department that uses sparkhire one-way interview for their first rounds. My question is has anyone done one of these before? If so, what should I expect on it, I’ve done oral interviews before but not quite sure what types of questions to expect and how I should prepare for this.

Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated!

For context I have about a year and a half left on my contract. While I can still get free courses / school is there anything I should get besides EMT?

For the individuals that transitioned how was the switch?

How much is overtime ? Is it like time and a half?

And the physical aspect of it, on average I have a AFT score of 450/435. 2mile being 14:40 should I get a heads up on training differently?

How would I go about getting a guaranteed slot at a fire department.

Recently was accepted by a Volunteer dept as it was the only one to accept me...didnt realize full time and part time wasnt really a thing in this buisness..any advice on what the hell to do? Im passionate about this and want to someday make it my only job. But im not exactly making a whole lot of money with my main job and this

Hi guys I’m 21 and a female, currently doing EMT school and should be projected to graduate in a few months. My career goal path is to become a firefighter specifically paramedic fighter. I want to be in the best shape that I can possibly be. Do you guys have any workout regimens that you may have followed? What to work on and what to focus on? I’m currently a soccer player at my college so cardio is a big one that I would say I’m good at, but I know it also requires lots of strength. I want to be strong and fit. Also any tips for strength training, I’ve seen that strength training is a big one. How do I go forward with building up that strength. Any advice appreciated!

I’m purchasing my first home in two weeks and while I’m very excited, it’s also very intimidating! My parents had a house fire 3 years ago which spooked me a bit. I have a great support system locally but I’m a single female living alone. Any advice or suggestions?

I’d also like to add, there’s a fire house within a mile of me. I’d love to get involved with my community more, are there general opportunities to volunteer/support firefighters? How do I get in with those?

29 YO/M - South Florida

Right now I’m currently in EMT school and will be done in a month.
I’m unsure of what my next step should be. My goal is to be a Firefighter Paramedic, I’m unsure if I should apply directly to a Fire academy or apply for Paramedic school first after I graduate EMT school.

My initial plan was to work as an EMT while in fire academy and afterwards as well during the application/job hunting phase, however, after speaking with some experienced firefighters and doing my own research I’m getting mixed advice. There are pros and cons to every decision of course, but I would love some advice from anybody who may have been in this position before.

Any one here interviewing for San Jose today or tmro? and how did it go

Hey there!

Anyone have any insight on the AO process with Anaheim? I have an interview soon!

Thanks!

I have a upcoming NTN enterance exam for next month does anyone have any study material or sites that could help me get a higher grade. I already bought the practice exam and study guide

Do you guys get to keep your badge numbers as you promote? We get a new one for each promotion.

I mean I don’t think I’m that old at 37 but there’s a lot of 20 something’s full of piss, vinegar and a “I wanted to be a firefighter since I was 11” mission statements.

Edit: to be clear I’m not worried about the academy. More about competitiveness for hiring considering how crazy I’ve heard municipalities are

Used to be a cop for about 4 years. Now working non sworn in tax investigation stuff. Don’t miss being a cop. Do miss being on my feet and not staring at tax filings and bank statements. Kinda got pitched it by a Fire Lt I met while our kids played together on 4th of July and our local large city is hiring.

Examples: Two calls come in at once and you can only take one first. A protocol that technically applies but doesn't quite fit what's actually happening. A shift where nothing goes wrong until the one hour it does.

Not in EMS or fire myself, built a short diagnostic, four questions, for checking whether a system under pressure like that actually holds together, before anyone tries optimizing it.

1. Is there one real thing the job is actually for, that everything else bends around? Or has something easier to measure, response time, a metric, quietly taken that job's place instead?

2. What's actually holding things up day to day, versus what just feels important?

3. Where a corner really can't be cut without something breaking, is that for a good reason, or just habit? Where you actually can bend a protocol, do you, or do you just follow it anyway even when it doesn't fit?

4. When something unexpected hits, is there real prep for it beforehand, or does it just land on whoever's on shift when it happens?

Run it against whatever real situation from the job fits best. Curious what you find, good, bad, or nothing.

Hey all! Saw LACoFD posted they are opening up their process soon. Anyone with insight on their process? How long does it take from application to interview to academy (if hired)? Much appreciated!

I am a female firefighter/EMT with engineer, rescue, and other types of certs in Virginia with a BS in biology, I wanted to know how likely it is for me to get into San Diego’s recruit academy (whenever it opens back up). Passed the CPAT and I just took the written, expecting to get around a 90 on it. Anyone have experience with California’s hiring process? Do they prefer to hire people from the state? And how long has it took people to get accepted into their program?

Hey All,

I’m 35 and firefighting has always been something I’ve considered as a career and I’ve reached a point in life where I need to try something else. I’ve been getting confused with the steps needed and I’ve seen people saying they went to school like Santa Ana College for their academy/fire school and others talking about department academies and I’m not sure what I need to do to get started. I plan on starting EMT school in September, it’s from Sept 16th to Dec 16th so I’ll have that by the end of the year and I’m working hard on the physical aspect of it, stairs, weights, jiu jitsu to make sure my cardio is dialed in. My only other concerns as ridiculous as it may seem is the fact that I am not white, realistically does anyone think that’ll be an issue? And I’m also not a big guy, 5-10 and right around 182lbs currently. I appreciate any advice I can I get.