What areas in the U.S. might give the best chance to being hired as a firefighter?

[RRR]

I know that trying to become a paid firefighter is generally very difficult because of the huge competetion for the jobs.

I guess large towns and cities that are growing fast and opening new stations might be a place to try to get a job.

Anyone have any thoughts on what areas of the U.S. might give a person the best chance of getting hired?

I've seen a few ads in Firehouse from Florida fire departments looking for Firefighter/Paramedics.

[FP&LS Guy]

The problem with trying to get on in Florida is that you need to be certified in Florida to even test for those jobs. And Florida is not willing to accept significant amounts of training from other states.

I took a class at NFA with one of the guys from the state training agency, and he was very clear about the fact that they aren't interested in providing reciprocity to people from outside Florida. His comment was pretty much "Why should we be giving jobs to people from out-of-state when we have people here that need jobs?"

I never thought of the fire service as the employer of last resort for communities. Seems like communities should be allowed to recruit the best people for the job.

[pfr172]

As far as areas with fast population growth, north Texas has some of the fastest growing cities in the nation. I saw an ad on TV for FF/Paramedic jobs in a city close to me. There are many job opprotunities here.

[gah74]

pfr172...Hey, I bet it was the advertisement for our department here in Garland. So how are things at the Plano FD? Are you guys getting paid 6 figure salaries yet? It kinda makes me want to quit and go test up there.

[spo0k]

I've heard that pretty much every state in the southeast US is hurtin for people. I was unaware of the reciprocity issues with florida, but maybe Georgia/South Carolina would be a good place to look.




------------------
FF. Mike Burnes
Whitehall Fire Division

[robbie]

Here in N.C it seems every time you turn around many depts.are hiring. High Point F.D. does a lot of hiring, Winston Salem F.D. hires it seems 2 times a year and even Greensboro hires a bunch lots of big cities in piedmont N.C hire often and lets not forget Charlotte F.D. they do there share also. I going to stay at my small dept. (some times bigger aint always better.)

[pfr172]

gah74, how did you guess that? Yes it was for Garland. Actually the commercial was pretty cool and it will probably get a lot of applicants. As far as Plano's salaries....well im not complaining!lol

[nsfirechap]

Ever thought about the military> I was a firefighter in the Air Force for 14 years. Was a great way to start.....

[RRR]

pfr172,

You don't happen to know a Plano f/f that is originally from Pictou County, Nova Scotia, Canada do you?

[RRR]

NSfirechap,

I have thought about it some and it seems like some fire departments like the extensive training the military gives and/or the discipline, when they are looking at hiring a recruit. Is this right?

[FD111]

Well you can try the City of Houston, Tx. They will be hiring alittle over a 1,000 firefighters over the next couple of yrs. They are hurting in a big way right now for firefighters, due to the large amount of personnel taking there retirement. So, I would say if you really want a job right now Houston is the place to go.

Just my .02 cents

[pfr172]

RRR, I dont know any one off the top of my head, but do you know which station he or she works at?

[RRR]

pfr172,

I don't know what station he is at. I actually don't even know him. I was at the Nova Scotia f/f school a few years ago and an instructor knew of him (or knew him,not sure). He said this guy really wanted to be a paid f/f and while looking in the IfSTA Essentials of F/F text he saw a lot of pictures of Plano f/fs demonstrating the practicals------so he decided to head for the Plano f.d. based on that, a bit of a funny story if it is true.

I wouldn't blame Americans for not wanted Canadians to take f/f jobs in the U.S. because there a probably enough of your own that would like the job but the reason I ask about this guy is because I would ask him how he was able to legally qualify for employment in the U.S.

[TruckCo]

Your right Robbie, lets not forget Charlotte lol. Here are a few stats for you RRR on Charlotte...since 1999 Charlotte has hire alomst 160 firemen. Thats to date. They plan to run 2 more classes of boots through this year. With the building of stations in the next few years I can guarentee those numbers of fireman are going to rise. So if you dont mind working the job in the southeast, you might want to look into it.

[RRR]

Thanks for the info TruckCo, greatly appreciated-----this forum stuff sure is good.