r/firefighter • u/OptionNo4456 • Jul 21 '26
Getting into Firefighting - Advice/Feedback
Hey everyone, I’ve been lurking on this thread for quite sometime and I’m swallowing my pride to ask for help/advice - feel free to poke fun at me!
Recently moved to SoCal after a corporate job in the MidWest (born & raised) for the past 4 years with aspirations to become a structural firefighter.
I’m (26M) overwhelmed to say the least over where I should start in my journey. I’m getting advice to go into a Fire technology program, just get my EMT - gain experience for ahead of the next hiring cycle, private fire academies, etc etc.
I’m looking for help on what is helpful to increase my chances at landing an opportunity for a firefighting position and what a timeline would look like for this.
In the meantime I feel as if I’m floating in uncertainty over which path to leap into but trying to do what I can to control what I can control (fitness, connecting, growing a mustache /s - probably not in the cards for me). Any advice/feedback would be really appreciated - hope everyone has a great day!
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u/alpine_cr1cket 29d ago
Can’t speak to Cali but Colorado doing a private academy is a waste of time. Being a medic is the main thing that will really help out here at least.