Jacksonville North Carolina Firefighter Salary And Job Requirements

As the name suggests, Firefighters are those who actually save people or other objects from fire through fighting it. They’re strong people who can perform rescue actions with style and panache. Much like any other macho image profession, like policemen, who offer jeopardizing their lives to save another. You see the accolades these experts acquire, would you not like to become like these brave firefighters?

firefighter career summary Jacksonville North Carolina
*Image Credit – BLS.gov

Table Of Contents

How Much Does A Firefighter Make In Jacksonville?

If you value your work, sometimes you feel like you aren’t working anymore. Nonetheless, this passion is not enough to supply your finances such as basic needs and lifestyle. Everyone needs a financial resources to help them live life the way they think fit. As a result, in terms of picking out a profession, individuals are always curious about the amount of they might earn from it. For some, it is the only motivation each morning to get up and go to work. People who perform community outreach do not earn much. Nevertheless, they do have a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. {Let us find out how much a firefighter earns.|Without more ado, let’s figure out the wages of a firefighter.

firefighter salary Jacksonville North Carolina
*Image Credit – BLS.gov

[asd_program_button /]

The mean annual 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 degree or his skills and experience. As we go further, you’ll figure out components affecting income.

Location Matters

Firefighter’s earnings can be decided by the place of the department you’re designated. This is because of a few factors like – population size, availability of firemen as well as frequency of fighters. A place exactly where impulsive wildfires are likely, have a higher need for firemen than any other locations. New York has the greatest rate among firefighters with 70% above the national mean. On the contrary, Columbia pays the smallest at 38% below the national average.

firefighter average salary by state Jacksonville North Carolina
*Image Credit – BLS.gov

Educational Level

To be a firefighter, one normally just needs to have studied a course related to fire science in high school. However, education is highly valued in this field. There are two main reasons for this. One is the reason is evidence of your know-how in the field. The second is that the government will have to expend substantially less on you to develop you as being an asset. Bringing on paying you more. A bachelor’s degree or an associate’s degree in fire science will help you advance your career and earn quite a bit more. A master’s degree might help a lot more.

Length of Work Experience

Work experience is certainly the determining factor of how much a worker must receive. If a firefighter has a field experience of around Twenty years, his revenue may rise up to 50% This is extremely high when compared to other jobs which commonly see a 15-20% rise in the same length of time.

Accreditations

Even the basics of EMT, it’s still needed by a fireman. Nonetheless, you may choose to pursue the medical field a bit more and be a paramedic or get advanced EMT training. Getting these credentials provides you a greater chance of gaining more. Besides, this also provides you another choice should you opt shift careers later.

Industry

When all’s said and done, you must receive your paycheck. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the highest paying employers for this job aren’t the government but private contractors. Included are firms handling production in oil, production of metal products and waste management. No matter, the local as well as state government are still looking for firefighting individuals.

Other Benefits

In case you are a government employee, one of the advantages you receive is the benefits you can claim. You get the services such as insurance in your health or dental check-up. But you also get covered sick leaves and reimbursement for some specific tuition fees. But then again, benefits may differ from what department you are into.

As being a medical professional might have a higher earning as compared with being a fireman. But a fireman has the accolades of an instant savior. Learn the requirements to becoming a firefighter and be the man, the fireman, the hero!

Jacksonville Firefighter Career Outlook

firefighter job outlook Jacksonville North Carolina
*Image Credit – BLS.gov

The job outlook is an essential factor while determining which profession to get into. You would not want to choose your favorite career option just to realize that it going down the drain in a few years. You could find out such information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The career outlook for public servants is definitely on the rise since due to the ever-growing population. Consequently, what does the future hold for the common fireman? Let us find out.

[asd_program_button /]

There are presently about 300,000 firemen employed in america. There is a steady growth of 5% for the next few years till 2024. This is the average growth rate of any normal profession. This means that there would be about 12,000 new jobs by 2024. Nonetheless, this also implies that there will be that much more people looking to get the job also. Therefore, there would be some competition. This is mainly due to the low education requirements 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 individuals competing for the same job by 2024.

firefighter job outlook by state Jacksonville North Carolina
*Image Credit – BLS.gov

How To be A Firefighter

Much like any other professional career to go after, a procedure is important to follow. The most significant part of these procedures is to accomplish the education requirements. Without these specifications, hardly any employer would be happy to hire you. Although education is the main requirement, you must not be worried simply because employer only need at least 1 degree completed. However, there are a lot of other requirements like physical, medical as well as legal that one needs to have to qualify for being a firefighter. We will go further in details to better understand the requirements.

Education Qualification

The basic prerequisite to become a firefighter would be to complete high school and get a relevant degree. Subjects you gained do not matter much. Nevertheless, acquiring some courses in fire sciences does help your cause. That will provide you a backgrounder of the profession you are about to enter.

[asd_program_search_bar /]

A lot of those who planned to be a firefighter, they decide to pursue a degree in college after earning their diploma in high school. You have to be at least 18 years old to meet the age requirement. Therefore, one cannot opt to be a firefighter right out of high school. If you wish to have choices later if you choose to be a firefighter, better pick a degree with subjects in firefighting, you may need them. Courses that teach you how to save people, handle hydraulic tools such as ladders or some other related things are a major plus.

It is optionally available, you may pursue a graduate studies in that same field. The former ones are needed to get promoted to greater positions. While gaining your education, you always keep in mind that age limitation requirement of 28 to 30 years of age limit for you to be qualified also. That is why you must not over focus on acquiring too much education to be able to qualify.

Paramedic Training

All of the firefighters must have this EMT certification. The one needed is the EMT-B or the EMT-Basic. This helps firefighters tend to victims in accidents or fires. The training might last for up to 1 year. Should you chose to be a paramedic at later time, you must acquire education in the area of Emergency Medical Services. Some great benefits of entering this direction are possible upsurge in salary or added edge over other candidates. In most cases, fire victims rescued are attended by medical professional that are firefighters too.

North Carolina State Driving License

In many states, employing of firefighter requires an applicant to possess experience in driving. A drivers license to every single candidate is necessary so they can be useful in case of urgent situation where for an instance no other fire truck driver is available. It also functions as an ID proof to confirm the applicant’s age.

Free of Criminal Record

Firefighters are vetted almost as meticulously as police officers. They undertake an extensive background check before they are appointed. To get hired, the firefighters cannot have a criminal history. If it is discovered that there was one, or the firefighter was previously arrested, then that candidate is immediately disqualified. People who were pardoned for their crimes are commonly accepted, nonetheless, not all fire departments admit such individuals.

Physical Fitness

One of the main characteristics that a firefighter must have is physical durability. They should have the high upper body strength to be able to lift objects and people to help them in rescue situations. Not only body strength is need to have, firefighter’s endurance should be high as they have to deal a lot of factors like running even in harsh surroundings. Nobody become a firefighter without going through heavy and extremely comprehensive physical examinations.

Jacksonville Medical Prerequisites

Firefighters should cope with a lot of suffocating scenarios. Firefighters have masks to conquer those situations but even so, if have respiratory condition, this may hinder your chances. If you have history in your respiratory, that would affect your efficiency. Consequently, candidates are checked accurately for any such conditions which may cause them harm in such circumstances.

There a number of boxes that need to be ticked while selecting a firefighter. If you feel you tick these boxes, then go and see how long it takes to be a firefighter!

What Really Does a Jacksonville Firefighter Do?

Firefighters are the unsung heroes who risk their lives just to save other lives. They are around in rescue missions you see in common incidents, not just fire. This means that the image of firefighters saving a kitten stuck on a tree often shown on televisions is in fact true. Apart from the common job they do, firefighters help educate individuals to avoid fire from happening. They also perform the investigation as to the reasons of fire, its origin or cause.

Extinguishing Fires

Clearly, fire extinguishing is their primary job. They’re always in check waiting for a call for their assistance. When they get a call, they rush to the location in one of their firetrucks which might contain hoses or ladders. A few of the fire trucks are just meant to deliver injured people.

[asd_program_button /]

At the scene of the fire, every individual has a distinct task. A certain firefighter maybe responsible for controlling the ladder and hose. Another firefighter is solely for extinguishing the fire, while other do the rescue of fire victims. The same as any other team that has a leader ordering the operation, their group is headed by their commanding officer. They work in shifts, for that reason, every shifting unit has its corresponding officers.

Rescuing People

All firefighters should be qualified as an EMT. This is necessary since one of the major duties of the firefighters are to save people. Most of the time this comes in handy when taking care of people who are cornered inside the fires. Nevertheless, not all rescue operations that the firefighters carry out are fire related. There are instances that a fireman comes first in the scene. Casualties maybe caused natural phenomena or road accidents. Firefighter needs to work to save the victim. Oftentimes a firefighter is also a qualified paramedic helping them provide better health care to the victims.

Educating People

Firefighters are usually knowledgeable in fire sciences. Their knowledge may vary as to how more firefighters follow this field. Consequently, they help most of the people by educating them about ways to avoid fires. This is normally done just after they visit a fire site as well as extinguish it. Otherwise, they also visit schools and other places to actively educate people about fires, how to prevent fires and if needed, how to extinguish them.

Fire Investigation

To educate people on how to avoid fires, the firemen/firewomen must first find the source of the fire. Understanding the causes can assist firefighters avoid fire for the same scenario happen again. Cases like criminals set the first to blow up are possible. It is then the job of the firefighters to check out and provide more clues to the police officers about who started it. There are firefighters who are also known as arson investigators which specialize fire investigation. Together with the police, they work to investigate possible arsonists.

There is no doubt why we must not call them our life savers and unsung heroes. They do rescue lives through extinguishing fires and they develop also our appreciation to them. So, if you feel you would like to be like them, start filling up the list!