What A Firefighters Job Is Like

The damage that a fire can cause is obvious and this is why firefighter jobs are so important. Fire fighters are usually the first ones responding to any type of emergency and perform many tasks including extinguishing burning buildings, helping out with medical emergencies, vehicle accidents and many other incidents. They must make sure their equipment is clean and all the items they use are in proper working order.

Keeping their skills up to date is necessary and they will be continually training with new equipment and techniques. Working together as a team is mandatory and each team member has a different responsibility. There are regular and woodland firefighters, search and rescue fire fighters, aerial firefighters, smoke-jumpers, who are fire fighters who are sent to locations by aircraft and jump to the fire, fire marshals, inspectors, arson investigators and those who train other firefighters.

Because of the extreme conditions and also the stress associated with the emergency situations that arise, the fire fighter definitely needs to stay in shape for the work they must do. They will stay in the fire station while on duty and can eat, sleep, shower and watch t.v. at the fire station, just like at home, unless they need to work on the trucks and equipment or respond to a call. Those with a specialty in the fire service may not be assigned to a regular station. The specialty firefighter may stay for duty at an airport facility or a factory facility.

Fire marshals and investigators usually do not respond to regular calls but will work from an office. Fire inspectors will ensure the buildings in the area are up to codes set by law to ensure they are safe. Job hours usually run about ten or twelve hours and include pulling rotating shifts of three days on and four days off. Then they switch to four days on and three days off. This type of shift work provides at least 40 to 50 hours of work each week.

The turn out gear is the biggest piece of gear the firefighter has to provide them protection while on the job. This gear provides protection from top to bottom when combined with gloves, boots and a helmet and is very hot and heavy. On a hot day it can run a hundred degrees inside the gear. Being in top physical condition will be important during these times.

A firefighters salary is usually between $35,000 to $60,000 a year. With additional training, some specialty firefighters can make as much as $75,000 a year but they are put into very dangerous situations. The amount of jobs is expected to rise for firefighting in the future and there will be more positions opening up for anyone who appreciates what a firefighters job is like.

According to projections from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of firefighters positions will increase faster than most other types of jobs in the country.

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