By definition, firefighters are expertly trained individuals to save lives and properties in case of fire. They are strong people who can do rescue actions with style and panache. Just like any other macho image profession, like policemen, who offer risking their lives to save another. Right after hearing so much of praise about these brave individuals, you should 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 Housatonic?
If you value your work, sometimes you feel like you are not working anymore. Nevertheless, passion is not enough to sustain a lifestyle. Everybody needs a financial backing to help them live life the way they deem fit. That’s why when you go with a career to pursue, it’s unquestionable that you think also how much money you can acquire from it. Reality check, undeniably that’s the inspiration you set your alarm clock to get you ready for the job day to day. People who carry out community outreach do not earn much. Nonetheless, they do have a sense of achievement at the end of the day. {Let us see how much a firefighter earns.|Without further ado, let’s figure 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. There are various factors which affect this number including the size of the population as well as the education that a firefighter has undergone. Below is a list of these aspects and how they can increase or decrease your salary being a firefighter.
Location Matters
Firefighter’s salary can be decided by the location of the department you are assigned. Factored to that will be the need of the population of fighters. A place just where fire happens regularly is likely to have higher salary in comparison to less occurrence of fire areas. Presently, New York pays their firemen the most at about 70% above the national mean. On the contrary, Columbia pays the smallest at 38% below the national average.
Educational Qualification
In case you have gone through a study in fire science in high school, you will be eligible to apply as being a firefighter. Nevertheless, education is highly valued in this area. Here’s 2 main reasons why. This shows you have the required understanding and expertise in firefighting. Another one is for the department to invest less on you just before becoming an asset in the government. Resulting to paying you more. If you have a degree, may it be a bachelor’s or an associate’s degree, that would help you acquire added benefit. Just how much more if you have a graduate credentials in firefighting.
Length of Work Experience
Career history is certainly the determining component of how much an employee should gain. If a firefighter has a field experience of around 2 decades, his revenue may rise up to 50% This is quite high when compared to other jobs which normally see a 15-20% rise in the same period of time.
Accreditations
Even the basics of EMT, it’s still required by a fireman. On the other hand, you may choose to pursue the medical field a bit further and be a paramedic or get advanced EMT training. Having a deeper list of accreditations and trainings provide you with a chance of having a better income. Besides, this also provides you another choice should you opt shift careers later.
Industry
When all’s said and done, you need to receive your paycheck. Based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the biggest paying employers for this career aren’t the government but private contractors. This includes firms that deal with waste management, coal and oil production, and metal product manufacturing. Regardless, the local and state government are still needing firefighting individuals.
Other Advantages
One of the best things about possessing a government job is that there’s a bunch of other advantages that are included with it. You get the services such as insurance plan in your health or even dental check-up. You can also avail sick leave benefits. The exact advantages vary from department to department.
As you could see, the financial scope of a fireman is not as good as that of a health care provider. However, by the end of the day, you then become a hero in someone’s eyes. Learn the prerequisites to becoming a firefighter and be the man, the fireman, the savior!
Housatonic Firefighter Employment Outlook
The job outlook is a vital aspect while determining which profession to get into. You wouldn’t want to select your favourite career choice just to realize that it going down the drain in a couple of years. You will find out such info from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The career outlook for public servants is obviously on the rise since because of the growing population. Consequently, what does the future hold for the common fireman? Let’s find.
[asd_program_button /]There are presently about 300,000 firemen employed in america. There’s a steady growth of 5% for the next several years till 2024. This is the average growth rate of any normal profession. This means that there will be about 12,000 new jobs by 2024. However, this also implies that there would be that much more individuals trying to get the job too. As a result, there will be some competition. This is mainly because of the low education specifications and the attractions of a public service job. The pay may not be extremely high, however the advantages make up for that. It’s estimated that there might be about 100 people competing for the same job by 2024.
Steps To Becoming a Firefighter
Just like any other expert career to follow, a procedure is important to follow. Main requirement is you must have the necessary education. Without these specifications, hardly any employer will be happy to hire you. As a firefighter, there are not too many education prerequisites that you have to have. Nonetheless, there are a lot of other needs such as physical, medical and legal that you needs to have to be approved for being a firefighter. We will go further in details to much better understand the requirements.
Educational Qualification
High school diploma and a degree in higher education are the basic specifications to be qualified being a firefighter. Subjects you gained don’t matter much. But, having some courses in fire sciences does help your cause. Which will provide you a backgrounder of the profession you are about to go into.
[asd_program_search_bar /]A lot of those who intended to become a firefighter, they elect to pursue a degree in college after earning their diploma in high school. You need to be at least EIGHTEEN years of age to meet the age qualification. That’s one good reason why many of the aspirants are not be eligible right after graduating in high school. College degrees in fire sciences are a big plus in case you are planning to join the field. Courses that educate you on how to save people, handle hydraulic tools such as ladders or other related things are a major plus.
It is optionally available, you may pursue a graduate studies in that same field. The graduate studies you attain can help you land a promotion. Concurrently, bear in mind that the maximum age qualification is kept at 28-30 years old. That is why you should not over focus on getting too much education to be able to be eligible.
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 helps firefighters tend to victims in accidents or fires. 12 months is needed to be able to finish this training. If one desires, they could choose to pursue further studies in the field Emergency Medical Services and become a paramedic. This will help them gain an edge over other applicants and hopefully, a greater salary. Additionally, there are some medical specialist firefighters who can take better care of individuals after they have already been rescued from the fires.
Massachusetts State Driving License
In many states, employing of firefighter requires an applicant to have experience in driving. As a result, they need their candidates to be a licensed driver that might help them in case that person is needed to drive the firetruck to the area. The driver’s license also confirm other info needed in application just like for instance the age.
Clean Record
Firefighters are vetted almost as thoroughly as police officers. They undergo an extensive background check before they are appointed. It completely needed that an aspiring firefighters must have a clean record, no criminal history. If it is discovered that there was one, or the firefighter was previously imprisoned, then that applicant is immediately disqualified. Nonetheless, there are instances where a pardoned individual of his crimes are approved but not all department practice that.
Physical Fitness
Firefighters must be physically fit to accomplish thier responsibility all the time. They should have the high upper body strength to be able to lift objects and individuals to help them in rescue situations. Not just body strength is need to have, firefighter’s endurance must be high as they should deal a lot of factors like running even in harsh environment. No one become a firefighter without undergoing heavy and extremely detailed physical tests.
Housatonic Medical Prerequisites
Firefighters should cope with a lot of suffocating situations. Firefighters have masks to overcome those circumstances but even so, if have respiratory condition, this might hinder your chances. People having respiratory problems cannot handle such heavy machinery with precision under suffocating situations. Therefore, candidates are checked appropriately for any such conditions that may cause them harm in such cases.
When you fill up the forms, a lot of boxes have to be marked. Without a doubt, the list is long, so find out how long will it take you become a firefighter!
What Really Does a Housatonic Firefighter Do?
Firefighters are the unsung heroes who risk their lives to save other lives. They are around in rescue quests you see in common incidents, not only fire. This means that the image of firefighters saving a kitten stuck on a tree usually shown on televisions is actually true. Apart from this, they’re also in charge of instructing people to avoid further fires. They also perform the investigation as to the reasons of fire, its origin or cause.
Putting Out Fires
Clearly, fire extinguishing is their major task. When on-duty, these people stay in their firehouse to respond to a call as soon as possible. When they get a phone call, they rush to the area in one of their firetrucks which might contain hoses or ladders. A few of the fire trucks are just meant to deliver harmed people.
[asd_program_button /]Firefighting is a team work. Each member already has its designated task. Some individuals are in charge of controlling the ladder and rescue actions. Others are in control of controlling the water flow as well as extinguishing the fire. Similar to any other team which has a leader commanding the operation, their group is in the direction by their commanding officer. They work in shiftings, because of that, each shifting unit has its corresponding officers.
Rescuing People
A certification in EMT is required to all firefighters. This is important given that one of the primary duties of the firefighters are to rescue people. Most of the time this comes in handy when looking after people who are cornered inside the fires. Having said that, not all rescue operations that the firefighters carry out are fire related. Firemen or maybe firewomen are the first on the field with some 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 further harm. This is where a firefighters knowledge in EMT comes in handy.
Educating People
Firefighters are normally educated in fire sciences. The amount of knowledge will depend on which degree they have pursued in the field or which course they have studied. As a result, they help a lot of the people by educating them about ways to avoid fires. This is normally carried out just after they visit a fire site as well as extinguish it. Otherwise, they also visit schools and other areas to positively teach individuals about fires, how to avoid fires and if needed, how to extinguish them.
Fire Investigation
To teach people about how to prevent fires, the firemen/firewomen need to first find the source of the fire. They should identify what caused it so they can avoid further such circumstances. Sometimes, it is possible that criminals with malicious intent set such fires. Working together with law enforcement officers, it’s firefighter’s task to figure out what causes the fire or who possibly started it. Firefighters specializing in investigations associated with fire are called arson investigators. They work with law enforcement to catch arsonists.
As you can see, there’s a wide number of reasons to contact these people our everyday heroes. They do save lives by extinguishing fires and they develop also our admiration to them. Consequently, if learning about their responsibilities fired you up, see what education specifications you need to become one!