The Life of a Fire Fighter

[sdawkcab]

Hi guys,

By chance, are there any firefighters here? I ask because I'm strongly considering joining the service (applied for auxiliary) and I'm wondering what life in the TT fire service is like. I've browsed through the Fire Service website and it does a really good job of explaining the duties of a firefighter, but it does not give much insight into the life of a firefighter. I've heard a lot about the Defense Force, Police, Coast Guard and even the Air Guard and Prisons, but honestly, I don't hear much about the Fire service. It seems to be very clouded in mystery.

What is the salary like for a starting officer? What are the hours of work, and shifts? Do they get a lot of time on/off? Are there provisions made for school/tertiary education? Is there room for growth? I've heard they have an engineering department; how does that work? I'm assuming the focus of engineering will be mechanical in nature? And lastly, can anyone tell me a bit about the training; what will it be like?

I'm trying to get a feel of things here. I realise I've applied for something that I don't know enough about...what is in store for me, or new fire fighters. I'm not too focused on the life of an auxiliary firefighter, because I don't plan to remain there, and I'd like to know a bit about what firefighters experience before I get to that point. I want to know what I'm getting into, so any tips/advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[hustla_ambition101]

From what I have observed......sit in station or play football and cricket in yard.

[MaxPower]

If your first question is about salary, then im guessing what your output would be.

Typical public servant attitude.

Buy hey jimmy, good luck!

[sdawkcab]

To answer both you guys'; you're gravely misinformed, or have misconceptions.

Firefighters do a lot of work; they don't just respond to burning buildings...they respond to all emergencies: Floods, vehicle accidents, suicide threats, bomb threats, medical emergencies (they have EMTs, which is my current profession), they do training in CPR/First-aid and First Responder along with fire prevention awareness, provide escorts for dignitaries, provide EMT and First Responder coverage for events (which Trinidad happens to have a lot of), respond to bush fires (which we have a lot of in the dry season), they inspect all commercial buildings - ensuring that they meet fire-safety standards, issue licenses and certificates, do countless drills at base. And just stocking, checking, cleaning and maintaining the vehicles is a huge task by itself - those vehicles aren't small by any means, so it takes time. And of course, there are different departments that specialize in different things, with different tasks. Take the engineering department for example; a lot of work goes on there, constantly, to repair and ensure vehicles and equipment are always working optimally. And every action done must be followed by a report of some kind. That doesn't sound like doing nothing to me. But of course there is down-time, and slow days...most jobs have it.

As for the 2nd post; I asked about the salary because I have a family, and a mortgage, and bills, and other passions that I'd like to pursue. I want to be sure, or have a good enough idea that joining the service would allow me to provide for myself and my family. Smfh

So, are there any others here who actually have some insight about this and might be willing to share it, and not just make posts because they think they're witty?

[zagie]

a lot of ppl would comment negatively on the fire service due to lack of knowledge. we do respond to any and everything, while other ppl run or macoo we have to risk our lives in the service of the ppl, i would admit there are ups and down that plague the service but all institutions have that, and the football and cricket they see us playing thats on our stand easy time, after all we do have to keep fit, its an all contact job so if u thinking about office type work this is not the job for you but clerical work is also done by the same firefighters, surprisingly we are the unsung heroes because the media dont give us enough recognition and theres a lot of report in terms of rescue operations co-ordinated by fire officers, salary wise it good but could be better, because of the risks involved, we have negotiations every 3 years and most times they break down and its impossible to get our just due, so it just keeps getting pushed back, what we do have is job security and thats worth alot, theres a lot of things i can say that is positive about the fire service and few down falls but as i said all institutions have that and by the way the fire service is recruiting check the local newspaper

[sdawkcab]

a lot of ppl would comment negatively on the fire service due to lack of knowledge. we do respond to any and everything, while other ppl run or macoo we have to risk our lives in the service of the ppl, i would admit there are ups and down that plague the service but all institutions have that, and the football and cricket they see us playing thats on our stand easy time, after all we do have to keep fit, its an all contact job so if u thinking about office type work this is not the job for you but clerical work is also done by the same firefighters, surprisingly we are the unsung heroes because the media dont give us enough recognition and theres a lot of report in terms of rescue operations co-ordinated by fire officers, salary wise it good but could be better, because of the risks involved, we have negotiations every 3 years and most times they break down and its impossible to get our just due, so it just keeps getting pushed back, what we do have is job security and thats worth alot, theres a lot of things i can say that is positive about the fire service and few down falls but as i said all institutions have that and by the way the fire service is recruiting check the local newspaper

Thanks zagie! Do you care to go into any details about the service, regarding time for school, growth (I know there are various ranks), shifts and hrs of work. Do you guys get adequate time off (I have a family); and as a medic where I work now, it's starting to eat into my time and my family life suffers a bit because of that. Can you give me a salary range for a firefighter now starting off? Is that possible?

[konartis]

They are afraid of police men horning them....exact words out of a firemans wife mouth.....not sure why tho

[gundeleroy2k]

To answer both you guys'; you're gravely misinformed, or have misconceptions.

Firefighters do a lot of work; they don't just respond to burning buildings...they respond to all emergencies: Floods, vehicle accidents, suicide threats, bomb threats, medical emergencies (they have EMTs, which is my current profession), they do training in CPR/First-aid and First Responder along with fire prevention awareness, provide escorts for dignitaries, provide EMT and First Responder coverage for events (which Trinidad happens to have a lot of), respond to bush fires (which we have a lot of in the dry season), they inspect all commercial buildings - ensuring that they meet fire-safety standards, issue licenses and certificates, do countless drills at base. And just stocking, checking, cleaning and maintaining the vehicles is a huge task by itself - those vehicles aren't small by any means, so it takes time. And of course, there are different departments that specialize in different things, with different tasks. Take the engineering department for example; a lot of work goes on there, constantly, to repair and ensure vehicles and equipment are always working optimally. And every action done must be followed by a report of some kind. That doesn't sound like doing nothing to me. But of course there is down-time, and slow days...most jobs have it.

As for the 2nd post; I asked about the salary because I have a family, and a mortgage, and bills, and other passions that I'd like to pursue. I want to be sure, or have a good enough idea that joining the service would allow me to provide for myself and my family. Smfh

So, are there any others here who actually have some insight about this and might be willing to share it, and not just make posts because they think they're witty?

Very good response. They always have negative things to say about public servants