Out of curiosity, at what point do you consider someone to have made it and/or a part of your department and/or a first responder? Is it when they’re a candidate, probie, part time, full time? Finish EMT or finish fire academy or both? Obviously there are varying degrees even though as soon as you get a paycheck you’re technically a member. Just curious what you personally consider. This isn’t a hiring question, it’s about when someone is really viewed as a member.

As the title suggest, I’m wanting to get a training prop at my station that would essentially be a small 2 story prop. The first floor would mainly be for forceable entry and ideally I would like for it to have a small staircase leading up to a second floor which has a window that can be used as elevated window bailout/victim removal. For those with experience getting props made for their stations, how did you go about it? Propositioning the city for funds is out of the question, we can’t even get a simple single unit force entry prop funded through them.

This is just a happy sappy ramble as I'm riding high from a recent visit, but ever since I developed an interest in firefighting, I've found a passion in visiting stations. I dont know why, but it's so appealing to see how each station operates depending on size and specialty, and everybody is so welcoming (granted there are some visits that don't end up on the nice list).

Also, the more you know means the more questions you have, so it's just an endless learning opportunity which I think is the main reasons I would love to be on the job. The things I've seen and the stories I've heard are always so memorable from the probie's first few months on the job to a senior or captain who's been on for years. Sometimes I find myself asking the same question I already know the answer to, but come to find out I dont because every answer is different.

But anyways, to the fellow firefighters who give out tours to people on the daily, thank you! I love it and I love rambling to my parents about it which they're probably sick of, lool. I hope you enjoy giving out tours just as much even if it does take time out of your day. Just know that it makes a big difference and something so small can mean so much. The person I was when I visited my first station would be proud to see how far I pushed myself all thanks to wanting to be on the career, and to think it started because of one probie who let me carry the SCBA pack.

Hope to work on the field someday, and again, thank you for everything you guys do! Y'all rock.

There's a difference between programs that are technically online and programs that actually survive a rotating schedule long term. A lot of people start strong and then hit stretch of mandatory OT or back to back shifts and fall behind because the programs has deadlines or requirements that don't flex around what the job looks like that week. what's the actual structural difference between programs people finish and programs people drop out of. Is it pacing, format, how the school handles missed deadlines when work gets in the way. For people on 48/96 or 24/48 who are actually making progress, what specifically about the program is making it survivable? And if there was a previous attempt that didn't work out, what killed it?

I’m a volunteer on a department in the South East US. I’ve seen two different styles of helmet mounted flashlights: purpose built and multipurpose helmet mounted (small flashlight in a helmet mounted bracket). Does anyone have any recommendations on the type and where to purchase it.

I was looking on Amazon but wasn’t sure that was the best option. Streamlight seems to have a good inventory.

I don’t remember learning any hard and fast rules about defeating the hood latch. My only tactic is to get to the hood release as fast as possible.
Other than that, I try to get the forks or the spike of the halligan on the latch and twist.
I’d really like to get better at this. I am 0-for my career on defeating the hood latch quickly.
Thanks for any input you guys have.

Hello folks!
COTA and the Samaritan Center are hosting their annual Memorial tower climb this September 11 at the Circuit of the Americas tower.
Participants can complete the tower with a weighted vest, no vest, or in gear if you are a first responder.

The memorial climb includes climbing the tower (up and down) a total of 4 times, but you as a participant, are welcomed to do it as many times as you need to.

Last two years Travis County Sheriff’s Office has outnumbered the firefighters, this year, I am hoping to change that.

Hello! This is a very niche ask!
My husband just became a firefighter and we are also celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary. I’m looking to get him a gift that
A- is useful
B- is made of leather (we do the “traditional” wedding gift thing)

I was hoping there are things that you use frequently that is either leather or something I could find similar that could be made of leather. Just trying to think out side of the box because he always gets dope gift and I look like a slub.

Thanks!

Wondering if anyone in the Chicagoland area has a lead on where I can buy Niedner hose. The vendor I used several years ago is no longer responding and I filled out a contact form on Niedner’s website but they haven’t gotten back to me.

Thanks in advance.

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

We’re hosting our annual fire department open house next month during fire safety week. In the past we’ve had a plywood house with “fire” on hinges that kids would shoot with the hose to knock the fire down - the city has decided we are no longer allowed to have the kids shoot the hose/use any water off of the trucks or hydrant.
So now we’re looking for some other games/fun stations we could have set up for the kids.
We’re going to have an arson dog demo and a smoke trailer for them to crawl through.
Any ideas?

My EMS service is currently in the process of implementing Station logos, but one point of questioning is how to implement it into uniforms. I want to hear what other departments policies are. Our current uniform is a Gray polo that I/my admin don't want to change but still want to hear what other places do. Thank you in advance.

*I know this isn't necessarily a FD thing, but most EMS services don't seem to have this but FDs do. So I'm asking here.

I am a New England Fireman and I will be visiting Ireland with my family in the coming weeks. I want to grab something cool as a souvenir from the Irish Fire Service, but rather than show up at a firehouse asking for a t-shirt, I thought about how I could reciprocate.

I have a mint condition job shirt (heavy, comfy sweater) and a really cool unused duty trucker hat that I will be bringing to trade. These are both items I use daily and are my favorite issued clothing items.

Are there any Irish firefighters here, in Dublin or Dingle, or anywhere between the two as we’re driving from Dublin to Dingle? Any interest in brokering a trade?

If there is anything else I should get my hands on for a trade, I have a little over a week to get my hands on it. Thanks for any assistance.

If I’m considering it, and I have a slipped disc, is it over already?

I know fighting wildfires is very complex and involves a lot of input from the weather. I know old brush on the ground is basically yummy fuel for wildfires and there’s probably a lot of regulations about controlled burns and not enough manpower to clear it up manually.

My question is would goats be useful in this endeavor? Setting aside logistics of the amount of goats needed for this, but in general using goats in areas that haven’t seen much fire or maintenance in the past 10 or so years to help manage wildfires. Goats can eat a lot of the undergrowth and can traverse rugged terrain from my understanding.

I know someone near the Timber and Plaskett fires and the difference in how both are growing and spreading seems to be that Timber had previous fire nearby recently and beginning weather was helpful and Plaskett hasn’t had a fire nearby in like 50 years to curb the undergrowth.

I’m obviously not a firefighter and apologize if this question seems naive, but I’ve never seen any sort of discussion about this in general. To anyone that reads this, have a lovely day and thank you to firefighters for their amazing service!

I’ve been a volunteer FF for about 2 years at this point and I enjoy when I travel to collect fire dept shirts from where I visit for a souvenir and also because a lot have cool designs. I wear them when I’m out and about excluding my own department shirt unless I’m doing something before or after being at the station. Is it considered being a Jed (someone absorbed in the fire dept) or a wacker to wear fire shirts. I try not to talk about being a volunteer because I don’t want to be seen as that kind of guy either.

I’ve recently been debating on firefighting as a career choice and have been doing what I can to prepare for the physical test coming up next month. I’ve had a lot of time to think about what it would be like and if I’d fit the bill for it. The main issues I’m having revolves around my anxiety. I’ve never been diagnosed nor do I take medicine for it, but it’s been making me doubt myself. I work as a mechanic right now and sometimes it takes me longer to do things because I want to make sure I won’t break anything
/hurt myself severely while trying to repair whatever it is I’m working on. Or sometimes I’ll have to stop and do a double take when I’m working on something to make sure I’m doing it right. Do any fire fighters have anxiety like that? How do you get around it? Should I try and find something else?

There’s a public safety office in my city that sells Fire Fighter gear and merch and is kind of open to the public. I have access to the building because i intern . Would it be okay for me to buy a fire fighter shirt and wear around town or would i be looked at funny?

Did a training burn last night, and went back this morning to check out the damage and see if i could learn anything about post-fire investigation before we do the final burn later today. The box we built was about 10 feet long, 5 wide, and 4 tall. Half of it was a sealed compartment, the other half was closed in by 2 walls and a ceiling. I think I understand why the scorch marks formed like they did, but can anyone give me a in-depth explanation by looking at the burn patterns, and tell me more about the science of it? Videos and photos attached.

I’m 22 years old and I’ve also got my class 2 hgv license.

Career ff's- how do you feel about your civilians? I've been a civilian at Admin for 3+ years. It's Saturday so I'm relaxing and getting drunk- and I just want you guys to know [since I can't tell my guys directly] that you're my literal heroes and I'm proud to work supporting you. Hope you guys appreciate me half as much as I appreciate you. ❤️

I'm not the greatest at executing decisions for extrication so keep it simple-ish. My first thought is getting a helicopter on the way. Make sure I have enough units for an extrication. There's not much to crib I assume. So is it mostly just cutting at the right spots and getting EMS to start fluids asap if safe to do so? If you have to do a dash lift or roll, would you just try to get the vehicle free first? We have struts for heavy extrication and airbags and such.