Full time on a paid department for about 2 years now. I love it!

 

Wow theres a lot more of us here than i thought! Was paid for 2 years at Clemson FD, Volunteer at Central FD, now i am a volunteer at Bluffton Township. love every minute of it!!

alwayse remember 1*

 

1*

 

Greetings brothers,

10 year volunteer FF here, currently serve as Captain at my house, Engine and Heavy Rescue station. 3rd generation in my family, both my grandfather and father have attained the rank of Chief at my current hometown department, sadly I will not follow them that far in the ranks.

I currently work full time as a Paramedic/Rescue tech. just north of Pittsburgh. We are a combination ambulance/rescue service, where I work, Fire does Fire and EMS does EMS and rescue. I have been a NREMT-P for 6 years now, but as of late am feeling the early effects of burn out.

So, I was married in the spring of this year to a wonderful woman whom is finishing her residency in emergency medicine. In the spring of next year we are planning to move to a new city, where she will work as an ER doc and I hope to move on to a fill time firefighter job. Paid FF's are a rarity here in Pennsylvania, the volunteer fire service is very strong here.

I truly believe I was put on this earth to be a FF, I love it very much, heck I do it for free now! Although I do love medicine, but the demorgraphic of the area I currently work in is heavily geriatric. So, the "exciting" calls here are few and far between.

Our plan is to move to Virginia, Maryland, North/South Carolina or Georgia and settle down, FF jobs are easier to find there, alothough not all pay well.

So, if anyone knows of a good place to work for a 29 y/o, college grad., NREMT-P, Fire Officer 1, I would gladly accept the suggestions.

Unfortunately, I had to move when I got married so I am unable to respond to any calls with my current volunteer house. So, my plan is to join a Prince George County Maryland fire house and volunteer there. Why so far? Well, they see a tremendous amount of work and they accept out of state members. So, the wife will be happy I am only gone one weekend a month to go "play" there, and I am happy cause I still get to see fire.

Well, thats about it, sorry for the rant...ha ha...

Glad to see so many brothers on here....

Stay low....

pgh_medic

 

Another 1.5 years will be 20 for me. Volunteer, was captain for 6 years and assistant chief for a short term. We currently run a dual company, Ladder co. and engine co. with a rescue truck.

 

Going to the fire academy early next year and hope to become a paid firefighter after that. The best job in the world!! Super hard to get into to though.

 

16 yrs next month as EMT firefighter with paid service. I'm in the acting officer pool and have about 2wks of officer training left. Love the job.

 

I am with a fully pd department of approx 200 personnel. Been on the job for 8 yrs and am currently a FAO and studying for the Cpts exam this spring.

06 S/Crew
Red (of course)

 

Former firefighter / EMT for 14 years back in N.W. Indiana, before moving to Arizona. All full time here, and I've worked for Ma Bell way to long to give this up for firefighting.

Was assigned to a Truck Company, hence Ex-Truckie

 

It's super hard to become a firefighter? It's not the same for law enforcement/police officers is it? Just curious. It's terribly hard to get into firefighting @ 45k/yr? What is so difficult and why do some of you go to Volunteer stations after paid stations?

Just curious, no offense intended.

 

Hey all, Volunteer Firefighter/Emt-B, Hazmat Tech and webmaster for our department here in Ohio. 4 years and have no regrets.

 

josiah-
well to answer your question, once you are a firefighter it gets into your blood and you cant let it out... its a feeling you cant explain. a lot of us including myself have been in paid departments and have found better paying jobs so we take them to make ends meet, well we soon find out how much we miss the rush and the overall good feeling you get when helping others... So we become Volunteers. Basically its like "having your cake and eating it too". You have your real job and you also get to do what you love.

 

Anybody on here have,or is point of contact to apply/obtain a job in Virginia or Maryland as a Firefighter???

Help a brother out!!

;-)

 

Firefighter/Paramedic - Yorktown, VA (Closing Date: On Going)
Work involves performing pre-hospital emergency medical care, fire suppression, rescue, hazardous materials response, operation of associated equipment, and provision of prevention and life safety information and services to the community.

Firefighter - Caroline, VA (Closing Date: On Going)
Full and Part Time Positions Caroline County Department of Fire and Rescue currently has a full time opening for the position of Medic/Firefighter.

Firefighter - Chesterfield County, VA (Closing Date: On Going)
Functions include extinguishing and preventing fires; responding to emergency medical calls; operating and maintaining apparatus and other Fire Department equipment; and performing other work as required.

 

Josiah, To add to the other comment. Like i said above i am not a firefighter yet, but hope to be soon. I did a 24 hour shift with a very busy department and all i can say is im HOOKED!!!!!! This is the job i will do for the rest of my life and i cant wait to get hired. Even though i wasnt rushing to put out a fire, there isnothing more Exhilarating than waking up at 1:00 in the morning sliding down the poll and running to the engine while tucking in your shirt. I got that adrenaline rush and now i cant get it out of me. I love everything that has to do with fire fighting even coming down to going to a block party just to meet the people. Its awesome, i guess a feeling that you cant explain you can just feel.