Oxford Pennsylvania Firefighter Salary And Job Requirements

As the name suggests, Firefighters are individuals who basically save people or other things from fire by fighting it. They’re picked among the finest to risk their lives in rescue operations. Similar to any other macho image profession, like policemen, who offer risking their lives to save another. After hearing so much of praise about these brave people, you must have developed a slight desire to become one yourself.

firefighter career summary Oxford Pennsylvania
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Table Of Contents

How Much Money Does A Firefighter Make In Oxford?

If you value your work, sometimes you really feel like you aren’t working anymore. Nonetheless, this passion is not enough to supply your finances such as basic needs and lifestyle. Everybody needs a financial backing to make them live life the way they deem fit. That is why when you go with a career to pursue, it is unquestionable that you think also how much cash you could earn from it. Reality check, undeniably that’s the inspiration you set your alarm clock to get you ready for the job daily. People who carry out community outreach do not earn much. But income is not really their basis of joy and satisfaction. {Let us find out how much a firefighter earns.|Without further ado, let us find out the wages of a firefighter.

firefighter salary Oxford Pennsylvania
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The mean yearly income of a firefighter is around $49,000 with the median around $46,000. There are many factors which affect this number such as the size of the population as well as the education that a firefighter has gone through. As we go more, you will find out aspects affecting salary.

Location Matters

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

firefighter average salary by state Oxford Pennsylvania
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Education Level

To be a firefighter, one usually just needs to have studied a course related to fire science in high school. In this area of firefighting, having attained an education is advantageous. There are 2 main reasons for this. One is the reason is proof of your expertise in the field. The 2nd is that the government will have to expend drastically less on you to develop you as being an asset. Resulting to paying you more. A bachelor’s degree or an associate’s degree in fire science will help you advance your career and earn a lot more. A master’s degree may help a lot more.

Working Experience

Work experience is certainly the determining component of how much an employee should receive. As a firefighter, your income can rise around 50% with experience in the area of 20 years. That percentage is quite as compared to other job which is at 15% to 20% even they have the same duration of experience.

Certificates and Training

Even the fundamentals of EMT, it’s still required by a fireman. On the other hand, aside from learning the fundamental, you can go more and learn the advanced certifications. Possessing a deeper list of certifications and trainings provide you with a chance of acquiring a greater salary. Besides, this also gives you another option should you opt shift careers later.

Industry

At the end of the day, your company signs your paycheck. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the biggest paying employers for this career are not the government but private contractors. This includes firms which deal with waste management, coal as well as oil production, and metal product manufacturing. However, the local and also the state government still employ the most number of firefighters.

Other Advantages

Among the best things about having a government job is that there is a bunch of other rewards that are included with it. You get the services like insurance plan in your health or even dental check up. However you also get covered sick leaves as well as reimbursement for some specific tuition fees. But nonetheless, advantages may differ from what department you are into.

As you can see, the monetary scope of a fireman is not as nice as that of a health care provider. But a fireman has the accolades of an instant savior. Consequently, if you would like to be that hero, know the requirements to be a firefighter now!

Oxford Firefighter Employment Outlook

firefighter job outlook Oxford Pennsylvania
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The job outlook is an important aspect while choosing which career to get into. You would not wish to select your favourite career option just to realize that it going down the drain in a couple of years. You will 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 us discover.

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There are currently about 300,000 firemen employed in america. There’s a steady advancement of 5% for the next few 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 means that there would be that much more individuals hoping to get the job as well. Therefore, there would be some competition. This is primarily due to the low education specifications and also the attractions of a public service job. The pay may not be quite high, but the advantages make up for that. It’s estimated that there may be about 100 individuals competing for the same position by 2024.

firefighter job outlook by state Oxford Pennsylvania
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Steps To Becoming a Firefighter

You have to follow a certain procedure to join any profession. The most important part of these processes is to accomplish the education requirements. Without these specifications, hardly any employer would be happy to hire you. Being a firefighter, there aren’t too many education prerequisites that one needs to possess. However, there are many other needs such as physical, medical as well as legal that one needs to have to qualify for being a firefighter. We’ll go further in details to much better understand the prerequisites.

Education Requirements

The basic prerequisite to become a firefighter would be to complete high school and have a relevant degree. Subjects you earned don’t matter much. Nevertheless, acquiring some courses in fire sciences does help your cause. It will also teach you how to become a better firefighter.

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After high school, a lot of people decide to get some formal college education in the field before they will become a firefighter. The minimum age requirement is 18 years. Thus, one could not choose to be a firefighter right out of high school. If you want to have options later if you choose to become a firefighter, much better choose a degree with subjects in firefighting, you might need them. There are subjects in a curriculum of the degree chosen that teach you how to save lives, handle devices required in firefighting along with other related technicalities.

If wanted, you may also choose to complete an associate’s, bachelor’s or a master’s degree in the same. The former ones are needed to get promoted to bigger positions. Simultaneously, keep in mind that the maximum age qualification is kept at 28-30 years of age. Therefore, if you want to expend most of your life as a firefighter, you shouldn’t concentrate too much on education.

Needed Training in Paramedic

Every firefighter is required to have an 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. The training may last for up to 1 year. If one desires, they can decide to pursue further studies in the field Emergency Medical Services and become a paramedic. This will help them acquire an edge over other candidates and hopefully, a better salary. There are also several medical specialist firefighters who are able to take better care of people after they have been rescued from the fires.

Licensed to Drive Vehicle In Pennsylvania State

In many states, employing of firefighter needs an applicant to possess experience in driving. Consequently, they want their candidates to be a licensed driver that may help them in case that person is needed to drive the firetruck to the area. It also functions as an ID proof to confirm the applicant’s age.

Free of Criminal Record

In a few scenarios, a firefighter is compared as a policeman. They carry out a comprehensive criminal background check just before they are hired. It certainly needed that an aspiring firefighters should have a clean record, no criminal record. If you feel you possess previous records, then better to not pursue this profession as you will immediately be disqualified. Individuals who were pardoned for their crimes are usually accepted, however, not all fire departments admit such people.

Physical Fitness

Firefighters need to be physically active to accomplish thier job all the time. Scenarios like lifting fire victims or even objects to free victims arise most of the time in rescue tasks, therefore, firefighter’s upper body strength is essential. Not just body strength is need, firefighter’s endurance must be high as they should deal a lot of factors like running even in harsh environment. Nobody become a firefighter without undergoing heavy and extremely detailed physical examinations.

Free From Medical Ailments

Suffocations in rescue missions happen and firefighters know how to handle it. They are usually supplied with masks to help them manage such scenarios but not always are they so fortunate. In case you have history in your respiratory, that would affect your efficiency. That’s why it’s a must that an applicant should be clear from any of that respiratory ailments.

There a number of boxes that must be ticked while selecting a firefighter. If you really feel you tick these boxes, then go and find out how long it takes to become a firefighter!

What Does a Oxford Firefighter Do?

Firefighters are your everyday heroes who work together to set out fires as well as help people when they get stuck in such circumstances. They’re also in control of rescue operations for common everyday troubles. Just like what you see in films, a firefighter saving a kitten in a tree. Aside from the common job they are doing, firefighters help educate people to prevent fire from occurring. In some cases, they’re supposed to inspect causes of fire and dig deep in to the case because of the chance of an arsonist.

Extinguishing Fires

This is the primary function of firefighters. They’re always in check waiting for a call for their services. When a distress call is received, firefighters along with their tools rush to the fire location to extinguish it. Some of the fire trucks are simply meant to deliver wounded people.

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At the scene of the fire, every individual has a different job. A certain firefighter maybe in control of controlling the ladder and hose. Others are responsible for controlling the water flow and extinguishing the fire. Just like any other team which has a leader ordering the operation, their group is headed by their commanding officer. They work in shifts, because of that, each shifting unit has its corresponding officers.

Saving People

A certification in EMT is needed to all firefighters. Considering that the major task of the rescuer would be to save lives, it is a must that a firefighter has this EMT. Much of the time this comes in handy when taking care of people who are stuck inside the fires. Not all rescue operations are fire related. Firemen or firewomen are the first on the field with some police officers wherever there are any casualties. These casualties may be caused due to natural disasters, motor crashes or a few other reasons. Firefighter must work to rescue the victim. Oftentimes a firefighter is also a knowledgeable paramedic helping them provide better health care to the victims.

Educating People

Firefighters are commonly educated in fire sciences. Their know-how may vary as to how more firefighters follow this field. Thus, they help a lot of the people by teaching them about ways to prevent fires. This is commonly performed just after they visit a fire site and extinguish it. Otherwise, they also go to schools and other areas to positively educate people about fires, how to avoid fires and if necessary, how to extinguish them.

Fire Investigation

It’s also essential to know the cause of fire. They should distinguish what caused it so they could prevent further such situations. Instances like criminals set the first to explode are possible. 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. Along with the law enforcement, they work to check into possible arsonists.

As you can see, there’s a wide number of reasons to call these people our everyday heroes. They do rescue lives through extinguishing fires and they develop also our appreciation to them. So, if you think you wish to be like them, begin filling up the list!