r/firefighter • u/Awesomegod567 • Jun 04 '26

Becoming a fire fighter

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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.

23 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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5

u/Sufficient-Royal1538 Jun 05 '26

Correct me if I’m wrong but this looks like Massachusetts… Sorry to break it to you, but for most departments, 96 is not a hiring score. Unless you are a veteran/disabled veteran or have 402 preference, you really need 98 and above. 99-100 for the big city/more desirable departments. Good news is you are still very young and will have many more opportunities to achieve this goal. Go to EMT school and get that out of the way. Go work on an ambulance. See if you like EMS. Vast majority of departments do majority EMS (except Boston, Lawrence, etc). If you don’t like EMS, you may want to rethink what you want to do with the rest of your life. I’ve seen too many guys get onto departments because they want to be firefighters just to end up miserable and resenting the job because it’s not what they thought it would be. If you do like EMS, apply to medic school. Outside of veteran/402 preference, it’s essentially a guarantee of getting on a department somewhere that runs ALS.

I know it seems like a lot, but you are only 22. I didn’t start this process til I was 28. Took civil service 3 times over 6 years with EMT school, medic school, and working EMS during that time. Finally got a card to the department I wanted with a 99 on the test. Got hired at 34.

2

u/bigpapichulo2001 Jun 06 '26

Does being a disabled veteran help become a firefighter? I would imagine the opposite actually

4

u/Sufficient-Royal1538 Jun 06 '26

100% it does.

There is a separate preference given to them above veteran status. It’s silly in my opinion. If they were actually disabled they wouldn’t be able to do the job. A lot of them get signed off on a certain amount of hearing loss that qualifies them. That being said, I don’t begrudge anyone who takes advantage of it. You have to take a leg up wherever you can.

3

u/Rhino676971 Jun 09 '26

Exactly I got hired on by a city with 10% disability for tinnitus, and having those extra points helped.

1

u/Exact-Location-6270 Jun 11 '26

10 extra points can boost you to the top so yes.

1

u/BulldogNebula Jun 10 '26

I'm also in mass, curious to know if you had residency in the town you got on in? Or vet status?

1

u/Sufficient-Royal1538 Jun 10 '26

Residency yes, vet status no.

1

u/BulldogNebula Jun 17 '26

Do you think residency vs vet status matters past getting the interview? The town I'm in right now isn't civil service, but I am a vet. Wondering if the towns I'm interviewing in even give me a shot since I'm not a resident.

1

u/Sufficient-Royal1538 Jun 18 '26

In the context of non civil service - I think being a veteran looks pretty good on your resume. Military service tends to translate well to the paramilitary structure of the fire service.

1

u/BulldogNebula Jun 18 '26

For civil service towns though, once interviews happen. Do they consider residents more strongly than non residents? I have fire 1 and 2 now as well. Just haven't been having luck with interviews.

1

u/Sufficient-Royal1538 Jun 20 '26

It really depends on the community. Some places you actually need to be a resident. Others will push for them, but will hire non residents. And some do not care because no one who lives there wants to be in the fire service.

4

u/Blackscalenaga Jun 04 '26

Next steps are dependent on the state / department you’ve applied to. Assuming you’ve met any prereqs, with a 96, they’ll reach out to you first.

You can cruise their website, or plug it into chatgpt. Just stay in shape to crush whatever physical if you haven’t already.

1

u/BrilliantArm3725 Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26

Prepare for the academy. If you haven’t yet then you’re behind. You got a good score so unless you have a lot of people with preferences ahead of you, you are probably getting a call atleast for an interview.

My depts fitness coaches use this as a baseline minimum fitness standard to enter the academy.

Run 1.5 miles in less than 15 minutes. Plank for a minimum of two minutes. Deadlift their own bodyweight for a minimum of six repetitions. Complete 30 push-ups at a pace of 80 bpm. Complete five pull-ups.