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The Journey to the Job

This is me (I'm on the right) about two years ago.  All I had to my career of firefighting was a Utah EMT-Basic and a job offer for ski patrol. These two steps are some of the biggest that I have made towards working as a professional firefighter.

I was told time and time again that the process for becoming a firefighter was nothing short of daunting, but I persevered and told myself there was no way I would ever quit till I got the job, and I stand by that today.  At the same time, I wish that I had a little bit better of an idea about exactly how hard it was to be able to get anywhere in the world of firefighting.

So I lucked out and got the first EMT job I applied for, and that luck was stronger than I could have ever hoped because I landed myself a ski patrol job in the land of the dirty hippies where terrible facial hair is revered (pictured above). 

Let me tell you though, ski patrol has a very miniscule overlap with the world of firefighting and there will always be someone out there to remind you of that.  Just being on ski patrol is not enough to say, "I have experience as an EMT," not in my opinion anyway.  It's a great starting point, and will probably be enough experience to get you a low level ambulance job, and if you don't like the idea of medical response as a part of your job duties in firefighting you should try a different career, like wildland firefighting.

Pretty cool right?

Ski Patrol was really hard work and a complete blast, I would trade my time there for anything in the world.  If it were a year-round job, without having to move from Utah to Australia and back, I would do it forever.  I don't feel like being nomadic though, so I'm trying to settle into a structure firefighting job.

The whole time I was on ski patrol, and all the time between, I was putting out applications for fire jobs all over the area.  I began noticing a trend that is more and more prominent every day.  People don't want to hire someone who is just a firefighter, or just an EMT Basic, they want the full package.  "ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR FIREFIGHTER/PARAMEDIC," is what you will begin to see more and more.

I have spend a lot of my time, and I mean A LOT, filling out applications and driving to different departments to test for jobs.  I have spent a lot of money, and many miles on the road.  My point being, I have put a lot of time out there and I'm not even close to the highest ranked candidate out there.  I think that I should be, and that I have a lot of potential to be a great asset to any department that would take me.  But until I achieve that level of training that is exactly all that it is, potential. What I have learned is that fire departments don't to invest in potential, they want you to show them what you can do with it.

Go out, and show them what you can do. Get all of your certifications and a Degree if you can.  I would say the only thing you benefit from taking tests before you have your certs is the practice of taking the actual tests.  Chances are pretty high that you aren't going to make it without a highly decorated resume.

The most important thing I would say that has kept me going is just knowing that I am going to do it. You have to believe in yourself or you will never make it.  It is a long haul to become a firefighter, get ready to bear down and plug away till you get there, and NEVER stop once you do.  Just because you are a firefighter does not give you the right to complacency, there are thousands of guys gunning for your job and don't you ever forget it.

The Wildland Season is Coming to an End

We're getting away from the season of wild land fires and our wildlanders are coming home. So before I get into anything else I just want to recognize that.

THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO.

Without you wildlanders putting yourselves on the line,

we wouldn't be safe in our homes in the wildland interface. 

We have wildland firefighters to thank for saving the water supply of the San Francisco area, and they have something to thank for the effectiveness of their activities.

New mapping technology was able to help the commanding officers of the Rim Fire, which was burning 250,000 acres in California, to decide exactly where to have 3 DC-10 fire retardant drop planes to place their payload.  This in combination with the activities of the ground support was able to halt the fire and save the water supply from being contaminated with soot.

This is all due to the fact that commanding officers had up to date information that has been beyond luxury in the past.  In situations like this the command posts would receive reports on paper every twelve hours hoping to keep further updated by intermittent radio traffic.

  

With cell phone technology on their side, firefighters are able to paint a much more specific picture of the roaring fire. 

This is an awesome step not only to help us fight fires more effectively, but in our ability to better predict the actions of wildfires.  Which to me, the most important side effect is that it gives us the ability to protect the firefighters who are out there protecting us.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/21/4753164/fighting-fire-with-maps-how-gis-tech-helped-beat-back-the-rim-fire

Solar Panels are now threatening the ability of firefighters to protect a structure.  Due to the fact that solar panels energy receiving technology cannot be disabled, firefighters cannot be effective in many vertical ventilation tactics (one of the ways the firefighters remove heat and smoke from a structure to make the environment safer to work in, or even safer for civilians to survive in.)

In Delanco, New Jersey volunteer firefighters encountered solar panels on the roof and had to switch to a defensive tactic.  Now just because firefighters are going defensive does not mean that if they are able to change the conditions of the fire in their favor enough that they cannot switch back into an offensive attack.  But in the case of the Dietz & Watson warehouse, Delanco Deputy Fire Chief Robert Hubler said, "Do I think we'd have had a different outcome if we could get on the roof? Sure."

This is an interesting problem because most people understand solar panels to be the clean, money saving, green energy source that will effectively fuel our electrical needs.  But they have found that even the light from a flashlight carried by a firefighter gives a solar panel enough charge to be hazardous to firefighter safety.  

An additional problem is that solar panels add weight to a roof, and if solar panels were installed after the house was build then it is safe to say the the load on the roof is not designed, or simply, more likely to collapse sooner during the evolution of a house fire.

 

This is an interesting challenge that firefighters everywhere are already trying to figure out how to defeat, and I for one am very interested to see what the community comes up with in light of this hurdle.

Solar panels big issue for fire fighters 

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/09/solar_panels_big_issue_for_fire_fighters.html

The roof is on fire: Do solar panels hinder firefighters?

http://www.mnn.com/your-home/at-home/blogs/the-roof-is-on-fire-do-solar-panels-hinder-firefighters

On a side note, I intend in the next week to start a blog documenting my road to elite physical fitness to give myself a sort of social obligation to continue to work hard at being better at being who I need to be. I would love for anyone and everyone to be a part of the journey with me.