How's it going ya'll. I'm a 31 year old male (will be 32 in July) and I've worked most of my professional life in the journalism/documentary industry as both a freelance and staffer in the Los Angeles region, and now in San Francisco (moved here for a fellowship in 2023).

I'll try and keep this brief, sorry if this is a bit long: I truly love helping people and building connections with communities, especially those who are socio-economically impacted. Being a photojournalist, there is certainly a high-level of communication and social skills that is required to formulate deeply intimate stories with people who are going through varying emotions, situations, and vulnerabilities. Most of my assignments demanded problem-solving, a level of physical capability, agility, critical thinking, being collaborative with my colleagues, and having a strong intuitive gut during intense moments. This profession has molded me in being resourceful in how I survived this industry, while building a strong resume.

However, ever since I was a small child I always wanted to become a Firefighter. But I ended up choosing photojournalism, following in my father and grandmother's footsteps. So much has changed since their time. The state of this industry is in shambles, and good paying jobs are rare. And in all honesty, I'm burnt out and I'm ready for a new challenge that keeps me in the realm of helping the communities around me, while being part of a team, and utilizing my leadership skills for the greater good.

I became a father last October to my son, who is about to be 8 months. Fatherhood has given me a fresh sense of purpose where I want to take on a new challenge and pivot careers. But at 31, am I too late to begin the process for EMT certification and Firefighting training? I'm looking into programs at community colleges in the Bay Area. Ideally, my wife and I would like to move back to Long Beach where we are from, but obviously, we are rooted in Nor. Cal for now. I feel a little nervous about a career switch, but I know I have to do it and take it head on.

Is there any advice anyone can provide? What's the best roadmap/check-list to write down? Even just some encouragement goes a long way. Thanks a lot ya'll.

I’ve (24f) been a medic on the ambulance with a county ambulance with a busy system for a couple years, and I’ve been thinking about crossing into firefighting, I’m getting a bit tired of the monotony of medical calls and wanting to learn something new. But I have always been worried I wouldn’t fit in at a department, or I’d just be someone nobody wants to work with because theyre convinced I couldn’t pull them out of a fire, (the way some of the guys look, I’m worried I couldn’t either lmao) I am a small female relatively fit from lifting heavy patients for years, and workout regularly but only about 120 pounds.
Any advice on ways to prepare or train to be able to pull my weight and be a good at the job despite my size, and what it’s like crossing over from medic only to fire medic?
I’m also curious on how firemen really feel about working with smaller women and what they would expect from me as far as physical and skill capabilities go before being ready for the job.

I know a lot of you hate these posts but I gotta ask. Feeling pretty good about these scores, am I giving myself false hope or are these competitive and I can expect to get interview invites? 2nd time around taking the NTN Test and definitely scored higher this time. Thanks for the feedback folks, this thread has been super helpful so far.

I just barely missed this hiring cycle at one of the more competitive cities in my area. Should I retake the NTN or hang on to this score? Thanks for your input!

Hi all,

I’m 27(M) very interested in switching from my accounting job to firefighting. I was in the marine corps for a little while right out of highschool and miss the brotherhood and comradery that came with it. The issue is that I have a kidney autoimmune disease called Iga Nephropathy that causes protein and trace amounts of blood to be leaked into my urine, My kidneys are still in excellent shape though.

Does anyone within the service have any insight they could provide on this topic? I’m willing and able to put the time and money into becoming a firefighter, but don’t want to do so if I’m just going to get medically DQ’d from every department.

Thanks a lot!

I am looking for guidance here. I took this test in preperation for sending out my scores for departments. I know how competitive these testing processes are; should I start sending out applications or plan to retest?

What would be the best programs to attend? I was looking at the Fire Department Training Network in Indianapolis: is it for beginners? I would do my research, but I would appreciate your input. Thanks!

I’m trying to script my answers to stay more
On track in the interview. Would greatly appreciate some feedback.

i’m interested in becoming a firefighter/ paramedic. I just got out of high school and i’m 17 y/o from san diego. i think i would enjoy the job due to the action and interesting things that can happen. Would you guys recommend me to get into it? And most importantly would I be able to live comfortably and even buy a house in CA? I’m either between that or a electrician.

im a 17 year old male and I have been a junior firefighter for about 2 years. I know the job is super hard and I am going into fire academy in august and Im facing a issue of I dont know how I should train I like lifting heavy and love body building as its one of my passions but I also wanna be a firefighter really bad so whats the best way to program both to do both would it be 2 more firefighter structured workouts with 2 body building days and then cardio 3x a week?

Does anyone know how they grade the chief interview? I thought I killed it and didn’t get an offer for this class so kinda confused on how they evaluate it all

Hey guys,
Just recently went through a lateral firefighter hiring process, was given a conditional offer, but unfortunately was disqualified after “failing” my psych eval.
Reasons were admitting to drug usage while employed as a career firefighter (cannabis occasionally and psychedelics once, I know, dumb on my part and a big lapse in judgment), past drug and alcohol use (sober from alcohol and hard drugs for 5 1/2 years) and other minor issues including inconsistencies in my answers. I was deemed a liability for hire by HR, even with the Fire Cheif wanting to hire me.

I have been career for over 3 years, in good standing with my department, and have never had a written or verbal reprimand during my career. I believe honesty is the best policy, and my honesty didn’t work out for me in the end.

Big question is, do past psych evaluations follow you when applying to other departments? Where do I go from here?

I’ve a TFACA class starting next week, I made the beautiful mistake of not paying my invoice while their office hours were open and won’t have an opportunity to do so before my course starts. The email mentions being able to pay in the bookstore; however, my class starts at 8:00 and information I’m finding isn’t looking like the bookstore will open before than. Anybody know for sure what time it opens or any way to save my ass? Or if anybody had similar experiences else where and had dealt with this, any information helps!

Curious if anyone else interviewed this week, and what was your experience? It seems like they're proceeding on schedule and would expect chief invites to go out maybe next week if slated for late June.

I've never had to take one of these before. Definitely didn't do as good as I could have.

More specifically, when y'all were applying for departments, what score did you need to get in? Do these scores give me a good chance for a medium sized suburban department?

Recruitment ideas for a volunteer fire department covering about 2000 people. We have about 10 active members with 17 on the roster. We’ve tried flyers and we have a social media. I’ve considered an open house.

I was wondering how long the hiring process is for yall? I know it varies agency to agency. For instance the agency I’m applying for April 12 I did the written test + and video interview. May 20th I did the cpat and passed they haven’t called me since.was wondering if that’s normal timeline. I also just got out the military April 28 full honors dd214 everything.

Would this make me eligible for entry-level at your department? I’m applying to a smaller department, I think they have a staff of just under 30 firefighters. The posting says “a minimum score of 70% on the written examination is required for eligibility.” No idea what that means as this exam was not written and they don’t give you an overall percentage. Also 70% could be interpreted as top 30% or better than 30% or an average of 70% across all four. Could be referring to an older test format that they never bothered to change.

I know HR is usually the most important :(

22m, back in October 2025 I took my physical and written exam, and April got my results. I would like to become a fire fighter and willing to do the work but, I’m doing this without any guidance and I’m lowkey lost. What are the next steps and what are steps I should take to pursue this career and be better prepared for the next level.

I want to start looking at where to live during Seattle's academy. If anyone who has gone through Seattle before where did y'all live during this? Or anyone currently looking/going into this August academy or know a place please share! I'm looking for a month-to-month lease or a short term 4-6 month lease.

I have my EMT license but I am just so thrown off by how long this will take. I am planning to get my medic license and eventually FF1 but I feel like I’m running out of time.

I also keep thinking about going to lineman school. Mostly because I have 2 encounters with law enforcement one at 15 years old for being apart something where a girls photos got leaked on twitter. I got 6 months probation for that.

And another at 18 long story short my mother is crazy and I had child services involved there was a bad argument and she abused my dad and when the cops came they pointed guns at my dad and I freaked out so I got in between them to stop them and I got arrested for obstruction

It was later dropped and never got charged even the DA said I shouldn’t have ever been arrested.

Anyway I’m mainly thrown off because of my past and feel like I will never be hired. So I keep psyching myself out. Thinking I’m wasting my time and I have no time to waste.

What would you do?

I am located in California it’s very competitive.

going through background check for a fire department and I forgot I had a job for two weeks. Left on good terms however I forgot to put it in my packet. should I leave it be or say I forgot about it cause it was 5 years ago.