As the name suggests, Firefighters are people who basically save people or other things from fire through fighting it. They’re strong individuals who can perform rescue operations with style and panache. Usually loved by women, these pros aren’t frightened of anything and literally lay down their lives everyday like policemen. Right after hearing so much of praise about these brave individuals, you must have developed a slight desire to become one yourself.
Table Of Contents
- Average firefighter salary
- Firefighter career outlook
- How to become a firefighter
- Firefighter job description
How Much Does A Firefighter Make In Birmingham?
If you value your work, sometimes you feel like you are not working anymore. Nevertheless, passion is not more than enough to sustain a life-style. Everybody needs a financial backing to help them live life the way they deem fit. As a result, with regards to picking out a profession, individuals are always curious about how much they might gain from it. Genuinely, undeniably that’s the inspiration you set your alarm clock to get you ready for the job daily. People in the community service sector don’t get paid as much. Nonetheless, they do have a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. {Let’s find out how much a firefighter earns.|Without further ado, let’s find out the income of a firefighter.
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The mean yearly income of a firefighter is around $49,000 with the median somewhere around $46,000. The figures may vary depending on the what state he is in or his education qualification or his skills and experience. As we go more, you will know components affecting income.
Location Matters
The location of the fire department is a major aspect in determining someone’s salary. This is due to a few components like – population size, availability of firemen and frequency of fighters. An area just where fire takes place often is likely to get higher income compared to less event of fire areas. New York has the highest rate among firefighters with 70% above the national mean. On the contrary, Columbia pays the lowest at 38% below the national average.
Educational Qualification
To become a firefighter, one usually just needs to have studied a course relevant to fire science in high school. Nevertheless, education is extremely valued in this field. There are two main reasons for this. One is that it is proof of your knowledge in the field. Another one is for the department to spend less on you just before becoming an asset in the government. Therefore, they can afford to pay you more. A bachelor’s degree or an associate’s degree in fire science can help you advance your career and earn a lot more. Just how much more when you have a graduate credentials in firefighting.
Length of Work Experience
Career history is undoubtedly the determining aspect of how much an employee must receive. As a firefighter, your income can rise about 50% with experience in the area of 20 years. That percentage is quite as compared with other job which is at 15% to 20% even they have the same duration of experience.
Certifications
Even the fundamentals of EMT, it’s still required by a fireman. However, apart from learning the basic, you can go more and learn the advanced certifications. Having a deeper list of certifications and trainings provide you with a chance of getting a better earnings. Besides, this also provides you another option should you decide shift careers later.
Industry
When all’s said and done, you should receive your paycheck. Per BLS records, it is not the government employers who pay out firefighters more, but it’s the private companies. This includes companies which deal with waste management, coal and oil production, and metal product manufacturing. Regardless, the local as well as state government are still needing firefighting individuals.
Other Advantages
If you are a government personnel, one of the advantages you receive is the benefits you could claim. As a firefighter, you certainly get benefits like dental and health care insurance. But you also get covered sick leaves and reimbursement for a few specific tuition fees. The exact advantages vary from department to department.
Being a physician might have a better earning as compared to being a fireman. However a fireman has the accolades of an instant savior. Learn the requirements to becoming a firefighter and be the man, the fireman, the savior!
Birmingham Firefighter Employment Outlook
The job outlook is an essential factor while choosing which profession to get into. You would not want to pick your favorite career choice just to realize that it going down the drain in a few years. You can find out such information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The career outlook for public servants is always on the rise since because of the growing population. Consequently, what does the future hold for the common fireman? Let’s discover.
[asd_program_button /]There are presently about 300,000 firemen employed in the USA. There is a steady advancement of 5% for the next couple of years till 2024. This is the average progress rate of any normal career. Which means that there would be about 12,000 new jobs by 2024. However, this also implies that there will be that much more people hoping to get the job too. Thus, there would be some competition. This is mainly because of the low education specifications and also the attractions of a public service job. The pay might not be quite high, however the benefits make up for that. It’s estimated that there may be about 100 individuals competing for the same job by 2024.
Steps To Becoming a Firefighter
You need to follow a specific process to join any profession. The most significant part of these procedures is to complete the education specifications. You should have your diploma or you will never get hired. As being a firefighter, there are not too many education prerequisites that you have to have. However, there are a lot of other needs such as physical, medical and legal that one should have to be approved for being a firefighter. We’ll go further in details to better understand the requirements.
Educational Qualification
The fundamental prerequisite becoming a firefighter would be to complete high school and get a relevant degree. Subjects you earned don’t matter much. But if you have fire fighting related subjects earned, that would be useful. It will also teach you how to be a better firefighter.
[asd_program_search_bar /]A lot of those who planned to become a firefighter, they choose to pursue a degree in college right after earning their diploma in high school. You must be at least EIGHTEEN years old to meet the age qualification. That’s one of the reasons why many of the aspirants aren’t be eligible after graduating in high school. If you want to have choices later if you choose to become a firefighter, better select a degree with subjects in firefighting, you may need them. There are subjects in a curriculum of the degree chosen that teach you how to save lives, operate machines required in firefighting along with other related technicalities.
If wanted, you may also decide to complete an associate’s, bachelor’s or a master’s degree in the same. The graduate studies you attain can help you land a promotion. While earning your education, you always remember that age limitation requirement of 28 to 30 years old limit for you to be qualified also. Consequently, if you want to spend most of your life as a firefighter, you should not concentrate too much on education.
Needed Training in Paramedic
All the firefighters must have this EMT certification. It can be either of these Two, EMT-B or the EMT-Basic. This certifies firefighters that they know very well what to perform in case there is fires or in accidents. A year is needed to be able to finish this training. Should you decided to be a paramedic at later time, you need to earn education in the area of Emergency Medical Services. The benefits of entering this direction are possible upsurge in salary or added edge over other applicants. There are also a few medical specialist firefighters who are able to take better care of individuals after they have already been rescued from the fires.
Qualified to Drive Vehicle In Alabama State
Many states require the applicants to be able to drive. A driving license to each and every candidate is necessary so they can be useful in case of unexpected emergency where for an instance no other fire truck driver is out there. The driver’s license also validate other information required in application like for instance the age.
Legal Track Record
Firefighters are vetted almost as thoroughly as police officers. The same as policemen, firefighters also undergo lifestyle check just before getting employed. To get employed, the firefighters cannot have a criminal history. If you think you have previous records, then better to not pursue this profession as you will instantly be disqualified. People who were pardoned for their crimes are normally accepted, however, not all fire departments acknowledge such people.
Physical Fitness
Among the main attributes that a firefighter needs to have is physical strength. Scenarios like lifting fire victims or objects to free victims arise most of the time in rescue missions, consequently, firefighter’s upper body strength is essential. Not only body strength is need, firefighter’s endurance should be high as they have to deal lots of aspects like running even in harsh environment. No one become a firefighter without undergoing heavy and extremely comprehensive physical examinations.
Free From Health Conditions
Firefighters should cope with a lot of suffocating scenarios. They are usually provided with masks to help them cope with such situations but not always are they so fortunate. When you have history in your respiratory, that will affect your efficiency. Thus, candidates are checked appropriately for any such diseases that may cause them harm in such situations.
When you fill up the forms, lots of boxes have to be marked. If you feel you tick these boxes, then go and find out how long it will take you to become a firefighter!
What Does a Birmingham Firefighter Do?
Firefighters are the unsung heroes who risk their lives just to save other lives. They’re also in command of rescue operations for common everyday challenges. The same as what you see in films, a firefighter saving a kitten in a tree. Apart from the common job they do, firefighters help instruct individuals to prevent fire from taking place. They also perform the investigation as to the reasons of fire, its origin or cause.
Putting Out Fires
This is the major role of firefighters. They’re always in check waiting for a call for their assistance. When a distress call is acquired, firefighters along with their equipment rush to the fire location to extinguish it. Several of the fire trucks are simply meant to deliver injured people.
[asd_program_button /]Firefighting is a team work. Every member already has its designated task. Some people are in charge of handling the ladder as well as rescue operations. Others are in charge of controlling the water flow and extinguishing the fire. Just like any other team that has a leader ordering the operation, their group is headed by their commanding officer. Since they work in shifts, each unit has their own commanding officer.
Rescuing People
A certification in EMT is needed to all firefighters. This is important given that one of the main jobs of the firefighters are to rescue people. Much of the time this comes in handy when taking care of those who are cornered inside the fires. Nonetheless, not all rescue procedures that the firefighters carry out are fire related. Firemen or maybe firewomen are the first on the scene with a few police officers wherever there are any casualties. Casualties maybe caused natural phenomena or road accidents. The firefighters are supposed to work together and save the victims from additional harm. This is certainly where a firefighters knowledge in EMT comes in handy.
Teaching People
Fire science is among the expertise a firefighter has. The amount of know-how will depend on which degree they have pursued in the field or which course they have studied. By discussing what they know, they help people by teaching them how to prevent fire from going on. Firefighters commonly do it after visiting an extinguished fire scene. In some other instances also, they go to schools or other public areas to teach and sometime do demo on what to do in case of fire.
Investigating Fires
To educate people on how to avoid fires, the firemen/firewomen should first find the source of the fire. Knowing the causes can assist firefighters avoid fire for the same situation happen again. Instances like criminals set the first to blow up are possible. It is then the job of the firefighters to investigate and provide more hints to the law enforcement officers about who started it. There are firefighters who’re also known as arson investigators that specialize fire investigation. They work with law enforcement to catch arsonists.
There is no doubt why we should not call them our life savers and unsung heroes. While extinguishing fires in several areas, they ignite one in our hearts. Consequently, if learning about their responsibilities fired you up, see what education requirements you need to become one!