St. Louis Area FD's

[ziggy171]

Hey , I will be moving down to the Edwardsville area this summer and was wandering if anyone could tell me about some good fire depts down in that area. I will want to get on a volunteer until I can get hired on full time. I will be taking my Paramedic down there too. Any good info on vollie and paid and both IL and MO dept in the St. Louis area will be very helpfull. Thanks alot!

[SFDredhat126]

Glen Carbon and Maryville FDs are both volunteer, and they are good, progressive departments that are well-equipped. Glen has paid EMS coverage, and Maryville has paid people there during the daytime.

I think Troy FD is all volunteer, and they do not do EMS.

In the Metro East, Alton, Granite City, Edwardsville, Collinsville, Belleville, and East St. Louis are the biggest paid departments. Out of those, only Edwardsville also has some volunteers.

There are several other departments that have a handful of paid positions--I believe East Alton and Wood River are some examples.

You can go here to find a listing of all departments in Madison County. Scroll down to page 92:

http://fdmail.sfm.illinois.gov/pdf/R_FD_County_Short.pdf

Where are you taking your medic class? When you get to the point of doing ride-a-longs for class, you could contact Granite City, Edwardsville and Collinsville for ride time.

Good luck!

[SFDredhat126]

To learn more about St. Louis County departments, go here: http://www.stlouisco.com/fire_districts/

Most departments in the county require that you attend the St. Louis Fire Academy prior to being hired. You have to apply for a spot in the academy, and it is all on your own. There is usually a waiting list to get on, so you may want to think about doing that early on if that's what you may want to do in the future.

The word is that you also need to be connected to get hired at many of these departments.

Also, if you think about going to Missouri, go ahead and try to get your National Registry paramedic license after medic class. That's the way to get reciprocity for Missouri.

[ziggy171]

Thanks alot SRD. I have been looking into Bethalto FD. I have a buddy that is on there. They are all volunteer and had around 950 calls last year. It is also right in the middle of Alton and Edwardsville. Alton is where I'll take my medic class (Louis and Clack Community College) and my then will be wife will be working in E'ville. Thanks again for he info!

[Mangles]

Hey, I'm a career firefighter in the Metro East and from what I have seen, you probably want to get your foot in the door in a GROWING area. These would be around Edwardsville/Glen Carbon area and the Ofallon/Fairview Heights/Collinsville area. Some of these are all volunteer right now but I see them going to at least some paid soon enough. Edwardville and Collinsville are probably where I would recommend going once you get your paramedic. They pay well and are GROWING depts. Just something to think about, consider Anderson Hospitals paramedic program(near Edwardsville in Maryville). I know people who have gone through Anderson and Lewis and Clark and Andersons program gets far higher ratings!

[batt403]

In Missouri you can try Affton, Valley Park and Eureka Fire Protection Districts, they all have volunteers and are all good departments. You do not have to have the St. Louis County Fire Academy to volunteer with them and sometimes, sometimes, they hire from the volunteers and send them to the academy.
As SFD stated in order to "work" in St. Louis County you have to have the academy but some departments will hire you and put you through it as a priority one student. Pretty much all require a medic license and as SFD said National Registry is the way to go.
Being connected is not the only way to get on but it sure helps and it helps to be Pro Union, IAFF 2665 is a large demanding group in the metro area.
Good Luck.

[GFPD2005]

Guess Ill have to chime in here. No one has yet mentioned Godfrey Fire Protection District.

www.godfreyfire.com

We are taking applications this week to establish a new list for career firefighter positions. And always accept applications for paid on call. And if you are taking your medic class at Lewis and Clark College....its in Godfrey, not Alton.

As far as career staffing in Madison County it goes something like this.

Alton 60 something, all career
Granite City 50 something, all career
Collinsville 30ish, all career
Edwardsville mid twenties, just got a SAFER grant, and 20 ish volunteer/paid on call
Godfrey 15 career, 15-20 paid on call
Wood River 10 career, 20ish paid on call
East Alton 7 career, 15ish paid on call

Feel free to correct the above. Also godfreyfire.com has links to every department in the county that has a website.

We had 1486 calls last year, protecting about 17000 people and an area over 40 square miles. Something unique about GFPD is that the POC's actually stand duty with the career staffing. Something Edwardsville, Wood River, and East Alton do not do. I am not aware of any other combination department in the county that does that. Career are 24/48 and the POC's usually do night duties from 6pm til 7am, 2 to 4 times a month.

The relationship between our career staff and POC's is pretty good compared to some other departments. This is probably because almost all of the career guys were once volunteers at Godfrey, including me.

I was a POC for 2.5 years and was hired career a few months ago.

They also sent me all expenses paid to FDIC(HOT training included) in Indy last year as a POC. If its Illinois Fire College, or FDIC, etc. they usually will send career and POC. Once you are off probation they will remiburse you for emt, medic, and fire science classes. I have not paid a dime for Firefighter II, Hazmat Ops, FAE, Instructor I, or EMT-B.

[SFDredhat126]

Godfrey: Are you guys union?

[GFPD2005]

IAFF Local 1692

Organized in 1968 I believe.

Once a permanent chief is selected we will be at full staffing of 15 line staff one Chief for 5 per shift:

2 Stations

3 Asst. Chiefs
3 Captains
3 Lt.'s
6 FF

[ziggy171]

Wow, Thanks alot guys, I really appreciate all the info. Sounds like there is alot of good departments and oppertunities down in that area. Sounds good. Thanks everyone! Keep the info coming, the more the better.

And GFPD, I'll probably be picking up an app this weekend. Do you know about possibly any open spots or anything? And thanks for the good info!

[GFPD2005]

Ziggy,

No real answer on openings. It depends if they appoint a new chief from within or go outside. I can say that staffing has been steadily growing and I believe we applied for a SAFER grant.

[GFPD2005]

Just wanted to throw this out there too for those looking.

FIREFIGHTER
GRANITE CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT

Granite City Fire Department is a full-time paid department 57 Firefighters, located approximately 10 minutes from downtown St. Louis, MO in Madison County, Illinois. GCFD mans 3 stations with two pumpers, 3 aerial / pumpers and a rescue pumper. We provide ALS EMS with two full-time ambulances and two backups in reserve.

In 2007, GCFD ran approximately 3100 EMS calls with our ambulances. Fire apparatus responded to 175 fire calls, 75 of which were structures. Another 24 calls were for hazmat incidences. Fire apparatus backup responses accounted for 500 additional calls.

We are proactive with fire safety instruction in our local schools and organizations, yearly fire safety inspections of all local businesses, and ongoing community service projects.

All line personnel are members of the IAFF and AFFI. We work a three shift schedule, 24 hours on / 48 hours off. Starting salary is approximately $45,000 with excellent benefits which includes full medical for the employee and family, paid sick days, vacation and an IRS 125 plan. There are also dental benefits available through the local union.

WE CURRENTLY HAVE AN IMMEDIATE OPENING TO FILL AND ANTICIPATE AN ADDITIONAL TWO OPENINGS BY THE END OF THIS YEAR.


APPLICATION FOR EMPLOYMENT
GRANITE CITY
FIREFIGHTER/PARAMEDIC


The City of Granite City will be accepting applications to establish an Eligibility List for Firefighter/Paramedic. Excellent starting salary, insurance and retirement program. The

Qualifications listed below are not complete. For a complete listing of qualifications, please refer to the Rules & Regulations enclosed in each application.


APPLICANT MUST:

*Be at least 21 years of age and under 35 years of age at the time the eligibility list is effective.

*Possess or be able to obtain a valid driver’s license.

*Pass a written examination, oral interview, background investigation, polygraph test, psychological exam, physical agility test, various job related tests and a thorough medical examination.

*According to City Ordinance #4811, shall become actual resident (domiciled) in the City of Granite City within 90 days after hired. The establishment and maintenance of primary residence within the City of Granite City shall be a condition of continued employment for said employee.

*Be licensed by the State of Illinois Department of Public Health as an Emergency Medical Technician/Basic prior to receiving application.

*Have a high school diploma or GED

*Have at least 20/80 binocular vision without glasses, correctable to 20/20 with glasses, or have 20/20 vision with contact lenses and shall not be color blind.

*Be able to obtain five letters of reference.

Pick-up an application from Lynda Odum at the:

Main Granite City Fire Station
2300 Madison Avenue
Granite City, IL 62040

Available between 8 and 12 noon and 1 and 4p.m., Monday through Friday.

APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE FEBRUARY 18, 2008. Applicants or their representative will be asked to sign when picking up their application. It is the applicant’s responsibility to see that the current application is complete and contains all required documents.

COMPLETE AND RETURN THE APPLICATION BY MARCH 14, 2008, to Lynda Odum, same location.

NO APPLICATION WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER 4:00 P.M., ON MARCH 14, 2008 UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. APPLICATIONS MUST BE COMPLETED IN THE APPLICANTS OWN HANDWRITING.

BOARD OF FIRE AND POLICE COMMISSIONERS - GRANITE CITY, ILLINOIS

Granite City is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

[ziggy171]

Couple things: I got a letter today from Lewis and Clark saying they aren't havinf their Paramedic program this year. I saw above that Andersen has a good program and in the letter they recomended SWIC and Christian. You guys got any other suggestions for good paramedic programs in the area.

And, I got the Godfrey and Granity City apps this week, and in Granite City a guy said they are going to be staffing another ambulance, do you think that will bring more spots to fill other than the current one?

Thanks for all the info guys, it acually helps alot!

[SFDredhat126]

Couple things: I got a letter today from Lewis and Clark saying they aren't havinf their Paramedic program this year. I saw above that Andersen has a good program and in the letter they recomended SWIC and Christian. You guys got any other suggestions for good paramedic programs in the area.

And, I got the Godfrey and Granity City apps this week, and in Granite City a guy said they are going to be staffing another ambulance, do you think that will bring more spots to fill other than the current one?

Thanks for all the info guys, it acually helps alot!

Anderson's medic class runs from January to December, so you've already missed the boat for 2008. SWIC's class runs from August to July and is taught at Belleville Memorial Hospital. I don't know much about Christian's program. The hospital is just off I-270, so it's really easy to get to from the Edwardsville area. Being in Missouri, they would teach to the National Registry test, which would be a good start. If you get an NR medic license off the bat, you will open yourself up to job opportunities on the Missouri side of the river.

I have not yet heard of any staffing level increases in the future for Granite City, but if I remember to, I will ask around.

[jefferson136]

redhat will you be in marion for management 2

[SFDredhat126]

redhat will you be in marion for management 2

I'll be there with bells on. I'm looking forward to it so I can finish FO 1.

[Mangles]

I heard a rumor that Belleville will be testing soon. Can anyone verify this or provide more information?

[DjInferno]

I heard a rumor that Belleville will be testing soon. Can anyone verify this or provide more information?

I'm pretty sure they are getting ready to open a station, so they will be hiring. However, I think their list is brand new, so when they finish that list, I'm sure they'll be testing. I've heard they'll be hiring in the fall maybe? So IF they are testing this year, I'd suspect it would be towards the end of the year.

[ziggy171]

I'm thinking we might end up in the Glen Carbon area. We looked at some appts neer their new station, Station 2 I believe. I would really like to stay active on a dept where ever I go so I went by there when we were down there and check out the station/trucks. I guy said they have a rule that you have to live in the district for 1 year before they will let you on. Does anyone know anything more about that? If we move there in July and put in an application, how active would be able to be with the department?

[Mangles]

Glen Carbon/Edwardsville is a very nice, growing area. It would be a great place for you to work your way into a FD. Anderson Hospital is close and they have a good paramedic program.

Here's the email contact on their website for questions:
lhood@glencarbonfire.com

and here's their website:
http://www.glencarbonfire.com/index.html

Give em' a call if you have any further questions- I'm sure they'ed be glad to talk to you! Good luck!