How does one become a firefighter?
 

I know there are several of you on this board and I was hoping you could give me some input. My son just turned 18 and is about to be done with high school. He is a smart kid but is not interested in college right now, and I am not going to force the issue.

Today he mentioned that he was interested in becoming a fireman. Now up until today I was freaking out because it seemed like his great ambition was to become a roadie for a death metal band (seriously). Obviously the thought of him fighting fires and serving the community is alot more appealing to me as a father, so I want to pick up this ball quick and run with it as fast as possible.

I am sure he will need to take a civil service exam, but I am not clear on how hiring works in each town. We live in Lafayette and I am hoping he will stay in the area at least for a while. His mother lives in Katy, TX and he may want to move back there one day also.

TIA

Start volunteering and take civil service exam and find some connections to get him hooked up with a job. Each dept's hiring process will vary

My neighbor is a fireman with city of Lafayette. I can check with him and let you know.

Fight a fire

ATM in college station fire school, !!! And he can get a job anywhere in the United States.. openings are tuff in that professional, so he may have to work anywhere he don't want to before he can move back "home" and make a good living .

Firefighting is a noble proffesion. Like FF already said, volunteering would be a great place to start. I used to be a volunteer ff and I loved it. Good luck to your boy and I hope it works out for him. And you.
FIREFIGHTERS.... Because cops need heroes too.

Here in B.R after you take n pass civil service exam, get in line .because it's fo sho WHO YOU KNOW !!! Cousin was booted from acceptance into acadamey 3 times by politically connected folks.

Thanks for the responses! So I read a little more and it sounds like getting an EMT cert would be a good idea. Also sounds like he should test for any department in the area that is testing. Does that sound like a good plan?

I work for the Lafayette Fire Department. Been here 6 years. Shoot me a pm and y'all can come check out the station and meet the crew. I am at station 2 on Mudd Ave.
In Lafayette you would need to take the civil service and agility test then complete a 16 week academy. After that is when the fun begins. I also teach for LSU Fire training all around so if he would be interested in other cities I can get you in touch with them.


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Thanks! I will take you up on that.

Military is also a good option. Training, pay and experience. Air Force and Navy would be my first choice. Navy would be a little partial to me....... corps man then biomedical. Plus with going Navy, you are usually close to the salty spray. And many jobs open up for you if you discharge honourably. Their usually hiring when no one else is.

The southeast part of the state has better pay. Most of the bigger departments have their own recruit training or send their people to LSU. Starting as a volunteer is a great way to get in the door.

Go to http://www.ose.louisiana.gov/testing...irefighter.asp gives some up coming test dates. He can take the test anywhere and have his score transferred to any jurisdiction he wants. lot of good info on that site.

Go talk to the Duson fire chief and tell him I sent him. Still have plenty of contacts.

Chief,
They have been sending me your way a good bit here lately. I did a class in Lebleu Settlement in March and will be headed to Ward 2 in April. Great group of guys y'all have out there!



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What part of Lafayette parish are you in? Volunteer departments are always looking for some good hands. It's a good way to get a feel for it. If y'all are near the Judice area shoot me a PM. We have our weekly training every Monday.

Like FF T says try to get in with a volunteer fire department. The refineries here take local fire department responders to fire schools with their own responders. I was a emergency responder for ExxonMobil for 35 years. Certified for interior and exterior fires. We went to A&M and sometimes there were some city firefighters that trained with us on refinery type props. Beaumont had a fire training grounds off I10 by the Neches river. Had some good props there for training. We went to Chicago and trained with the guys from ExxonMobil in Chalmette. Most fun fire school was in Reno, Nevada. Had a knee replaced before I retired and so my firefighter days are over. Good luck to you and train hard and it may save yours or some bodies life.....

I'm not sure if he has his heart set on being a fire fighter... but another great option for someone not really interested in college is craft training. There are ALOT of craft training programs and grants going on in Southwest Louisiana right now with the upcoming work in this area.

Welding, Pipefitting, Electrical, Millwright, Carpenter... I would recommend Electrical if he can get in. The best part is that most of the students in these programs are able to work while they attend school. So they get their experience and when they finish the school they are usually experienced Journeymen.

I'm pretty sure that ABC is doing another grant program this summer. This is where the students go to school 8 hours/day for 5 days/week for 20 weeks and they finish the entire curriculum. Normally the full curriculum is 2 hours/night 2 nights/week for 4 years. If he is interested in this career path let me know and I can probably help out.