By definition, firefighters are professionally trained people to save lives as well as properties in case of fire. They are strong individuals who can perform rescue actions with style as well as panache. Often loved by women, these pros aren’t frightened of anything and literally lay down their lives daily just like policemen. Right after hearing so much of praise regarding these brave people, 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 Oakdale?
People say that work doesn’t seem like work anymore if you love what you are doing. However, passion is not enough to sustain a lifestyle. We all need bucks so we can move, after all money is crucial. That’s why when you pick a profession to pursue, it’s undeniable that you think also how much cash you can make from it. For some, it is the only motivation each morning to get up and go to work. People who carry out community outreach don’t earn much. However, they do have a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. {Let’s find out how much a firefighter earns.|Without more ado, let us determine the income of a firefighter.
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The mean annual income of a firefighter is around $49,000 with the median around $46,000. There are various factors that affect this number including the size of the population and also the education that a firefighter has undergone. As we go further, you will know factors affecting income.
Location Matters
Firefighter’s earnings can be decided by the place of the department you’re designated. Factored to that would be the need of the population of fighters. A place exactly where impulsive wildfires are likely, have a higher need for firemen than other areas. Presently, New York pays their firemen the most at around 70% above the national mean. On the contrary, Columbia pays the cheapest at 38% below the national average.
Education Qualification
To be a firefighter, one usually just needs to have studied a course related to fire science in high school. Nevertheless, education is extremely valued in this field. There are 2 significant reasons for this. One is the reason is proof of your know-how in the field. The 2nd is that the government will need to expend substantially less on you to develop you being an asset. Bringing on paying you more. A bachelor’s degree or an associate’s degree in fire science can help you advance your career as well as earn quite a bit more. A master’s degree may help a lot more.
Length of Work Experience
Career history is undoubtedly the determining aspect of how much an employee should earn. As being a firefighter, your income can rise around 50% with experience in the field of 2 decades. That percentage is quite in comparison with other job which is at 15% to 20% even they have got the same length of experience.
Certifications
As being a fireman, you will need to learn the basics of EMT to even apply for the job. Nonetheless, you may choose to pursue the medical field a bit more and become a paramedic or get advanced EMT training. Having these credentials provides you a better chance of gaining more. Besides, this also provides you another choice should you opt shift careers later.
Industry
At the end of the day, your employer signs your paycheck. Based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the highest paying employers for this job aren’t the government but private contractors. This includes firms that handle waste management, coal as well as oil production, and also metal product manufacturing. On the other hand, the local and the state government still hire the most number of firefighters.
Other Benefits
Among the best things about possessing a government job is that there’s a bunch of other rewards that come with it. As a firefighter, you definitely get perks like dental and health insurance. You can also avail sick leave benefits. The exact benefits vary from department to department.
As you can see, the financial scope of a fireman is not as good as that of a doctor. However, at 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 hero!
Oakdale Firefighter Employment Outlook
The job outlook is an important factor while determining which profession to get into. You wouldn’t want to pick your favorite career option simply to realize that it going down the drain in a couple of years. You could find out such information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The career outlook for public servants is obviously on the rise since because of the growing population. Therefore, what does the future hold for the common fireman? Let’s discover.
[asd_program_button /]There are currently about 300,000 firemen employed in the USA. There is a steady progress of 5% for the next several years till 2024. This is the average growth rate of any normal profession. Which means that there would be about 12,000 new jobs by 2024. However, this also means that there would be that much more people trying to get the job too. As a result, there will be some competition. This is primarily because of the low education requirements and the attractions of a public service job. The pay may not be very high, however the benefits make up for that. It’s approximated that there might be about 100 individuals competing for the same position by 2024.
Steps To Becoming a Firefighter
Much like any other expert career to follow, a process is crucial to follow. The most important part of these procedures is to accomplish the education requirements. Without these specifications, hardly any employer will be happy to hire you. Being a firefighter, there are not too many education requirements that you have to possess. Nevertheless, there are many other needs like physical, medical and legal that you needs to have to qualify for being a firefighter. We’ll go further in details to much better understand the prerequisites.
Education Qualification
The basic prerequisite to become a firefighter would be to complete high school and have a relevant degree. The subjects do not matter as such. Nevertheless, acquiring some courses in fire sciences does help your cause. Which will give you a backgrounder of the profession you’re about to enter.
[asd_program_search_bar /]After high school, many people choose to get some formal college education in the field just before they will become a firefighter. The minimum age requirement is EIGHTEEN years. Consequently, one could not opt to be a firefighter right out of high school. College degrees in fire sciences are a huge plus if you’re planning to join the field. Courses which show you how to save individuals, handle hydraulic equipment like ladders or 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 better positions. At the same time, bear in mind that the maximum age requirement is kept at 28-30 years of age. As a result, if you wish to expend most of your life as being a firefighter, you should never concentrate too much on education.
Paramedic Training
All the firefighters need to 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 may last for up to 12 months. Should you chose to become a paramedic at later time, you should gain education in the area of Emergency Medical Services. The benefits of entering this direction are possible upsurge in salary or added edge over other candidates. Additionally, there are several medical professional firefighters who can take better care of people after they have already been rescued from the fires.
Qualified to Drive Vehicle In Tennessee State
Many states need the applicants to be able to drive. Consequently, they need their candidates to be a licensed driver that may help them in case that person is required to drive the firetruck to the location. It also serves as an ID proof to verify the applicant’s age.
Free of Criminal Record
In most cases, a firefighter is compared as a policeman. They carry out a comprehensive background check before they are hired. It certainly required that an aspiring firefighters should have a clean record, no criminal record. If its discovered that there was one, or the firefighter was previously detained, then that applicant is promptly disqualified. Nonetheless, there are situations where a pardoned individual of his violations are accepted however, not all department perform that.
Physical Fitness
Firefighters need to be physically active to do thier job at all times. Instances like lifting fire victims or objects to free victims arise most of the time in rescue missions, therefore, firefighter’s upper body strength is a must. Not only body strength is need, firefighter’s endurance should be high as they should deal lots of factors like running even in harsh environment. Nobody become a firefighter without undergoing heavy and extremely comprehensive physical assessments.
Free From Medical Conditions
Suffocations in rescue tasks happen and firefighters learn how to handle it. Firefighters have masks to conquer those situations but even so, if have respiratory condition, this might hinder your chances. People having respiratory problems could not operate such heavy machinery with precision under suffocating circumstances. That’s why it’s important that an applicant should be clear from any of that respiratory problems.
There a number of boxes that need to be ticked while selecting a firefighter. If you really feel you tick these boxes, then go and see how long it takes to be a firefighter!
What Really Does a Oakdale Firefighter Do?
Firefighters are the unsung heroes who risk their lives just to save other lives. They’re around in rescue quests you see in common incidents, not only fire. Just like what you see in films, a firefighter saving a kitten in a tree. Aside from this, they are also responsible for educating individuals to prevent further fires. In certain cases, they are supposed to inspect sources of fire and dig deep into the case because of the chance of an arsonist.
Extinguishing Fires
This is the main function of firefighters. When on-duty, these people stay in their firehouse to respond to a call as quickly as possible. When they get a phone call, they rush to the area in one of their firetrucks which may contain hoses or ladders. There are also fire trucks which are utilized for taking harmed fire victims.
[asd_program_button /]At the scene of the fire, every individual has a different task. A certain firefighter maybe in charge of handling the ladder and hose. Others are in charge of controlling the water flow and extinguishing the fire. These people work under the command of their respected commanding officers. Given that they work in shifts, each and every unit has their own commanding officer.
Saving People
All firefighters should be qualified as an EMT. This is necessary since one of the major jobs of the firefighters are to save people. Much of the time this comes in handy when taking care of people who are stuck inside the fires. Nonetheless, not all rescue operations that the firefighters carry out are fire related. Firemen or even firewomen are the first on the scene with some police officers wherever there are any casualties. These casualties may be caused because of natural disasters, motor crashes or a few other reasons. Firefighter has to work to save the victim. Sometimes a firefighter is also a qualified paramedic assisting them provide better healthcare to the victims.
Educating People
Firefighters are usually knowledgeable in fire sciences. Their know-how may vary as to how further firefighters go after this field. By sharing what they know, they help people by educating them how to prevent fire from occurring. This is commonly performed just after they visit a fire site as well as extinguish it. Or else, they also go to schools and other places to positively educate people about fires, how to avoid fires and if necessary, how to extinguish them.
Fire Investigation
To educate people regarding how to prevent fires, the firemen/firewomen need to first find the source of the fire. They should distinguish what caused it so they can prevent further such scenarios. Sometimes, it is possible that criminals with malicious intent set such fires. It is then the task of the firefighters to investigate and provide more clues to the law enforcement officers about who started it. Firefighters expert in investigations related to fire are called arson investigators. Together with the law enforcement, they work to investigate possible arsonists.
As you could see, there is a broad 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. So, if you feel you would like to be like them, start filling up the list!