Becoming a Fire Fighter

Selecting your career as a fire fighter is not an easy decision. Fire fighters are the ones who keep their life at stake while performing their duties. Fire fighting jobs require efficient people who are ready to take risks and perform their tasks sincerely saving other people's life and property. If you are looking forward to do something good for your society then fire fighting jobs are of the best options available.

Job Profile of a Fire Fighter

Firefighters need to work in extreme situations. They also sometimes need to risk their lives. They need to be courageous and must have both inner and physical strength. Fire fighting and fire protection is a job that has no clear working hours and goes round the clock. Often fighters are required to work for 8 hours day shifts to 14 hours night shifts. Here are the roles and responsibilities of a firefighter:

• Tillers guide the particular portion of the fire truck that carries the long ladders.
• Hose operators are supposed to connect the fire hydrants to the hoses.
• Pump operators are supposed to keep a check on the fact that the water passes unhindered through the hoses to the blaze.
• During a fire, fire fighters are required to use axes and saws to cut through windows and break walls for evacuating the trapped people from the flames.
• Amidst alarms, it is one of the most significant responsibilities of the fire fighters to take good care of the equipment so that all of them are the in the best working order.
• They also need to have an ample knowledge of first aid to handle urgent situations so that they can help the affected people before a proper medical assistance arrives.
• They also need to have full knowledge on fire safety and share it equally with common men to avoid urgent situations.
• They also need to lift heavy equipment and sometimes injured people too.
• They also need to do building inspections and help in planning fire prevention strategies.
• They also assist claims adjusters decide compensation amount for injured and determine property loss.

Requirements

Academics

A fire fighter needs to be a high school passed out and should have a general education certificate (GED) in fire fighting. These days many applicants also have a college degree or attend 2 to 4 year Programs in Fire Science from Community Colleges or Universities.

Along with the above qualification it is essential for a fire fighter to have a valid driving license with no bad character record in past. Before joining duty, the fire department will be scrutinizing the driving license and also examine all the gained knowledge along with the certificates a candidate possesses.

Applicant fire fighters also need to pass a test of physical stamina, strength, agility along with drug screening and medical examination.

Skill Set

• They need to be certified emergency medical technicians
• A good fire fighter should keep up to the principals and ethics
• They need to have special athletic skills for better situation management
• They should have the passion to do the best for the needy keeping their own personal interests second

Training

The training for fire fighting starts with an initial 20 weeks of training and the basic skills of fire fighting are taught to new fire fighters. During this training period along with oral training on fire safety you need to study at home also which will enable the candidate to perform well during the examinations. Various seminars and meetings are also held to provide extra knowledge to the candidates who are fresher in the field.

These include:

• Ways of using the breathing apparatus
• Acquiring and practice of ladder safety and hose lying
• Knowledge imparting on fire safety in the community

In general training is an ongoing process in the career of a fire fighter and he/she keeps learning new ways of combat with every hazard they face.

Employment Outlook

Career Prospects (globally)

Fire fighters are in general promoted within the particular department they attend to. Passing to higher designations goes through a process of Civil Service Test and Recommendation from the seniors. The advanced designations that a fire fighter can rise to are fire chief, battalion chief and Captain. In the US alone around 353,000 individuals are employed as fire fighters. The employment prospects for fire fighters through 2014 are rather positive. But generally openings only occur when senior officers retire or officers switch departments.

Salaries

The salary drawn by a fire fighter depends on the total work experience and the location posted at. The standard salary earned by a fire fighter in 2004 was $18.43 per hour. The top 10% earned more than $29.21 per hour, while the lowest 10% earned $9.21 per hour. Those holding the designation of fire inspectors earned $46,340 per year.

If you are planning to be a firefighter, make sure you are ready to face potential risks of this job and are mentally prepared.