Being a firefighter and substitute teaching on days off would be a good gig. Not sure what it’s like where you’re at but subs around here make about $120 or so a day. Not bad for about 6 hours work.
Being a firefighter and substitute teaching on days off would be a good gig. Not sure what it’s like where you’re at but subs around here make about $120 or so a day. Not bad for about 6 hours work.
“If you know the way broadly you will see it in everything." - Miyamoto Musashi
When my son was little I taught him that a fire truck with its lights/sirens on meant a fat woman had fallen out of bed. It's still a running joke with us today.Originally Posted by UncleGabby
Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.
Possibly of interest, especially since @breakingtime91 is in the West: The infrastructure bill that's making its way through Congress includes several provisions aimed at making the pay and conditions better for the federal firefighting workforce. Full-time federal firefighters also qualify for the enhanced LEO/firefighter/air traffic controller retirement (12d), which is a lot better than the normal federal retirement system (in terms of money and how long you have to work), although not as good as some state and local retirements.
Where I was on a local PD, the police (when not tied up) were dispatched to every FD & EMS call, just in case they could help. Some of the most common calls our firefighters had were people falling and needing help getting up (as noted upthread), vehicle crashes, odor investigations, and fire alarms. Actual fires were infrequent and invariably involved a mutual aid response from a handful of other departments.
A fire department that pays well (that may be the catch) has always seemed to me like a pretty good option for work/life balance, camaraderie, physical activity, and some excitement/action.
I have been in the fire service since 93 and on my current job for 17 years. I hope to retire in 10 more years when I hit 60 YOA. Me and my guys have helped a few candidates prep for the interview, ask me anything.
If your area is anything like mine, you shouldn't have any trouble getting hired. We're hurting for candidates here.
I don't have much to add to what the others have already said.
Anything I can do to help, let me know.
'Nobody ever called the fire department because they did something intelligent'
I was trained as a fire fighter and crash rescue in the Navy. Not for everyone because some days aren't going to be like a bad day at the office. It will be worse than that, a lot worse. Not trying to deter you however because some people would rather do the difficult physical jobs and take their chances.
For me an office job would have killed me so I found something I could make a living with working outside. A friend of mine who I went through training with stayed with it. He became the fire chief for Boeing at their Everett plant. He did pretty well with being a fire fighter.
Best of luck.
Last edited by Borderland; 08-26-2021 at 10:44 AM.
In the P-F basket of deplorables.
We once got called to send a rollback to assist the coroner moving a body that was, IIRC, over six hundred pounds. They had to remove part of a wall from the house to get him out. I believe the PC term they use is "lifting assistance."
Last edited by NEPAKevin; 08-26-2021 at 01:18 PM.
"You can't win a war with choirboys. " Mad Mike Hoare
We had a 5 - 600 lb man die in his home.
He was so big that he was not going to fit thru the door.
Ended up taking out the picture window and using the aerial to lift him out of the house.
"... And miles to go before I sleep".
Do it if you can depending on how it works where you are located. I worked for 3 small departments over 4 years in IL and suddenly had to stop working in 2014, relocated to FL in 2019 and now attending an academy to start working again. FL wouldn’t accept my IL certs telling me because my department academy wasn’t an “accredited school”, so it massively sucks having to do it again at 35 but I think it’s worth it in the end.
Do it!
Two of the guys from my on-call FD went full-time recently.
They are both in their early/mid '30s.
One needed a career change and the other hadn't quite settled down in what he wanted to do.
There is definitely a need;
- those two guys just got off probation and are scoring tons of OT; the dept. is still five guys short!
- another one of my buddies is a Lt. in NH's second largest FD; they just hired 14 guys and expect to do the same thing in the spring.
- a dept in SE NH is expecting to open a new station and that means 20 more guys to hire!
I passed CPAT at 48 years old (as a gut check) so you've still got plenty of youth in 'ya!
Is the boy you were proud of the man you are?
Fimbo iliyo mkononi, ndio iuwayo nyoka!
Reply With Quote