Which City?

[osfd100]

Which CT cities have "The Job to Land". - Should have 3 answers

1) Based on Fire Load
2) Based on Pay and Bennies
3) Based on Reputation

[KeithA8]

It's hard to find one city that covers all three topics but here is my opinion in no particular order:
Hartford
West Hartford
East Hartford
Bristol
Hamden
Milford
Danbury
Stamford
I would be very happy working for anyone of these depts. I left out Fairfield county for the most part because I just don't know enough about that area. The ones mentioned are rumored to be well paid, decent work, and a good rep.

[mpfd11]

Mashantucket Pequot Fire Dept.

[osfd100]

I was trying to answer some of these myself. That is one of the reasons I asked.

I heard at one point a few years ago Manchester was the highest paid?

For Fire Load, I know it runs in cycles but Hartford and New Haven have got to be up there.

Reputation ??? hmmm.

[Mycareer]

OSFD

Manchester has been in the top 3 or 4 highest paid depending on contract year. They also have negotiated a 5 yr. contract which runs out in 09. They are also only hiring Paramedics at this point but the last test only had 18 applicants. The fire load is there, but they seem to catch room and contents and the fires come in waves.

[Sgnl50]

Here is my two cents. In no apparent order

Hartford
East Hartford
Meriden
Sikorsky Fire-Rescue ( excellent payscale,benefits, and lost of mutual aid)
Pratt & Whitney Fire ( excellent payscale and benefits.....ie stepping stone)
UCONN Health Center

Any of the towns that are running supplemental career staffing(Farmington, Colchester, etc.... These towns are growing which means their FDs will being growing.

[Sgnl50]

Mashantucket Pequot Fire Dept.

"Kudos" to your pride in your department

[KeithA8]

Sikorsky, Pratt & Whitney, UCONN, Mashuntucket? Are you kidding me? I thought you wanted to be a firefighter? Manchester does pay well, but has horrible staffing.

[JCA1386]

keith, i believe that sgnl50 works for pratt, so its good to see that hes got pride in his department as well as mpfd11:rolleyes:

[Sgnl50]

I wouldnt call it pride as much as I like my benefits and my paycheck. I should have been a little more descriptive. Sikorsky does a fair amount of mutual aid as well as a very high payscale (48K). UCONN Health Center, does a fair amount of mutual aid to the surrounding towns and also has an excellent payscale.

[CTJAKE]

What about the fire load? 48K is good if you are starting off at step 1 or step 0. Not good if its top step.

[crankshaft]

I don't believe Sikorsky does the amount of mutual aid as you think they do.

[Sgnl50]

I was under the impression that Sikorsky did a decent amount of mutual aid. PWFD is a stepping stone. I hope to be out of here very very soon. I would love to work on a dept with a high fire load. But right now Im looking to be able to buy a house and marry my girlfriend.

[Mycareer]

Hey Keith A8,

Manchester runs 3 per Engine and Quint. And 1 Co is split 2 on the eng & 2 on the Medic. Total of 16 per shift(minimum) which will change when the 3 new guys go online in Sept Thats not that horrible it is about par w/most small to medium size depts nationwide.What does W Hart. run ???

[Whaler]

I was under the impression that Sikorsky did a decent amount of mutual aid. PWFD is a stepping stone. I hope to be out of here very very soon. I would love to work on a dept with a high fire load. But right now Im looking to be able to buy a house and marry my girlfriend.


Sgnl50,
Did you get a job offer from MPFD? Obviously if you did you turned it down because I haven't heard anyone took the job. Why did you turn it down (if you did) for the lack of pay or the reputation of the department?

Just curious.

[CTJAKE]

Hartford
Bridgeport
New Haven
Norwalk
Stamford
W.Hartford
Danbury
Stratford
Milford
Bristol
E.Hartford
Hamden

I don't believe Sikorsky does the amount of mutual aid as you think they do.


I agree, not in that order, but close.

[PurplePants8]

I dont know much about other depts. but I really enjoy working for stratford. In my 2 months on the job ive gotten a few jobs and a couple extrications. The pay is awesome with excellent benefits and retirement. Thats not to mention a good group of guys with plenty of insight.

[KeithA8]

Sgnl50:
I don't mean any disrespect. The criteria was fire load, pay & bennies, reputation. Industrial fire depts are security gaurds with extinguishers. Don't get me wrong you do have a good job and most people would kill to have it, but lets be real. How many structure fires have you been to since you've been on the job? How many extinguishers did you fill last week? Did you get woken out of your bunk the last tour? I do realize that working for UTC affords you fantastic bennies and the pay is average but to rank it as one of the top fire depts in the state is a stretch. My dept is no FDNY either. We have an average fire load, and one of the best pay and bennies in the country. You should be proud to be on the job, I know you are looking to move on to bigger and better things - which tells me you realize deep down inside the industrial world is not the place for a young eiger firefighter although it's a good job. 48k is not a very high pay it's, as mentioned, average for starting pay.

Mycareer:
Manchester must have changed, I remember the days of 2 man companies. Maybe it changed when you went to paramagic engines. In West Hartford we run 4 on everything but we only have 5 companies. So Hartford engine 11 and ladder 5 are part of our 2nd alarm assignment. We have 21 per shift and as you know for our population size we are grossly understaffed as well.

I don't know alot about fairfield county so I can't comment on the depts down there. I know there are great ones. Stratford may very well be one. We don't hear much about them in the Hartford area.

[crankshaft]

I forgot to mention Waterbury cause of the fire load and Meriden, they run about 8000 calls a year.

[crankshaft]

keith, any news on when West Hartford will be testing again? I heard this summer but havnt heard anything else.

[KeithA8]

Waterbury is in a horrible state of affairs. I would not reccomend going there. Many of those poor guys are testing to get out. The state cut their throat BIG TIME.

West Hartford is rumored to be testing in the very near future. The city is going through some budget pains so I don't know for sure if they are willing to pay for the testing process. We currently have 4 vacancies. I'll let you guys know when I hear something.

[medic8675]

What does everyone think of East Hartford? Do they pay well? Are most people happy working there?

[Sgnl50]

Sgnl50,
Did you get a job offer from MPFD? Obviously if you did you turned it down because I haven't heard anyone took the job. Why did you turn it down (if you did) for the lack of pay or the reputation of the department?

Just curious.

I recieved a call from them today. I havent responded yet. If I am offered the job I will not be taking it. I dont want to work for another department that is more private than municipal. I know MPFD is considered municipal but tribal goverment is totally different. Also the payscale is too low

Cheers
Matt

[KeithA8]

Medic:
I know a lot of people who work in East Hartford and they are very happy. Pay is decent and they are average as far as fire duty goes. Overtime is virtualy non-existant so budget to the salary and everything will be o.k. I would work there.

[Sgnl50]

I work with EHFD guys on a pretty consistant basis. They all seem to be pretty happy. I would take a job there in a heart beat. I have no desire to become a medic so I'm SOL

[medic8675]

Thanks guys! I have a chief's interview on Monday and I am pretty excited. They are sending 3 to the academy in Sept..

[Sgnl50]

Thanks guys! I have a chief's interview on Monday and I am pretty excited. They are sending 3 to the academy in Sept..

Good Luck with your interview. If you get on the job our paths will cross

Matt

[SMOKEnPipes]

Which CT cities have "The Job to Land". - Should have 3 answers

1) Based on Fire Load
2) Based on Pay and Bennies
3) Based on Reputation

Lets FAce it guys each category sperarates one group from another..

1) fire load
Hartford, Bridgeport, New Haven, Waterbury, New Britan, Norwalk, Stamford, Meriden,Danbury, W hartford, Bristol, Milford, W Haven, E. Hartford, Stratford, New London, 'S taven, Manchester, Norwich. Torrington, Branford New Canan.....

2) Stamford, New Cannan, Norwalk, Fairfield, W. Hartford, Danbury, Bristol, Stratford......... some based totally on OVERTIME potential and history often "built in" bottom of the list are Bridgeport and Waterbury sinceboth have had financial issues in past and both have lost major ground in consessions

3) West Hartford, Stamford, West and east Haven, Milford, Danbury have the highest reps NOT to take away from Hamden, Bristol or anyone, bt they shine even when overshadowed by larger regional departments...
of the "BIG 3" I personally think New Haven shines with Hartford right with them though I will admit I've spent less time in hartford CTY then the rest of the state, over many years.. I tryed to be objective with this and tryed not to be unfair, I know I have prolly missed a couple places, sorry bout dat ...

Also , Sikorsky does a "fair amount of M/A " this includes ARFF vehicle requests Not only to stratford and shelton near the plant, but also to Bridgeport and Milford if needed as well as containerized foam to both counties if needed and Sikorsky Often responds to the housitonic river for boating emergencies as they are able to float the boat and get on scene while Stratford is offloading they're boat, and Milford is in transport from the dock which is located downtown. Just as Electric Boat, and Pratt and whitney as well as the sub base are integral parts of the local Mutual aid system and often provide specialized services... In many parts of the state we have amazing potential

[LCKAngels]

I realize a majority of these posts are from people that are trying to get hired somewhere, but please keep in mind a few things regarding depts that fall into these 3 categories.

Reputation is important and should definitely play a role in anybody's decision. More importantly however, is it an aggressive dept or do they result to defensive exterior attacks nearly right away.

Fire Load: Let's all realize something, normally larger city depts burn more but with that comes more apparatus on scene. Overall this means that although you may be "on scene" you're barely doing a thing while you're there. Additionally, a lot of depts burn regularly but nothing makes the news for whatever reasons. We're often inundated with news stories from only select cities while a town right next door has the same incident and nobody knows about it.

Pay and Bennies: The only thing anyone has talked about regarding this is the overall salary and pay steps. As a union leader I can tell you my dept isn't one of the highest paid, but we barely pay a thing for insurance and we don't contribute to our pension and we fight like hell to keep it that way. Sure there are depts that make 65K top step, but after paying 10-12K for family medical coverage and another 10-15K towards you're 401K, you're right back down to mid 40'sK. For the most part, every firefighter in this state is paid the same.

Anyone who's interested in knowing how busy a dept really is can check out this month's issue of Firehouse magazine, there are some surprising stats in there regarding CT depts. As far as depts growing and hiring, look for Guilford to continue to hire, Hamden is still short personnel and rumor has it No. Haven will be putting on 20 more because of some construction project at the old Pratt & Whitney plant. Good luck to all of you trying to land a job, this is just some things to keep in mind should you be offered more than one job at once or within a few weeks of eachother, which happens more often than not.

[KeithA8]

LCKAngles,
I have to greatly disagree with your thought that depts all prety much pay the same. There is a huge spectrum throughout our state. Some depts are at poverty levels with no benefits at all and some pay top dollar and give you the world. Everyone should do their homework and ask the guys on the job they are considering a lot of questions before making a decision. Personaly I would take the first job that comes along and re-evaluate your position and decide if the grass is truely greener on the otherside. In some cases it is. I think what LCKAngles is trying to say is that don't look at salary alone - which is good advise. Consider whether retirement benefits exist or sick time buy out or stypens. I am not in the dept I started my career in. I am very happy where I am now and plan to finish out my career here.

[CTBigStick1]

Also , Sikorsky does a "fair amount of M/A " this includes ARFF vehicle requests Not only to stratford and shelton near the plant, but also to Bridgeport and Milford if needed as well as containerized foam to both counties if needed and Sikorsky Often responds to the housitonic river for boating emergencies as they are able to float the boat and get on scene while Stratford is offloading they're boat, and Milford is in transport from the dock which is located downtown. Just as Electric Boat, and Pratt and whitney as well as the sub base are integral parts of the local Mutual aid system and often provide specialized services... In many parts of the state we have amazing potential

Come on now. I'm on the job in Stratford. If requests for ARFF's and foam constitute a "Fair amount" for Sikorsky, then the Town of Stratford is in trouble (I'll let Bpt. talk for themselves). I'll give them boat responses (Nice to have the river located on site, eh?), but how often do they ever go past the Moses Wheeler bridge honestly? Maybe a couple times a year at best? How often has Sikorsky come to us as opposed to us coming to those guys? How many medical calls does Sikorsky cover for Stratford off site? How many structure fires has Sikorsky helped put out in Stratford? If it isn't at the plant or airport where is all this mutual aid coming from? If anything Stratford and Bridgeport are the ones giving the mutual aid rather than receiving it.

Don't get me wrong. I've had plenty of positive experiences with the guys at Sikorsky, and feel they are well trained at what they do. And I more than defer to them when I go on their "turf", but the above statement is just absurd.

To the thread starter. I personally feel any career dept. is the "Job to land". Many people test for years and never get hired. It really is a matter of what an individual feels will give them the most gratification out of the fire service. There are guys who will work for peanuts if there are enough "jobs" to catch. Some people want to be well compensated for their time. Some people want to have a good pension to retire on. Unfortunately, there is no perfect Dept. that fits all criteria.