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Only you can prevent [firefighting]
Deadfall
I don't think you realize just how rich he is.In fact, I should put on a monocle.Registered User regular
I don't think you realize just how rich he is.In fact, I should put on a monocle.Registered User regular
Me ranting in the spoiler.
tl;dr
I'm considering the possibility of thinking about going into the firefightin' profession. So I guess I'm looking to talk to someone that has experience, or knows someone closely that has experience, as a firefighter. I'd just like to ask a few questions, get a feel for it, as I know no firemen, and know very little about the profession. I'd like to know a bit more about it before I start seriously considering it. A PM or here on this thread would suffice, either way.
Edit: Reading over this, it sounds like I'm having a late 20's life-crisis and just looking for a change to shake things up. I'm not, I promise. This is something I've been thinking about for some time now, and I'd like to know if I can still do it while I'm still relatively young.
So, I have some questions. I know I've made a few threads in the past asking about different careers, and it sounds like I'm just bouncing from one job to the next, without direction. But I'm not. I'm a teacher, a physical education teacher, and a damned good one at that.
Before anyone rolls their eyes, you have no idea the amount of work a p.e. teacher has to go through at college nowadays. Can you name your muscles? How much torque and force required to move said muscles? Where they anchor and attach? Your bones? How about those little bumps on your bones? Yes those have names.
Sorry. Anyway, I enjoy what I do, I really do. I've just got this thing, see, where I'm always asking, "What else is there?" Plus, wow, dealing with irate parents wears down your soul. We're not all idiots, us teachers. Promise.
I realize I'm ranting on and on, and I'm trying to focus.
Back in high school, we went to a job fair and I talked to some firefighters. I was in awe. I thought it was the noblest of professions. Of course, back then, my buddies and I wanted to be smoke jumpers because we were so awesome to the max. Nowadays, I have no desire to literally dive head-first into a forest-fire, but talking with those firemen has always simmered in the back of my mind. And recently, well, I've been having the itch, asking myself, "What else is there? What else can I do? Can I do something more noble?"
Before anyone rolls their eyes, you have no idea the amount of work a p.e. teacher has to go through at college nowadays. Can you name your muscles? How much torque and force required to move said muscles? Where they anchor and attach? Your bones? How about those little bumps on your bones? Yes those have names.
Sorry. Anyway, I enjoy what I do, I really do. I've just got this thing, see, where I'm always asking, "What else is there?" Plus, wow, dealing with irate parents wears down your soul. We're not all idiots, us teachers. Promise.
I realize I'm ranting on and on, and I'm trying to focus.
Back in high school, we went to a job fair and I talked to some firefighters. I was in awe. I thought it was the noblest of professions. Of course, back then, my buddies and I wanted to be smoke jumpers because we were so awesome to the max. Nowadays, I have no desire to literally dive head-first into a forest-fire, but talking with those firemen has always simmered in the back of my mind. And recently, well, I've been having the itch, asking myself, "What else is there? What else can I do? Can I do something more noble?"
tl;dr
I'm considering the possibility of thinking about going into the firefightin' profession. So I guess I'm looking to talk to someone that has experience, or knows someone closely that has experience, as a firefighter. I'd just like to ask a few questions, get a feel for it, as I know no firemen, and know very little about the profession. I'd like to know a bit more about it before I start seriously considering it. A PM or here on this thread would suffice, either way.
Edit: Reading over this, it sounds like I'm having a late 20's life-crisis and just looking for a change to shake things up. I'm not, I promise. This is something I've been thinking about for some time now, and I'd like to know if I can still do it while I'm still relatively young.
xbl - HowYouGetAnts
steam - WeAreAllGeth
Deadfall on
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Posts
This. San Francisco recently accepted applications for 200 firefighter positions. Over 10,000 people applied.
That is to say nothing of the actual application process itself, which I've is insanely grueling.
Edit: Also, the number of applicants is normally that high when the economy is GOOD...
Wait, you're a teacher? Maybe you could do it while in your current job, if your summer vacation aligned right.
Anyway, you can find jobs in that vein on USAjobs.gov .
Here in Indiana, you would need to:
Complete Fire Fighter I & II
HazMat Operations & Awareness
First Responder Training at minimum
EMT-A (Better than EMT-B)
After you've got that done, if you really wanted to make a career of it the emergency service, you could go for your medic training and a two-year fire science degree.
But as said before, it is very competitive. Knowing people in the service you want to be in, starting off with volunteering, and being a paramedic will increase your chances exponentially.
(and if you're still interested in smokejumping I have an uncle who started that as 23 y/o after Vietnam)
The schedules are generally all kinds of fucked up and frequesntly change. Typically you work a 24 hour shift and then have 48 off before your next 24 hour shift. Look at a calendar and notice that a week isn't divisible by three and you'll see that you're working (say) Monday and Thursday this week, Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday the following week, then Tuesday and Friday the week after. If you have a wife she's going to have to learn to read the calendar ahead of time and not plan things on those days. So if you have kids you need a wife that's going to be able to deal with the kids on those days. This is also most of the reason your pool of friends will be other firefighters because they are generally the ones that are OK with hanging out at random times of weird days instead of nights and weekends. OH BY THE WAY some firehouses go with "work 48, off 72" which is just as bad.
You'll need the ability to function on any amount of sleep, and to be able to function on an irregular sleep pattern. Most of the time you'll go to the firehouse, maybe have a call or two in the daytime and then sleep there at night. But once in a while you'll get a run in the evening that takes a few hours, then there's cleanup and reports afterward and now the sun's up and there's a car on fire in rush hour. You get off your shift and haven't slept and you promised your sister you'd come over and watch her kids. Please note this is very different than "Oh I pull all-nighters studying all the time[/b].
Also (semi-related to the above friends thing) you need to be able to get along with the other people on your crew. Any kind of other people - idiots, racists, smart alecs, of all stripes. Because you're going to be in a position to be in the same room as them for 24 (or 48) hours at a pop. Because there may come a time when you need any one (or all) of those guys to pull your fainted ass out of a burning building. Because there may be a time when your equipment is fucked up and someone caring enough to say something means your eyes don't get melted out of your face. Because there will be times when you are picking up pieces of a dead boy and you might not want to get constantly ridden for being the one guy that threw up or cried.
If the other firefighters are your friends they'll look out for you and pick you up in those situations. If you're constantly sitting alone, not helping to cook and acting like you're better than them, they might hesitate to do those things even just a second and that's when your foot is sliced off by a collapsing minivan or you;re stuck trying to move a 325 pound woman down a staircase by yourself.
The last thing is that if you start thinking it's not for you, get out as quickly as possible. As you go along in your firefighting days the seniority benefits start to pile up to where you just feel as though you can't quit. For example, a friend of a friend works a grand total of 4 days every three months while he double-dips on his pension right now, because he's accumulated so many vacation days and Kelly days and whatnot. how could you leave that behind once it starts rolling?
I'm not a firefighter but my dad was one for most of my childhood. I didn't make up any examples.
I'm in Colorado, guess I should have mentioned that. Been asking around and we apparently have a fantastic "academy" at a few of our community colleges.
I kinda figured it was rather competitive and a "lifestyle," going by what my stepfather has related to me (he's a police officer out in the mountains and works closely with the local fire department.) So without asking many of my questions, you guys actually answered most of them.
I think I'll investigate volunteering, because man, as I said, I've always found it to be the noblest of professions. I mean, nobody goes around saying, "Bleh, fucking firemen. I hate those guys." And I've always kinda wanted a close camaraderie with a "crew." My teacher friends are great, and they'd be there for me if I needed them, but I can't imagine it'd be the same.
Backstop, your post was most helpful. Thank you.
See, I've always thought I'd be great in a military style situation. It sounds weird, but I'm very good at following directions/orders and don't complain. I never joined the military, obviously, as close as I was. Got a bad vibe from my recruiter and walked away.
I'm fortunate enough to have a relatively secure career now, so I'm not really banking on this or anything. It's just something I've been thinking about for roughly 8 years now. Don't get me wrong, teaching can be great, but sometimes it feels like I'm a square peg, etc etc. Like it feels almost right.
So volunteering it is, with a possible look into forest services. Thanks fellas.
xbl - HowYouGetAnts
steam - WeAreAllGeth
http://www.denvergov.org/Recruit/JobApplication/tabid/393408/Default.aspx
I would recommend applying because even if you aren't interested in working for Denver Fire, and you do make it to at least the written test, it's good practice for what you can expect at almost any firefighter recruitment.
Also, call up your local department and see if they do ride-alongs. It's a great way to see a typical day in the life of firefighting. Plus you can ask tons of questions.
If you are more interested in Wildland firefighting, the US forest Service and Bureau of Land Management both have firefighting positions. Check through USA Jobs for their positions. Almost none of them are in Colorado though.