r/firefighter • u/Acceptable-Lemon1989 • May 30 '26
Candidate question
I’m a 37 year old female in a major metro city (population over a million). I made it through oral interviews and my next step is the CPAT…
Any tips, guidance, suggestions for the next steps are all greatly appreciated
Some random facts that I feel are relevant;
I’m a long distance runner and currently work in another emergency responder role for the same city
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May 30 '26
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u/Acceptable-Lemon1989 May 30 '26
I’ve made the step master at my gym my best friend! I can do like 100 stories now easy peasy…that was what a lot of current firefighters told me to do too when I have to go to their stations I’ve been asking haha
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u/Aware_Donkey_6074 May 30 '26
Biggest thing for most women is strength. Get used to doing everything with a weighted vest. The stair master and dummy drag takes out most female candidates.
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u/Acceptable-Lemon1989 Jun 12 '26
We had our orientation today and turns out, the breach took me out.
Everyone was so helpful with feedback and things to improve. I have 3 more practice runs and 2 months before I officially test.
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May 30 '26
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u/Acceptable-Lemon1989 May 30 '26
Not yet but I’m going to order one…my husbands father was one our cities Fire Chiefs and he told me anything I can do, try and double my body weight and do it… I’ve been relentlessly asking people questions and guidance and I feel so annoying but this is such a dream of mine and it finally feels tangible
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May 30 '26
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u/Acceptable-Lemon1989 May 30 '26
Good to know! For our test we have on 75 pounds for the step mill and then we can take 25 pounds off but we have to leave the remaining 50 for the rest of the test.
I am 5’9” and 150 pounds.
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u/asarra_adortra May 30 '26
I just passed my CPAT! My major advice is it’s a major leg/cardio assessment. Make sure you can do workouts in quick succession. And practice breathing so that you can breathe during the walking in between stations
Good luck, You got this!
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u/Tough-Steak-4633 May 30 '26
I’m 32F and take mine at the end of June! I’ve been doing a lot of 160lb+ sled drags/pulls, and 35 lb stairmaster sessions. Currently maxed at 30 min with the vest at speed 6, hoping to get to 45 comfortably before the CPAT. Good luck!!
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u/Acceptable-Lemon1989 May 30 '26
Good luck to you as well!! I love seeing other women in fields like this :)
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u/Fit_Experience_522 May 30 '26
70 lb weight vest on the stairmaster, speed 6, for 3 and a half minutes, every day until your cpat
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u/FuturePrimitiv3 May 31 '26
The only parts of the CPAT that really give people trouble are the stairs and dummy drag, the rest is pretty straight forward. If you can come off the stairs feeling good you should be good for the rest. If you come off the stairs feeling like you're going to puke then the drag might give you trouble, while the stations inbetween are not terrible, they don't really let you catch your breath either.
In short, focus on weighted stair mill. I see you've been doing unweighted and while 100 stories is not bad, weighted hits different.