fairfax county, VA.

[sTages19]

A Lieutenant from Fairfax County came and talked to my paramedic class this week, I'm in Illinois. They had great things to say about the department and the area of where it is. It seemed like a very interesting opportunity, in that they are looking for medics, so first things first on that. But I was just wondering if anyone knows anything about the Dept?

[BoxAlarm187]

Anything specific you'd like to know? They're a big department, operating out of 37 fire stations with about 1400 uniformed personnel protecting 1 million people. All stations are staffed by career personnel, although some of the stations and apparatus are owned by the volunteers and painted in their respective organization's colors. They're answering around 90k calls per year, with a majority of those being EMS, as are most departments.

They staff 37 engines, 8 heavy rescues, a whole slew of aerials (don't remember the number right off), ambulances, tankers, and of course support vehicles. They have a large hazmat team, and Station 18 is the home of one of Virginia's two FEMA USAR teams (VA-TF1). Station 12 routinely operates with Montgomery County, MD at Great Falls performing swiftwater rescues.

Like any place, they have some slow stations, some busy stations, some ghetto, and some $5M homes. Just depends on where you are.

Hope that helps, I'm sure some others can chime in and add some facts, figures, and the ever-important opinion.

[Jonnee]

Anything specific you'd like to know? They're a big department, operating out of 37 fire stations with about 1400 uniformed personnel protecting 1 million people. All stations are staffed by career personnel, although some of the stations and apparatus are owned by the volunteers and painted in their respective organization's colors. They're answering around 90k calls per year, with a majority of those being EMS, as are most departments.

They staff 37 engines, 8 heavy rescues, a whole slew of aerials (don't remember the number right off), ambulances, tankers, and of course support vehicles. They have a large hazmat team, and Station 18 is the home of one of Virginia's two FEMA USAR teams (VA-TF1). Station 12 routinely operates with Montgomery County, MD at Great Falls performing swiftwater rescues.

Like any place, they have some slow stations, some busy stations, some ghetto, and some $5M homes. Just depends on where you are.

Hope that helps, I'm sure some others can chime in and add some facts, figures, and the ever-important opinion.

It is a good department to work for. A lot of everything going on. Newer apparatus is always coming in as the fleet gets updated.

Medics have been the main hires of late. Now beginning to hire firefighter grades too.

The salary is pretty.

See the web site:

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/fr/

[Adenosine6]

I posted this in the employment section for Fairfax, but likewise, I am a NREMT-P / 10 year DoD firefighter interested in moving to the DC/Baltimore area as well. I was wondering if a Fire/Medic from Fairfax would be able to donate a little bit of their time to help me get a better feel for the department and area over a private message. The recruiting office was a wonderful help, yet recruitment can really only tell you so much apart from having some quick one on one time with the men and women who currently work in ops to get a better sense of the day to day. Most of my questions are along the lines of continuing education opportunities, ALS protocols/ED facilities in the area, resources/equipment, community outreach, etc.

As like sTages19, I'm from the MidWest, so I am trying my best to educate myself and get a feel for the community I'd potentially be serving. I hope my inquiry isn't too taboo, for I feel it never hurts to ask humbly, with an eagerness to learn.

Thank you

[pipeman1822]

It is a good department to work for. A lot of everything going on. Newer apparatus is always coming in as the fleet gets updated.

Medics have been the main hires of late. Now beginning to hire firefighter grades too.

The salary is pretty.

See the web site:

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/fr/

What is the starting salary? Just curious. I didn't look too hard since it's not a big concern of mine since I'm not looking for a job there.

[CaptOldTimer]

I googled "Fairfax County fire department salary" and this is what I found.

Googling works well.


This link will tell you a lot!!


http://www.novaregion.org/index.aspx?NID=917


$48,877

[len1582]

It is a good department to work for. A lot of everything going on. Newer apparatus is always coming in as the fleet gets updated.

Medics have been the main hires of late. Now beginning to hire firefighter grades too.

The salary is pretty.
See the web site:

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/fr/

Bear in mind...a higher salary usually means a higher cost of living in the area.
.
.

[CaptOldTimer]

Bear in mind...a higher salary usually means a higher cost of living in the area.
.
.

See here............ http://www.fairfaxcountyeda.org/cost-living

also google Fairfax County, Va Cost of Living.

[sTages19]

Thanks for the replies. On the handout we got it stated that after the whole fire school, probationary period the salary was $71,XXX. The $48,XXX is what it said for during the probation and all that.

They said that most ambulances go up 1 on 1? is that correct? Also do they have many hospitals around, whats an average transport time like? Being 1 on 1 i feel it would be more difficult just being the only one to be able to do certain things. Here in chicago you have a hospital every 5-7 mins so it doesnt come into affect, but they were saying the times were longer.

Also we googled the area during break and it seemed like its a pretty costly area, thus the higher salary.

[pipeman1822]

I googled "Fairfax County fire department salary" and this is what I found.

Googling works well.


This link will tell you a lot!!


http://www.novaregion.org/index.aspx?NID=917


$48,877

Relax man, just asked since it was conversation. I didn't care THAT much since I have no desire to work there. I already have a job on the "better" side of the river. haha kidding

About cost of living, I think DC recently passed up LA and is only behind NYC and Bay Area. It sucks paying rent here, but the area itself is great in my opinion. You do get what you pay for. I'm not as familiar with FFX County itself and haven't lived that far out from the city, but it seems nice the few times I've been there. Tysons Corner is bigger than Downtown Atlanta from what I've read. The new silver line on the Metro should be finished in a few years and will connect it to the city which would make it more of an option for people to live and not just work. The DC area really is a fun place.

[DennisTheMenace]

Relax man, just asked since it was conversation. I didn't care THAT much since I have no desire to work there. I already have a job on the "better" side of the river. haha kidding

About cost of living, I think DC recently passed up LA and is only behind NYC and Bay Area. It sucks paying rent here, but the area itself is great in my opinion. You do get what you pay for. I'm not as familiar with FFX County itself and haven't lived that far out from the city, but it seems nice the few times I've been there. Tysons Corner is bigger than Downtown Atlanta from what I've read. The new silver line on the Metro should be finished in a few years and will connect it to the city which would make it more of an option for people to live and not just work. The DC area really is a fun place.

Hear Hear! Also, there are guys that commute from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New Jersey, southern Maryland, Deleware and I have heard at least one guy drives in for his tours from North Carolina. The shift schedule allows this, for those that don't mind a little driving every other day. But as a DC Native who has lived on both sides of the river, but always inside the Beltway, I will agree that the cost of living is worth what it gets you.

[pipeman1822]

Hear Hear! Also, there are guys that commute from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New Jersey, southern Maryland, Deleware and I have heard at least one guy drives in for his tours from North Carolina. The shift schedule allows this, for those that don't mind a little driving every other day. But as a DC Native who has lived on both sides of the river, but always inside the Beltway, I will agree that the cost of living is worth what it gets you.

Yea it seems as though most live pretty far away now. I'm sure I eventually will with the prices going up so fast but I definitely don't want to. This is definitely one of the best cities in the country, as well as many of the suburbs.

[edpmedic]

A Lieutenant from Fairfax County came and talked to my paramedic class this week, I'm in Illinois. They had great things to say about the department and the area of where it is. It seemed like a very interesting opportunity, in that they are looking for medics, so first things first on that. But I was just wondering if anyone knows anything about the Dept?

I was hired at Fairfax County as a FF/medic with the 126th class, 4/08. I'm very happy here. What do you want to know in particular?

[edpmedic]

Anything specific you'd like to know? They're a big department, operating out of 37 fire stations with about 1400 uniformed personnel protecting 1 million people. All stations are staffed by career personnel, although some of the stations and apparatus are owned by the volunteers and painted in their respective organization's colors. They're answering around 90k calls per year, with a majority of those being EMS, as are most departments.

They staff 37 engines, 8 heavy rescues, a whole slew of aerials (don't remember the number right off), ambulances, tankers, and of course support vehicles. They have a large hazmat team, and Station 18 is the home of one of Virginia's two FEMA USAR teams (VA-TF1). Station 12 routinely operates with Montgomery County, MD at Great Falls performing swiftwater rescues.

Like any place, they have some slow stations, some busy stations, some ghetto, and some $5M homes. Just depends on where you are.

Hope that helps, I'm sure some others can chime in and add some facts, figures, and the ever-important opinion.

All true, but what's considered a ghetto here really isn't, if you compare those areas to rough parts of PG county, SE DC, The Bronx, etc.

[edpmedic]

It is a good department to work for. A lot of everything going on. Newer apparatus is always coming in as the fleet gets updated.

Medics have been the main hires of late. Now beginning to hire firefighter grades too.

The salary is pretty.

See the web site:

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/fr/

That $53,887 is what you make in the academy, although that may drop to a basic FF's starting salary until you get released into the field. That's where the 48,000 came from.

I started out making the same (after the COLA took effect in July). My offer letter stated that I would get $182.59/pay period as cert pay after graduation from fire school. That was 10% of a basix FF's salary. It's probably a little more now, let's say $5,000 even on the year. You'll get night diff, which probably comes out to 2 grand a year. You get riding pay - $2/hr to ride the engine, $3/hr to ride the medic unit. It's a 56 hour workweek. If you were to not take any days off at all, you'll earn around 5,800 a year for engine riding pay, or 8,700 for the medic. If you split your time between the two, and take vacation, you'll get at least 6,000 as a conservative number. You also get paid holidays - 11.2 hours of straight time if you're off, and 16 hours if you work at least that amount of hours on a holiday. That's where the 71,000 comes from.

Medics from my class just passed the EMS Technician promotional exam. The additional pay puts us at around 80k give or take on the year.