San Luis Obispo California Firefighter Salary And Job Requirements

As the name says, Firefighters are those who actually save people or some other objects from fire through fighting it. They are strong people who can do rescue actions with style and panache. Similar to any other macho image profession, like policemen, who offer risking their lives to save another. After hearing so much of praise regarding these brave people, you should have developed a slight desire to become one yourself.

firefighter career summary San Luis Obispo California
*Image Credit – BLS.gov

Table Of Contents

Just How Much Does A Firefighter Make In San Luis Obispo?

If you value your work, sometimes you really feel like you’re not working anymore. Nevertheless, passion is not enough to sustain a life-style. We all need money so we can move, after all money is crucial. That’s why when you select a profession to pursue, it’s undeniable that you think also how much money you could receive from it. For a few, it’s the only motivation in the morning to get up and go to work. Individuals who perform community outreach don’t earn much. Nevertheless, they do have a sense of achievement at the end of the day. {Let us find out how much a firefighter earns.|Without further ado, let’s determine the wages of a firefighter.

firefighter salary San Luis Obispo California
*Image Credit – BLS.gov

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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 expertise and experience. Below is a list of these factors and how they are able to increase or decrease your income as a firefighter.

Location Matters

The precise location of the fire department is a major element in deciding someone’s income. This is due to 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. Presently, New York pays their firemen the most at around 70% above the national mean. While Columbia pays the lowest at 38%.

firefighter average salary by state San Luis Obispo California
*Image Credit – BLS.gov

Educational Level

To become a firefighter, one normally just needs to have studied a course relevant to fire science in high school. However, education is highly valued in this area. Here’s 2 reasons why. This will show you have the required understanding as well as knowledge in firefighting. Another one is for the department to spend less on you just before becoming an asset in the government. Resulting to 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 might help a lot more.

Length of Work Experience

Experience is mostly a major key in deciding someone’s revenue. In case a firefighter has a field experience of approximately 20 years, his salary may rise to 50% That percentage is quite in comparison with other job which is at 15% to 20% even they have got the same length of experience.

Accreditation and Training

As being a fireman, you will have to know the basics of EMT to even apply for the job. On the other hand, apart from learning the fundamental, you can go more and learn the advanced certifications. Possessing a deeper list of accreditations and trainings provide you with a chance of having a higher earnings. It also gives you a “Plan B” if you do choose to change careers later.

Industry

By the end of the day, your company signs your paycheck. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the highest paying employers for this job are not the government but private companies. Included are firms dealing with production in oil, production of metal products and also waste management. No matter, the local as well as state government are still needing firefighting people.

Other Benefits

One of the best things about having a government work is that there is a lot of other rewards that are included with it. You get the services such as insurance in your health or dental check up. However you also get covered sick leaves and reimbursement for some specific tuition fees. The exact benefits differ from department to department.

Being a medical professional may have a greater earning as compared with being a fireman. However a fireman has the accolades of an instant savior. Learn the prerequisites to becoming a firefighter and be the man, the fireman, the hero!

San Luis Obispo Firefighter Employment Outlook

firefighter job outlook San Luis Obispo California
*Image Credit – BLS.gov

The job outlook is an important aspect while deciding which profession to get into. You would not wish to select your favourite 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 due to the ever-growing population. Therefore, what does the future hold for the common fireman? Let’s find.

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There are currently about 300,000 firemen employed in america. There is a steady growth of 5% for the next couple of 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. Nonetheless, this also implies that there will be that much more individuals hoping to get the job also. As a result, 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 may not be extremely high, but the benefits make up for that. It’s approximated that there might be about 100 individuals competing for the same position by 2024.

firefighter job outlook by state San Luis Obispo California
*Image Credit – BLS.gov

How To be A Firefighter

Just like any other professional career to go after, a process is essential to follow. The most important part of these processes would be to complete the education specifications. Without these requirements, hardly any employer would be willing to hire you. Though education is the main requirement, you should not be worried simply because employer only need at least one degree completed. Nonetheless, there are a lot of other requirements such as physical, medical and legal that one should have to be approved for being a firefighter. Let us explore these in detail.

Educational Qualification

High school diploma along with a degree in advanced schooling are the basic requirements to be qualified as a firefighter. The subjects really do not matter as such. However , if you have fire fighting related subjects earned, that would be useful. It will also educate you on how to become a more effective firefighter.

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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. The minimum age qualification is EIGHTEEN years. Consequently, one cannot elect to become a firefighter right out of high school. College degrees in fire sciences are a big plus in case you are planning to be a part of the field. There are subjects in a curriculum of the degree chosen that show you how to save lives, handle machines required in firefighting along with other related technical issues.

If desired, you can also choose to finish an associate’s, bachelor’s or a master’s degree in the same. The graduate studies you attain can assist you land a promotion. At the same time, remember that the maximum age requirement is kept at 28-30 years of age. That is why you shouldn’t over concentrate on getting too much education in order to qualify.

Paramedic Training

Each and every firefighter is needed to present an EMT certification. It could 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 12 months. Should you chose to become a paramedic at later time, you need to gain education in the field of Emergency Medical Services. Some great benefits of going into this direction are possible upsurge in salary or added edge over other applicants. In some cases, fire victims rescued are attended by medical professional which are firefighters too.

Qualified to Drive Vehicle In California State

In many states, hiring of firefighter requires an applicant to have experience in driving. A driving license to each and every applicant is necessary so they can be useful in case of unexpected emergency where for an instance no other fire truck driver is out there. It also serves as an ID proof to validate the applicant’s age.

Legal Track Record

In most scenarios, a firefighter is compared as a policeman. Just like policemen, firefighters also undertake lifestyle check just before getting employed. It certainly required that an aspiring firefighters must have a clean record, no criminal history. If its discovered that there was one, or the firefighter was previously imprisoned, then that applicant is immediately disqualified. People who were pardoned for their crimes are usually accepted, nevertheless, not all fire departments admit such individuals.

San Luis Obispo Physical Requirements

One of the main features that a firefighter should have is physical durability. They must have the high upper body strength to be able to lift objects and individuals to help them in rescue cases. Not only body strength is need, firefighter’s endurance must be high as they need to deal a lot of factors like running even in harsh environment. No one become a firefighter without undergoing heavy and extremely comprehensive physical examinations.

Free From Healthcare Problems

Suffocations in rescue tasks happen and firefighters know how to deal with it. Firefighters have face masks to overcome those scenarios but even so, if have respiratory condition, this may hinder your chances. People having respiratory conditions could not handle such heavy machinery with precision under suffocating circumstances. That is why it’s important that an applicant must be clear from any of that respiratory problems.

When you fill up the forms, lots of boxes must be marked. Certainly, the list is long, so learn how long will it take you become a firefighter!

What Really Does a San Luis Obispo Firefighter Do?

Firefighters are the unsung heroes who risk their lives to save other lives. They’re also in charge of rescue actions for common everyday challenges. The same as what you see in films, a firefighter saving a kitten in a tree. Apart from the usual job they do, firefighters help instruct people to prevent fire from taking place. In many cases, they’re supposed to inspect sources of fire and dig deep in to the case because of the possibility of an arsonist.

Extinguishing Fires

This is the major role of firefighters. When on-duty, these people stay in their firehouse to take action to a call as soon as possible. When they do get a call, they rush to the area in one of their firetrucks which may contain hoses or ladders. There are also fire trucks which are used for transporting injured fire victims.

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Firefighting is a team work. Every single member already has its designated job. Some people are in charge of controlling the ladder as well as rescue operations. Another firefighter is only for extinguishing the fire, while other perform the rescue of fire victims. The same as any other team that has a leader ordering the operation, their group is in the direction by their commanding officer. Since they work in shifts, every unit has their own commanding officer.

Saving People

A certification in EMT is needed to all firefighters. This is important given that one of the main duties of the firefighters are to save people. Most of the time this comes in handy when taking care of people who are trapped inside the fires. On the other hand, not all rescue procedures that the firefighters undertake are fire related. There are situations that a fireman comes first in the scene. Casualties maybe caused natural phenomena or road crashes. The firefighters are supposed to work together and save the victims from additional harm. This is certainly where a firefighters knowledge in EMT will come in handy.

Teach People

Fire science is one of the skills a firefighter has. Their know-how may vary as to how further firefighters pursue this field. By sharing what they know, they help people by teaching them how to prevent fire from going on. This is commonly performed right after they visit a fire site and extinguish it. Or else, they also go to schools and other places to actively educate people about fires, how to avoid fires and if needed, how to extinguish them.

Fire Investigation

To teach people on how to prevent fires, the firemen/firewomen have to first find the cause of the fire. They must identify what caused it so they can avoid further such circumstances. Cases like criminals set the first to explode are possible. 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 can see, there is a large number of reasons to call these people our everyday heroes. They do save lives through extinguishing fires and they develop also our appreciation to them. Consequently, if learning about their responsibilities fired you up, see what education specifications you have to become one!