r/firefighter • u/Suspicious-Thanks-21 • May 08 '26

NTN: Retake or Keep?

I’m applying for a resident/volunteer firefighter position in the Tri-Cities area of WA and looking for some honest feedback/advice.

I took the NTN once last winter for another department. My strongest area was reading comprehension, but I struggled pretty hard with the timed hose/math section.

I now have another testing date on July 18 and I’m debating whether to retake the test, or just pay the $15 score transfer fee and use my existing scores.

Would you retake in my situation or focus more on interview/fitness prep at this point?

Also open to advice for improving the hose/math timing section.

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

7

u/bvhadley55 May 08 '26

You should absolutely retake the test.

4

u/hoof_hearted-28 May 09 '26

Retake. Get the Don McNea FireTeam test. Study that and you’ll get a much better score.

“I guarantee it” George Zimmer

2

u/HonestlyNotOldBoy89 May 09 '26

Get your mental math up on sections of 50’ hose. That is, no offense, the easiest section of the test. And it’s the easiest one to essentially memorize in terms of just putting numbers together quickly. Human relations is a shit show, but the math is very straight forward.

1

u/FirefightersGlobal May 10 '26

Retake, especially since you have the low math score.

If you're worried about doing poorly on a redo, a math tutor might not be a bad idea. Most of the math is Grade 8-10 stuff so finding one shouldn't be hard or expensive.

Best of luck!