Getting old is better than the alternative. From a former sailor, fed cop, aemt, and fireman in Presidio, which was all volunteer, no paid staff. Good job, but you see see some really ugly stuff.

LOTS OF GREAT INFO.
All this info is helpful and just what I needed to get him started thinking about it. Ill pass the info on and see how serious he is about going forward.
It seems like it would be a great job for him but Im learning it may be hard to get hired. Im a little uncertain about what he may need to do ahead of time. It seems some places will hire you and then train/certify will happen. Others require, or want, some certification ahead of time.
A little later, I may respond to some of your responses for clarification. I may also contact some of yall directly but Ill wait and see what his interest level is.
In the meantime, please continue responding and thanks a lot to yall so far.

That would be the hardest part of the job...a side folks don't think about. Those guys see about every way there is to die...the worst part, the kids. It's damn sure not for everyone and while I'd like to say I could do it...I'm not certain I could.

Roger that.

It is not as competitive in the metroplex as it was when I got hired. Three major things are why.

1. There are more fire jobs out there. In 2001, Frisco had four fire stations, now they have over 12 fire stations. In 2001, Mckinney had four fire stations, now they have over 10 fire stations. The same holds true for many other cities.

2. Less and less young men want to be Firemen. It's just the way it is.

3. A surprisingly high number of applicants have marks on their record, that prohibits the cities from hiring them. Probably great guys, but not hiring them is above my pay grade.

Avoid Dallas Fire Rescue at all costs. They are not in the TMRS retirement system like most of us are. The TMRS system is an awesome deal for us. And Dallas runs calls like you wouldn't believe. There's ambulances that the crews are running calls for 24 hours straight, every day. They have to check out of service to swap crews. They are, and probably will remain on the 24/48 schedule. The 48/96 schedule is far and away a much better schedule.

If he wants to do it. Get a job somewhere. If he thinks there's another city he wants to work for, he can later test for that other city. Once you get your first fire job, it is much easier to get another one. It is a foot in the door.

It is a good way for a non college degree to make over $100,000 a year. With retirement and health insurance. And I've got lots and lots of family, that are not my blood kin.

Judd has heard lots of my stories.

"T.S.A.F.E. This S**t Ain't For Everyone"

-Lt.Almeda Miami Dade FD

This is why it may be advantageous to go ahead and get at least an EMT cert so they can figure out if they like the medical side of things.

I’ll also say that it can be difficult for a young man coming into a profession with a bunch of older guys. You need to have some thick skin and a little bit of grit about you.

You dang right! The fire station is a shark tank.

My attitude is, I know the babies don't know anything. It's my job to help them know what they need to know. And I will so long as they want the help.

Have a know-it-all attitude, and I'm going to set back and let them hang themselves.

I am 39 and have 13 years on but I’m getting closer to the top in seniority. I really love this job.

It was a punch in the mouth when I first got on but I was able to navigate through and find my way. It helped that I was a bit older and had good foundation under me. Some guys just can’t get out of their own way and don’t do well with criticism.

I also have the attitude that it’s our job to make the rookies successful and to help them become a good fireman. If I am going to be working along side them I want them to be competent.

We still have some old school guys that think it’s their job to break them and try and get them to quit.

Keep your head down, work hard, don't make excuses, be “coachable”. If they do that they’ll find their way and their place on the department.

We are reading from the same sheet of music.

I tell them "make a hand" and for those of you that don't know what that means. Show up early. Listen, learn, get better at the job than you were last shift. Be dependable, be trustworthy, try to work harder than everyone else around you. You do those things, and we will guide you along on the emergency calls that you are not sure what you're supposed to be doing.

Great advice!

In my crew running days after spending waaaay too much of my time being patient and trying to get a certain employee to understand what I was trying to teach him, I would start calling him Foot. Normally, it took me calling him Foot a few times before he would even ask why. My answer, “I’m calling you Foot, cause you ain’t ever gonna make a Hand!”

How freaking hard is it to read a tape measure and bend a piece of conduit.

A statement slipped into my FD.

"We call him fingers, because he ain't no hand".

After 34 years I was the old guy. #1 seniority in the department and the city. They would tell the new guys I had been there so long I had to feed the horses when I was a rookie. Just for a moment some would believe it. "REALLY?". But I was the last one left who once had to ride to structure fires standing on a tailboard.

I was a volunteer in Wichita County from 1982 to 1986. We were fighting a grassfire within the city limits of Wichita Falls when a WFFD firefighter asked me why in the world I would do this for free. After careful consideration I went into law enforcement in 1987. lol

You chose poorly, brother.

I wouldn't say that. There's a lot of satisfaction working in public safety and it's always been considered an honorable profession. You may have a point though because I don't ever recall anyone writing a song called F the fire department.

Have 3 cousins that are 30 or less in fire departments around SA. They are happy. Had no idea what I wanted to be growing up, looking back I would have considered it.

There has always been friendly and not so friendly banter between fire and police. We are lucky in Abilene to have a great working relationship with PD.

Law enforcement would be ok but I don’t think I would like working alone so much and of course the PR issues. I’m way too trusting of people also…

One option he has with no experience is to get involved with a volunteer fire department. They have the ability to put him thru fire and emt school. It also gives him a chance to see what it is all about to really see if that is what he wants to do.

Very good responses guys. Really impressed with the info.
Right after starting this thread we lost power and it’s staying out a few days. That, and other stuff, has me jumping through hoops so I haven’t had time to respond like I want. Lots of stuff I want to respond to but I gotta catch up.
Thanks a lot and I hope y’all keep it coming.

Growing up my dad was a Memphis police officer and our neighbors on either side were firemen. Shortly after he quit the PD we moved to another state but my dad and the firemen have been life long friends. We lost one of them a few years ago to lung cancer and the crowd that showed at his funeral was impressive.

Once again, Im really impressed with all the great responses. We finally got power back on so Ill have a little more time to help coach him on this.
I usually like to address each quality response individually but theres just too many valuable ones. Bradybuck, Sniper John and JG are all firemen and commented quite a bit so extra thanks to yall. Others had short comments that really made sense, so thanks to many.
He has some other options but this is one hes considering so any other comments are still appreciated.
Thanks guys.

If the job itself is appealing and all that comes with it, also ask him what other career out there can you work 10 days a month, make 100k+ get 1 -1.5 months vacation, flexibility due to the option to trade shifts, retirement and health insurance?

There are things that are really hard about this job also, some we mentioned like all the really bad things we see, we also see death regularly, hurt children, gruesome wrecks, nasty homes filled with literal crap and vomit etc..

Some others we didn’t mention:

Firefighters are at a much higher risk for getting cancer. New policies are being put in place to protect us but it’s still a concern.

The sleep deprivation can really be hard on your body, 48/96 schedule that a lot of departments have adopted has helped but still a concern.

The schedule can be really hard on the wives of many firefighters. My wife feels like I am home all the time. I spend more time with my kids than anyone else I know not In the fire service but it’s still really hard on some guy’s relationships not being home every night.

All these things can lead to stress and depression for some guys.

Just some of the negative things I think anyone considering this job should be aware of

Bradybuck, your posts have been outstanding.