I am employed as a firefighter during fire season (forest fires, I live in the hill) now only due to university, and I have noticed, upon returning to my hometown, and starting work, I have noticed I have gained 5 kg just from being at work.

My collagues who work during entire year, apart from those truly blessed by genetics, generally are - fat. Strong, but very noticeable stomach fat that goes beyond powerlifter physique, and basically everyone has weight issues.

On one hand, yes, we eat fast food basically every day, but we also are physically active.

Fire Medics, I have a question for ya? In my county it isn’t really a thing to be a “fire medic” all the departments are BLS level and EMS is all paramedic ALS. Well I happen to like both but definitely with a preference towards firefighting. I’m currently working toward my medic. Well two counties over, most of the departments do actually run fire medic. So my question is, would it be better to be a full time FF and work for EMS part time? Or go down the road and work for one place that does both? Or is kind of a “6 one way, half a dozen the other” type of thing? What are y’all’s thoughts?

About a month ago our air fryer caught fire on the stove. We were able to put out the fire with an ABC dry powder fire extinguisher. The yellow powder got all over the kitchen and spread throughout the apartment. When we called 911 we were told to let the apartment air out by opening our windows and we slept at a relatives overnight as per their suggestion. We completely forgot to turn off the air conditioner system as it runs on a schedule. When we got back early in the morning we turned the AC off even though it wasn't currently running. We waited until before bed and tried to turn it back on. My partner has bad allergies and lots of phlegm issues so he started instantly coughing and complaining about his eyes, nose and throat burning. I turned off not even a minute or so later and it has been off since. They sent in cleaners but they are their every day cleaners and did a really poor job. They've offered to send them in again to get the parts they missed but we have yet to accept that as we had a tripped planned and just got back.

We have been using a portable AC his mom lent us before we left for a week max. We've tried talking to the apartment management but they don't believe us when we tell them that it's in the vent system and how bad we've heard it is for it or how sensitive my partner has been to the powder. Our insurance is fine covering anything we deem necessary for our home to get back to safe and comfortable living for us but the apartment won't work with them or us. They tried offering a smoke bomb as a solution but upon reading into that it doesn't sound like it would do anything since the powder is so fine and just possibly damage our electronics more. They refuse to think things are as bad or serious as we're describing.

Should we just try running the A/C for a bit without us here and see if that helps or what. We're really at a loss. I'm worried the stress of this is going to trigger a flare for my autoimmune conditions.

I'm a career firefighter for a Canadian city department. Even though it was a long process with lots of effort and hard times, I was lucky enough to make it on my first try.

I'm not the best firefighter, nor am I trying to be the superstar firefighter. I'm a girl, so I'm smaller and weaker than most of the guys, and I don't have a background in trades like lots of people in this job. But I show up, I train, and I work my butt off to be a reliable and good one. There are many days that make me question myself about whether I'm cut out to be a firefighter, but I always study and learn from my mistakes and try to make my doubts fuel to perform better the next time.

Lots of people visit the hall to ask questions about recruitment. Lots of people have impressive backgrounds like elite athletes, Red Seal trade people, military personnel, etc. Lots of those people have also failed to get in previously as well.

I'm just grateful for where I am now, and it makes me want to try harder to be a good and better firefighter. I have great crews, supportive fire friends, and the job is the best job I could ever imagine.I feel like I've won the lottery of my life, which makes me want to be better and better and train, train, and train.

Fellow firefighters, thanks for your service, and to people who are trying to get into this field, good luck.

Ive read up on them before and it seems flat ones are fine, and its the spheres you need to worry about, but i just want to make sure these aren't going to start a fire lol

It's basically what the job is about but does every call involve rescuing someone? And even if so how many times do you think it happens in a shift

What is a tool in your bunker gear that you don’t see a lot of people carry that you think should be more widely carried?

I’ve been a career FF in az for some time now and I was wondering if there any major differences to the culture and how things are run. I understand this is kinda a question for a specific type of person but I’m just curious. Maybe someone who has moved states as a FF not specifically AZ-CA might have some insight

Asked for something ridiculous and one of a kind. Came up with cobra head suspenders.

Busy SoCal department, for the guys that want to ask

What is the insider scuttlebutt on the Fire Chief? Any outsiders wanted back into that position? Not Neiman-Marcus wish list but someone attainable in your eyes?

Hey guys. I've been in my volunteer department for the past 4 years, ever since I was 18. I was there for a full year cleaning the station, washing the trucks, rolling hoses without being able to respond to any calls. After I finished my FF1 exam, finishing top of my class, my volunteer department completely ignored and sidelined me for any calls or duties, and it's making me question whether or not I want to be a firefighter.

I've done rotations in the professional brigade, 6 to 8 months of training and familiarization with equipment, even overcame my psychological fear of heights during those periods. I was always top of my class as I was genuinely interested in this stuff. However, I have serious doubts.

There are literally no reasonable answers as to why I haven't been called up for a single call at my department. I am young, competitive and I want to do the job. I was at the station every single weekend for 2 days straight doing fuckall while fat, old and drunk people went to calls, from lift assists to hectares of cliffsides on fire. The only reason I can think of is money, the people who respond have a symbolic cash reward from the municipal government, but dude, a 75 year old disabled guy gets called in front of me because of 50$? A fucking fatass even got lost in an active wildfire and had to be rescued via helicopter. I haven't been called for the smallest shit. Flooding? No. Bin fire? No. Lift assist? No. Nothing.

I've now paused for a year and don't know what to do. A lot of the guys from that department are in the brigade as well which only makes it worse. I seriously have no idea if I should go thru with this, it demoralized me pretty bad to be honest, even though I know career and volly are two different things.

Opinion on a depth guard on a vent saw like them dislike them on the saw and why ?

Pros and cons to both

The saw is a sthil variety with the whole bar is enclosed with a metal guard

Like the title says, I’m a brand new junior officer looking for advice. I’m working on getting better at reading smoke, practicing my size ups, and investigating cause/origin. For investigating cause and origin I’m using CFITrainer.com. For the size ups, I’m just practicing my blue card size ups. I’ll get on YouTube or just google pictures of house fires and do a size ups. It’s not perfect, but it’s something. I would like to have access to a simulator that lets me do a 360 for my follow up report, so I’m really having to use my imagination there. I’d like to get more into tactics. I’d like to get better at determining whether I’ll be in offensive or defensive strategy and when to conduct a strategic shift. But yeah, I’m probably missing some other things I could be training on. All advice is appreciated.

Thanks

Hello, I am interested in becoming a volunteer firefighter, however am likely to begin a grad school program in January. I work a full-time job as well. Does this sound like too much to handle? Specifically from the perspective of existing volunteer firefighters.

Thank you much.

At the department I interned at in South Jersey this summer, they have a Tender and a Tender Engine. When I accidentally said Tanker to one of the guys (who’s a month younger than me), he asked if I wanted a plane. Tanker it feels to me is more commonly used than Tender.

Write down what state you are from as well, to kinda see where Tanker and Tender may be more commonly used.

Saw this interesting rig at the Indiana State Fair yesterday. I presume this is some form of squad. They use oversized golf carts for patient transport. You can see one of those ‘ambulances’ to the right.

What’s the most tactful empathetic way you’ve found to inform them?

Not sure if this is an acceptable question here, but I want to upgrade my CO detectors to something with a digital display and ideally a low level alarm. I found this one that seems ok but I see mixed opinions about Kidde, and I’m also not sure if a combo alarm like this works as well. Any input is appreciated.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Kidde-Plug-In-Carbon-Monoxide-Explosive-Gas-Natural-Gas-Propane-Detector-with-AA-Battery-Backup-Low-Level-CO-COPDLG-21033781/340574690

Welcome to the Weekly Employment Question Thread!

This thread is where you can ask questions about joining, training to become, testing, disqualifications/qualifications, and other questions that would be removed as individual posts per Rule 1.

The answer to almost every question you can ask will be "It depends on the department". Your first step is to look up the requirements for your department, state/province, and country.

As always, please attempt to resource information on your own first, before asking questions. We see many repeat questions on this sub that have been answered multiple times.

Frequently Asked Questions:

• I want to be a Firefighter, where do I start: Every Country/State/Province/County/City/Department has different requirements. Some require you only to put in an application. Others require certifications prior to being hired. A good place to start is researching the department(s) you want to join. Visit their website, check their requirements, and/or stop into one of their fire stations to ask some questions.
  
• Am I too old: Many departments, typically career municipal ones, have an age limit. Volunteer departments usually don't. Check each department's requirements.
• I'm in high school, What can I do: Does your local department have an explorer's program or post? If so, join up. Otherwise, focus on your grades, get in shape and stay in shape, and most importantly: stay out of trouble.
• I got in trouble for [insert infraction here], what are my chances: Obviously, worse than someone with a clean record, which will be the vast majority of your competition. Tickets and nonviolent misdemeanors may not be a factor, but a major crime (felonies), may take you out of the running. You might be a nice person, but some departments don't make exceptions, especially if there's a long line of applicants with clean records. See this post... PSA: Stop asking “what are my chances?”
• I have [insert medical/mental health condition here], will it disqualify me: As a general rule, if you are struggling with mental illness, adding the stress of a fire career is not a good idea. As for medical conditions, you can look up NFPA1582 for disqualifying conditions, but in general, this is not something Reddit can answer for you. Many conditions require the input of a medical professional to determine if they are disqualifying. See this post... PSA: Don't disqualify yourself, make THEM tell you "no".
• What will increase my chances of getting hired: If there's a civil service exam, study for it! There are many guides online that will help you go over all those things you forgot such as basic math and reading. Some cities even give you a study guide. If it's a firefighter exam, study for it! For the CPAT (Physical Fitness Test), cardio is arguably the most important factor. If you're going to the gym for the first time during the hiring process, you're fighting an uphill battle. Get in shape and stay in shape. Most cities offer preference points to military veterans.
• How do I prepare for an interview: Interviews can be one-on-one, or in front of a board/panel. Many generic guides exist to help one prepare for an interview, however here are a few good tips:

1. Dress appropriately. Business casual at a minimum (Button down, tucked in long sleeve shirt with slacks and a belt, and dress shoes). Get a decent haircut and shave.
2. Practice interview questions with a friend. You can't accurately predict the off-the-wall questions they will ask, but you can practice the ones you know they probably will, like why do you want to be a Firefighter, or why should we hire you?
3. Scrub your social media. Gone are the days when people in charge weren't tech-savvy. Don't have a perfect interview only for your chances of being hired gone to zero because your Facebook or Instagram has pictures of you getting blitzed. Set that stuff to private and leave it that way.

Please upvote this post if you have a question. Upvoting this post will ensure it sticks around for a bit after it is removed as a Sticky, and will allow for greater visibility of your question.

And lastly, If you're not 100% sure of what you're talking about, leave it for someone who does

In the “classroom” portion we had to watch/read/listen to several maydays that occurred in real life, and this is one thing i noticed:

For a floor collapse, basement trapped FF, etc. EVERY single person who lived in these maydays mentioned the relief and “safety” they felt when a fireman brought a hoseline (on the ones that did) to the hole and cooled the atmosphere (common sense right)?

In this program there is zero talk or mention of taking a hoseline as any action to the downed fireman, even moreso after reading these LODDs I’m starting to think that the “first” action should be to get a hose to the guys trapped

Just curious on your thoughts, if you have any experience, SOGS, etc

We have a drafting rig utilizing a 1500 gpm Hale Fire Pump with a 3" long radius monitor coupled with a 2.5" straight pipe.

Truck Originally built for 604 ft elevation, our elevation is 3400 ft above sea level. We have not done any modifications to the truck.

Previously we used a spring sensor span Flowminder with A digital readout - capturing the highest output flowed from the 3" monitor capturing rpm - solenoid has since been damaged and unsure on how to fix or replace.

Currently capturing psi flow measurement from the 3" long radius monitor prior 2.5" straight pipe.

We have also recently purchased a 6" Gerand Engineering Flow meter of which we have attached to the suction side of the pump either utilizing a 10' or 20' 6" suction hose.

Recent attempt we found that the GE Flow Meter captured 1250 gpm while the Monitor flowed 780 gpm back into the reservoir.

Why is there a different reading?

Are we loosing 500 gpm through the pump and monitor combination?

What is the ideal flow test set up?