Smithfield Maine Firefighter Salary And Job Requirements

As the name says, Firefighters are individuals who basically save people or some other objects from fire simply by fighting it. They’re strong people who can do rescue operations 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 fearless firefighters?

firefighter career summary Smithfield Maine
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Table Of Contents

How Much Does A Firefighter Make In Smithfield?

If you value your work, sometimes you feel like you are not working anymore. On the other hand, passion is not enough to sustain a life-style. Everybody requires a financial resources to help them live life the way they deem fit. As a result, in terms of choosing a career, people are always curious about how much they might earn from it. Reality check, undeniably that’s the inspiration you set your alarm clock to get you ready for the job daily. People in the community service sector do not get paid as much. But income is not their basis of pleasure and fulfillment. {Let us see how much a firefighter earns.|Without more ado, let us determine the wages of a firefighter.

firefighter salary Smithfield Maine
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Somewhere around $49,000 is the mean annual income a firefighter makes. A median of around $46,000 is the median. There are many factors which affect this number including the size of the population as well as the education that a firefighter has gone through. Below is a list of these factors and how they can increase or decrease your income as being a firefighter.

Location Matters

The precise location of the fire department is a major element in deciding someone’s wage. This is because of a number of factors like – population size, availability of firemen and frequency of fighters. A place exactly where impulsive wildfires are likely, have a higher need for firemen than any other places. Currently, 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.

firefighter average salary by state Smithfield Maine
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Education Level

To be a firefighter, one normally just needs to have studied a course relevant to fire science in high school. In this field of firefighting, having attained a college degree is beneficial. There are two main reasons for this. One is that it is evidence of your expertise in the field. The second is that the government will have to invest considerably less on you to develop you as an asset. Thus, they can afford to pay you more. A bachelor’s degree or an associate’s degree in fire science can help you advance your career and earn quite a bit more. A master’s degree might help even more.

Working Experience

Career history is certainly the determining aspect of how much an employee must receive. As being a firefighter, your income can rise around 50% with experience in the area of 20 years. This is quite high when compared to other jobs which normally see a 15-20% rise in the same amount of time.

Accreditations

As a fireman, you will have 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. Possessing a deeper list of accreditations and trainings provide you with a chance of getting a greater earnings. It also provides you a “Plan B” if you do choose to change careers later.

Industry

At the end of the day, your employer signs your paycheck. Per BLS records, it’s not the government employers who pay firefighters more, but it’s the private companies. Included are companies coping with production in oil, manufacturing of metal products and also waste management. Regardless, the local as well as state government are still looking for firefighting people.

Other Advantages

In case you are a government personnel, one of the advantages you get is the benefits you could claim. You get the services like insurance in your health or dental check up. But you also get covered sick leaves as well as reimbursement for some specific tuition fees. But nonetheless, benefits may differ from what department you are into.

As you can see, the financial scope of a fireman is not as good as that of a physician. But a fireman has the accolades of an instant savior. Learn the prerequisites to becoming a firefighter and be the man, the fireman, the hero!

Smithfield Firefighter Career Outlook

firefighter job outlook Smithfield Maine
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The job outlook is an essential aspect while choosing which profession to get into. You wouldn’t want to select your favourite career option just to realize that it going down the drain in a few years. You could find out such info from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The career outlook for public servants is definitely on the rise since due to the ever-growing population. So, what does the future hold for the common fireman? Let us discover.

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There are currently about 300,000 firemen appointed in the USA. There is a steady advancement of 5% for the next couple of years till 2024. This is the average progress rate of any normal career. Which means that there will be about 12,000 new jobs by 2024. Nevertheless, this also means that there would be that much more individuals looking to get the job as well. Thus, there would be some competition. This is mainly because of the low education requirements and the attractions of a public service job. The pay might not be quite high, however the benefits make up for that. It’s approximated that there may be about 100 people competing for the same job by 2024.

firefighter job outlook by state Smithfield Maine
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How To Become A Firefighter

You have to follow a particular process to join any career. Main requirement is you need to have the necessary education. Without these requirements, hardly any employer will be happy to hire you. Being a firefighter, there are not too many education prerequisites that you need to possess. Beside, education you have to pass other assessments such as physical, medical and legal test. We will go further in details to much better understand the prerequisites.

Educational Qualification

High school diploma and a degree in advanced schooling are the basic requirements to be qualified as a firefighter. Subjects you gained don’t matter much. However , if you have fire fighting related subjects attained, that would be very helpful. It will also teach you how to become a better firefighter.

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Many 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 qualification. As a result, one could not opt to become a firefighter right out of high school. If you wish to have options later if you choose to become a firefighter, better choose a degree with subjects in firefighting, you may need them. Courses which educate you on how to save individuals, handle hydraulic devices such as ladders or some other related stuff are a major plus.

If wanted, you can also choose to finish an associate’s, bachelor’s or a master’s degree in the same. The former ones are needed to get promoted to better positions. Concurrently, remember that the maximum age requirement is kept at 28-30 years old. That’s why you shouldn’t over focus on getting too much education to be able to qualify.

Paramedic Training

Every single firefighter is needed to present an EMT certification. The one required is the EMT-B or the EMT-Basic. This certifies firefighters that they really know what to complete in the event of fires or in accidents. The training might last for up to 12 months. If one desires, they can decide to pursue further studies in the field Emergency Medical Services and be a paramedic. This helps them acquire an edge over other candidates and hopefully, a better earnings. Additionally, there are several medical professional firefighters who can take better care of individuals after they have been rescued from the fires.

Maine State Driving License

In many states, employing of firefighter needs an applicant to have experience in driving. As a result, they require their candidates to be a licensed driver which might 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

Firefighters are vetted almost as meticulously as police officers. They carry out a comprehensive background check before they are appointed. It certainly required that an aspiring firefighters must have a clean record, no criminal record. If its discovered that there was one, or the firefighter was previously busted, then that candidate is promptly disqualified. People who were pardoned for their crimes are normally accepted, nonetheless, not all fire departments acknowledge such individuals.

Smithfield Physical Prerequisites

Among the main characteristics that a firefighter should have is physical durability. Instances like lifting fire victims or objects to free victims arise quite often in rescue tasks, consequently, firefighter’s upper body strength is essential. Not only 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 surroundings. All firefighters undergo strenuous physical examinations both in the academy and before it.

Free From Medical Ailments

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

There a lot of boxes that must be ticked while picking out a firefighter. Certainly, the list is long, so learn how long will it take you become a firefighter!

Smithfield Firefighter Job Description

Firefighters are your daily heroes who work together to put out fires as well as help people when they get stuck in such scenarios. They are also in charge of rescue operations for common everyday troubles. Which means that the image of firefighters saving a kitten stuck on a tree normally shown on televisions is really true. Aside from this, they’re also responsible for teaching individuals to prevent further fires. They also do the investigation as to the reasons of fire, its source or cause.

Putting Out Fires

Certainly, fire extinguishing is their major job. When on-duty, these individuals stay in their firehouse to take action to a call as soon as possible. When a distress call is acquired, firefighters together with their devices rush to the fire location to extinguish it. Some of the fire trucks are simply meant to deliver injured people.

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At the scene of the fire, every person has a distinct job. Some individuals are in charge of controlling the ladder and rescue actions. Another firefighter is solely for extinguishing the fire, while other carry out the rescue of fire victims. Just like any other team which has a leader ordering the operation, their group is headed by their commanding officer. Given that they work in shifts, each and every unit has their own commanding officer.

Saving People

A certification in EMT is required to all firefighters. Considering that the primary job of the rescuer is to rescue lives, it is vital that a firefighter possesses this EMT. A firefighter might need this technical abilities if a victim is cornered in fires. Not all rescue procedures are fire related. Firemen or perhaps firewomen are the first on the field with a few police officers wherever there are any casualties. Casualties possibly caused natural phenomena or road crashes. The firefighters are supposed to work together and rescue the victims from further harm. This is certainly where a firefighters know-how in EMT will come in handy.

Teaching People

Fire science is one of the skills a firefighter has. The amount of knowledge depends on which degree they have pursued in the area or which course they have studied. As a result, they help a lot of the people by teaching them about ways to avoid fires. This is usually done just after they visit a fire site as well as extinguish it. In certain other situations also, they visit schools or other public sites to teach and sometime do demonstration on what to perform in case of fire.

Fire Investigation

To teach people about how to avoid fires, the firemen/firewomen should first find the cause of the fire. They should distinguish what caused it so they can prevent further such cases. Sometimes, it’s possible that criminals with malicious intent set such fires. Working with police officers, it’s firefighter’s job to determine what causes the fire or who possibly started it. Firefighters expert in investigations associated with fire are called arson investigators. Along with the police, they work to check into possible arsonists.

As you could 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. So, if learning about their responsibilities fired you up, see what education specifications you have to become one!