Firefighters - Any Out Here?

Hi im just curious as to who here on the site is in the fire service, specifically in Ontario, Canada, but i am still interested in those serving elsewhere. I ask because i am currently going to school for this profession. Feel free to post here, i am just trying to seek out further information and insight.

Thanks in advance.

NOTE
please list where you work and how long thanks!

Split- I’ve been in the fire service since '98 and love the job more every shift. Right now I’m an Equipment Operator/EMT and an active member of a regional response technical rescue team.

Welcome to the best damn job in the world!

I’m a state of florida certified Firefighter and EMT and I am currently attending Paramedic school which I will be done with next October. I’m also a nationally registered EMT. I work as an Emt/Operator right now for a Private company herein Miami. I amin the hiring process with a few fire departments at the moment. Hopefully something will land soon. What information are you seeking? I will answer any questions you have of which I know the info.

information as in what you did to get in what qualifications you posess, etc. I know its different in Canada than the United states but there are similarities.

Like you I to am in school. I just finished the Chemeketa Community College Fire science program. Located in Salem, OR. Ranked number 3 in the United States. Super intense and I loved every minute of it! Right now I volunteer for a small department in Idaho and I am working on my Paramedic degree.

Secret to getting into firefighting is being good at tests and at interviews. Having lots of certs. and qualifications only helps you at the end of the process, if you can’t pass the test you don’t get anywhere.

firephil

I’m one in the UK, think our route in sounds a bit different to your though.

New York City and very proud.
8 months as of November 05.

[quote]samdiesel wrote:
New York City and very proud.
8 months as of November 05.
[/quote]

To go slightly off on a tangent, I was getting told by a colleague about a load of New York Firefighters who came over to England after 9/11 to thank us for some fund raising we had done. The guy who put them up was an oldish bloke, and summed them up with this quality comment: “basically, if they couldn’t drink it then they’d fuck it…”. Poor bloke, I think they nearly killed him by the sounds of things - they were a big hit with everyone else though.

Gwinnett County-Georgia
4 years of service
FF2/EMT-I
Love the job!
Love how this website makes me better @ my job!
Easiest job in the world 99% of the time…oh but that 1% can be a motherf’er
Currently in Acting Officer school(so I can “ride seat” if our Lt. is off-duty.)

You could do this job for 50 years and still not know everything there is to know.
One of the few jobs that kids wave @ you when you drive by.
My wife loves it when I smell like smoke.
I’m a former Marine so I love the brotherhood that I get from the fire department.
Just got a call gotta go…

Hey - I work just outside of Dallas Texas! Been a ff/paramedic for 8 yrs now and I love my job, which is good since I live three hours away! It is great to see alot of us on this site.

Malinda

Are you lads in the US generally combined ff/paramedics? Do you get called to stuff like, say cardiac arrests, or assaults or whatever that don’t necessarily have a fire or rescue element to them?

[quote]juninho wrote:
Are you lads in the US generally combined ff/paramedics? Do you get called to stuff like, say cardiac arrests, or assaults or whatever that don’t necessarily have a fire or rescue element to them? [/quote]

My department is combo fire/EMS. We can basically get called out to do anything(assist citizen). We fight fire, anything EMS, car wrecks, etc… I have turned off people’s water that have busted pipes, cut a big parrot out of a cage that was entangled, check for gas leaks in people’s homes, you name it.

yeah, we do all that too - kind of like a miscellaneous handy-man service when you don’t know whether it’s the gas board or the local council you need.

It was more the paramedic side of stuff I was wondering about. At present we only do casualty care stuff if a specific rescue is needed to be carried out - eg a car crash, or someone impaled on railings or whatever. The ambulance service tends to deal with things like assaults or cardiac arrests at present. The reason I ask, (other than out of interest) is that they keep talking about incorporating paramedic duties into our role, and I was wondering how that works over there.

i was on a rescue sqaud, and training to be an EMT. Then life started i ran out of money, work slowed down, and my now wife were just starting out together.

i joined the air force and am still here. matter of fact im sittin in Iraq right now. i plan on gettng out in about a year and going back to Tenn. to become a police officer with some of my highschool buddies. i’ll plan on finishing my EMT school and becoming a first responder on my off-time.

anywayz you guys dont get enough props for what you do. Police officer, fire fighters,& paramedics should be some of the highest paying civil servant jobs in the world. Not because i want to be one of these,but because i now many good men who have the job. it doesnt matter if i know you or not i know for these jobs you HALF TO BE A GOOD MAN!

Until then be safe!! and take care.

oh yea Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I am a volunteer firefighter in Bloomfield, NJ. I graduated from the fire academy in June and I’ve been working ever since. Hopefully over the next couple of years I can get on the career force and do it full time. That is my goal.

Good luck!

Thanks TAYO

i am in ontario canada and in school for pre-service firefighting.

I am going to school for Fire Science as well. I plan on doing EMT or the fire academy this spring.

Hey Split,

I’m a full time firefighter with Mississauga Fire Dept. in Ontario. I’ve been on the job 7 years, as other guys have said it’s the greatest job in the world. Make sure you call human resourses in Mississauga they like guys who have the pre service course. We have a recruit class of 35 guys just finishing up so they should be hiring again in the new year. Let me know if you nedd any other info.

[quote]ogger wrote:
Hey Split,

I’m a full time firefighter with Mississauga Fire Dept. in Ontario. I’ve been on the job 7 years, as other guys have said it’s the greatest job in the world. Make sure you call human resourses in Mississauga they like guys who have the pre service course. We have a recruit class of 35 guys just finishing up so they should be hiring again in the new year. Let me know if you nedd any other info.[/quote]

Hey ogger, I went through a confined space rescue class with some of your guys last year in Lansing. Those were some good guys for sure, really knew their shit. Couldn’t get them to go to the titty bar though :wink:

Stay low bro

-Bigflamer