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I are a fireman  My A/T thread about firefighting didn't seem to garner a whole lot of traffic, though.
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Feb 12, 2010 19:43
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Kashew posted:But I like lightweight trusses held together by p-o-s gusset plates! Some of them are not even held together by gusset plates, but by glue.
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Feb 15, 2010 18:56
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grover posted:Drywall and firestops installed to code should, in theory, give at least an hour before that point. A rare occasion indeed outside a book.
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Feb 15, 2010 23:24
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Cage Kicker posted:I have actually considered becoming a firefighter post-military. Would any of you please describe the process of becoming a firefighter to someone who is almost completely ignorant? Generally it is a competitive process wherein you take a series of tests (written, physical, etc) plus interviews. The details vary widely depending on location and department. Some departments require you to have certifications and/or experience to apply, while others will take applicants 'off the street' so to speak. Larger departments generally have fewer requirements. The downside to that is there will be many more applicants to compete for the available slots. A good idea is to look at the websites of local departments/places you might want to work as they usually have their specific hiring process outlined there. Many departments test on a set schedule (yearly, etc), while others test when they need to fill open slots. Since you are a veteran, many places will give you extra points or some other incentive. If you post where you are/are willing to work, someone local may be able to provide you with more specific information. There was an ask/tell thread but I lost my plat and I can't find it. edit: found thread http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3190686
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Feb 20, 2010 17:54
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senor punk posted:Crazy Dutchman hit the important stuff, just want to stress that the specifics of the process are very dependent on where you are trying to become a firefighter, and it's an uphill battle to get into any paying firefighting position. Unless you already have something else lined up for if firefighting wasn't an option, I'd suggest looking into becoming an EMT, since it's a similar line of work with a much higher potential of a job as soon as you become an EMT. The process can take quite awhile, even if you do get hired. I got hired in about 4 months beginning to end, but I work for a smaller dept. Large depts will take at least a year, and if you have to wait on a list, years. Before Chicago FD tested in 2006, the last test was in 1994, so the guys they hired in 2005 had been waiting over 10 years. Getting your EMT cert is a good idea. Like it or not, EMS and Fire have become very intertwined. My dept is all ALS (meaning everyone is a Paramedic) and we run the ambulances as well as fire calls. Most paid departments require you to at least have your EMT or First Responder. Some places may give you an advantage if you have it, some may not.
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Feb 20, 2010 23:06
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SixtySix posted:THREAD RESURRECTION Well, hiring practices vary depending where in the US you are wanting to go. If you want to go to a big department, they may well make you re-take the EMS/Fire training you already have. This mostly applies to Fire training, but some places will make you re-take EMS stuff too. Places that are civil service often will give you extra points for veteran's status. Speaking more than English may also play into your favor. Make sure you stay/get in shape, while you aren't old by any stretch, many of the applicants you are competing against will be in their early/mid 20's. You can, of course play the experience card with your 'advanced' age. Look at places you would like to work, and find out what their requirements are to test, so you know what you need to do to be eligible. Unfortunately, in this economy many departments are cutting hiring, and in some cases, laying firefighters off.
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Jun 21, 2010 00:11
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invision posted:So I roll up to my second ever Volunteer Fire Department meeting. I get out of my truck and start to walk in when all kinds of sirens and loud poo poo start going off. Some guy goes "Hey you wanna ride?" That is pretty much how it goes. Usually, the crazier the dispatch sounds, the bigger the BS when you actually get there. Couldn't tell you how many times we get to a call dispatched sounding like the Apocalypse and when we get there someone has a stubbed toe. Last shift we got dispatched to a 3 y/o 'CPR in progress' and when we got there we found a 3 y/o with a fever.
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Nov 9, 2010 22:31
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FooGoo posted:Are fire certs typically transferrable from state to state? Since my hopes of getting a spot as a trainee anywhere in CA is pretty much nil, would it be a dumb move to get a trainee spot in another state and hope to transfer to Cali in a few years? That depends. Each state is in charge of their own firefighting certifications. Organizations like IFSAC and Pro Board can help with reciprocity. In Texas, the IFSAC seals are recognized and you just apply for certification with your seals. If you don't have the seals, you have to get prior training certified as equivalent and you will still have to take and pass the skills tests and written exams. http://www.tcfp.state.tx.us/standards/transferring.asp Military FF experience is generally a plus, and many places give veterans extra points during the hiring process as well.
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Nov 15, 2010 18:28
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Marx posted:Which explains why I wasn't able to find it during my irregular perusals. I had been wondering where it went as well.
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Nov 18, 2010 23:49
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invision posted:Someone else post in here please Maybe if you dropped them from the tenth story or something. SCBA tanks are pretty durable. They have to be, since they are on the back of SCBA, they take a lot of abuse.
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Nov 23, 2010 14:35
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Loco179 posted:Must have not been a Scott. We use those at work. Have seen them seriously hosed up. Never ever had a issue ever. Those carbon fiber tanks rock. While the new flat pack design is definitely interesting and won't get caught up on wires like what we have now, any firefighter with any training knows to roll over with your bottle in the corner and slide when presented with a bunch of hanging wires like that.
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Nov 23, 2010 14:39
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Rookies are so cute 
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Dec 8, 2010 18:21
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invision posted:"Trailer house on fire" means "Trailer house that burned to the loving ground a week ago is kinda smoldering a little." get used to it
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Dec 23, 2010 15:13
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Kashew posted:Wait til you get a call for a structure fire and it turns out someone saw their neighbor's dryer vent pouring out steam in the winter. My favorite is the time we got dispatched on a structure fire because a passerby saw the TV flickering through the front window and thought it was fire.
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Dec 23, 2010 23:27
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I started my EMS career working in a rural area. In one county alone there were five streets named Pine, 20 or more miles apart. Sometimes the numbers can give a clue to a more specific location, but of course our dispatchers would often fail to get the city name.
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Jan 25, 2011 03:43
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invision posted:do I really want to get my EMT-B? If you ever want to get paid to fight fire, then yes. I don't know about where you are, but here in Texas, EMT-B is pretty much the minimum, and you should really get your Medic if you want to get a career gig.
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Jan 29, 2011 04:47
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invision posted:I'm also in Texas. Where you at? I'm like 45 minutes outside Houston. Dallas/Fort Worth. If you want to get an idea of who is hiring and the requirements, there is an 'employment' link on the Texas Commission on Fire Protection website.
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Jan 29, 2011 21:25
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Loco179 posted:Yep forget those stupid fire science programs. Noone cares!!! Any retard can pass that program. I'm not sure if you are being sarcastic or not, but in Texas, this is absolutely the case. The departments that do require college hours to apply, don't care what they are in, but many either require or prefer applicants with their Paramedic certification. They don't have to worry about paying applicants while they are at school, or if they can pass the test or not. The only person that failed the state fire exam was the class retard, but many of the folks in my medic class had to take the test more than once (including me), and several never went on to get their cert. Now whether the trend of making everyone a Paramedic or even combining fire/EMS is a good one is a whole nother ball of wax.
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Feb 1, 2011 18:53
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invision posted:Hey which one if you is the dfw ff? I guess I'm the only one
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Mar 21, 2011 20:05
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invision posted:e:I was going to PM you, but you don't have platinum or they aren't turned on. Do you have an email I could get? spacecadet726 *at* gmail make sure you put something about SA in the subject as this is my spam email and I dump a lot of it into trash
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Mar 23, 2011 02:20
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herp derp, that email address is at yahoo, not gmail
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Mar 23, 2011 13:25
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If they didn't supply us with leather boots, I would buy my own.
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Mar 26, 2011 03:05
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I've worn both the Pro Warrington and Globe pull ons (not sure of exact models. I preferred the Pros, just because they fit my feet better.
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Mar 26, 2011 14:46
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invision posted:Well, test results came in. I was ~65 out of 460 . They only let the top 50 take the agility test, but use the rest of the list for hiring for a year. So maybe there's still hope. (I did a little better than I was expecting, to be honest.) Thats actually pretty good. Remember that all those people have to pass physical agility, interviews, polys, background checks, psych tests, etc. Those can weed a lot of people out.
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Apr 2, 2011 02:45
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Revolvyerom posted:Maybe you guys can answer better than AI here: During fire training, when they got to class D fires (self-combusting metals and the like), they warned us to be cautious of old cars with magnesium in the block (some old VW's I think, and a handful of others), because if the engine or rim cracked during the crash, you could end up with such a fire and not be aware of it. Has anyone here heard of that happening, or was that another "my friend's cousin's sister in law once heard..." legend? I find it difficult to believe that any manufacturer would not bother to use a non-terrifyingly-dangerous alloy of magnesium. Wikipedia offers anecdotal evidence of magnesium alloy tire rims without a citation, so that's useless. There are quite a few cars, including newer models, that have magnesium somewhere in the frame, block, etc. I know that recent era chevy trucks have some in the seat assemblies. Now, I've never heard of it self igniting, but if you have a car fire the magnesium burns quite spectacularly. Your options then are either to let it burn or drown the piss out of it.
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May 1, 2011 13:21
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Revolvyerom posted:I'll count myself lucky then! Thanks If you put enough water on it fast enough it will cool the fire fast enough to stop the reaction and the fire. I doubt it would work on pure magnesium if it were burning but it works well enough on the alloys in automobiles. It does make a pretty light show when you apply water at first though.
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May 1, 2011 23:32
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HisMajestyBOB posted:I recently applied to my local fire department for full-time employment and got a letter inviting me to a "Pre-Employment General Aptitude Examination". Is that just a fancy way of saying "interview"? What can I expect at it, and anything in particular to be aware of? If it's just an interview and information session, what questions could I expect that would be different from standard job interviews? That sounds like it is just a written test, which is the first step in most FD hiring processes. If you have half a brain, it will be cake.
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May 5, 2011 13:58
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DEVILDOGOOORAH posted:Would a HAZMAT Technician Endorsement from Natl FireFighters Assoc/DOD mean anything as far as jobs with some sort of Firefighting division in the real world? I actually find all the HAZMAT response stuff pretty fascinating and can see it not being the worst job in the world. Transferring DOD firefighting certifications varies by state. In Texas if your cert is IFSAC certified then all your have to do is fill out paperwork and pay fees. DOD/ProBoard/whatever else would probably transfer but I think you at least have to do the skills testing if not take the written test as well. Already having HAZMAT Tech might benefit you once you get hiring, but I don't know of any departments that require it or give you preference for having it during the hiring process.
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May 11, 2011 19:19
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Marx posted:"Hm, what's the in the distance? Sirens?. I guess I can use some fire trucks here too." *hears sirens in distance* 'Welp, better call an ambulance for this hangnail that has been bothering me for 3 years'
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May 19, 2011 20:53
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Just letting invision or any other TX FF goons know that Plano FD is testing in september. Only catch is none of you fuckers can score higher than me.
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Jul 16, 2011 00:51
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invision posted:Update from a&m annual fire school and firetruck expo extravaganza 2011: fire truck with a boat and coffee maker. I went to A&M a couple of years back when I was a jolly volly. It is a good school, but it is redneck central, and I'm from east Texas. Lots of drunken volunteers with $2000 worth of lights on their personal vehicle and carrying their pager around even though they are 200 miles from home. What class are you taking?
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Jul 24, 2011 23:23
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You get patches for vehicle rescue? We don't even have certs for that, its just part of basic certification.
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Jul 26, 2011 02:19
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My department is very flexible as we have several members in the reserve/guard and some that have deployed. I don't know the specifics since I'm not in either.
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Jul 31, 2011 16:52
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Val Helmethead posted:Heard on someone else's dispatch. Eh maybe the door got banged just right and is stuck, but the person isn't injured and they are too fat to get out another door? I dunno.
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Oct 27, 2011 20:00
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kicktd posted:We have another cold spell coming this Friday, just happens that's the evening that 90% of our department will be doing a class of their choice for the whole weekend at the local Fire College. So fingers crossed nothing major happens during Friday/Saturday/Sunday. You are new at this, aren't you. I had this discussion with my wife this afternoon, about how 'helping people' is actually a very small part of firefighting. Most of our runs are because people are either too dumb or too lazy to take care of things themselves. It does feel good when we actually make a difference in someone's life. We had a guy come by the station a while back that we worked a cardiac arrest on after he was electrocuted, but those instances are very rare. On the other hand, it pays the bills so I can't complain. I'm looking for a new department and one local place has openings. Their application has a paragraph where you have to write why you want to work there and it will actually require some thought in order to answer the question without being sarcastic or fake.
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Nov 13, 2011 00:41
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kicktd posted:Yup, been on a little over 7 months now in an all volunteer department. I knew people were "dumb" but didn't know they were this dumb on some of the silliest things we get called out on. I've seen dumb things that I wouldn't have believed had I not witnessed it personally.
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Nov 19, 2011 02:54
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senor punk posted:Politics only seem to go away by going to a paid department, though even then they don't disappear. If anything, they get worse.
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Jan 27, 2012 23:50
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Dim, Tired, and Elderly posted:Not surprised departments like that exist. Ticking clock on waiting for one of those guys to die due to lack of leadership/training/PPE. That's some third world poo poo right there.
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Feb 16, 2012 18:41
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My Spirit Otter posted:There are 22 people, including myself. I'm also the youngest at 22. Some one needs to fill out some grants. SCBA and PPE are some of the easiest things to get grant money for.
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Mar 6, 2012 14:31
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smooth.operator posted:What do you need more SCBA's for if they only have 1 truck? They're working with a ratio that's comparable to most full-time departments. I'd go heavy on the PPE as you'll likely get more use out of that. I'd kill for a second set. I guess that depends on how many people they have show up for fires. If they usually have more than 6, it might be nice to have enough for everyone to get one. If they are a really small, poor dept, they are probably ancient SCBAs and the new ones are much nicer. Even one generation older than new are better than the old SCOTT low pressure SCBA by a large margin. My experience working with small rural depts is that SCBA & PPE are usually the in the worst condition relative to anything else, and those are pretty easy to get grant money for.
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Mar 6, 2012 17:53
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