I am interested in testing for the Fire Department. What classes should I start taking?

Answer: All of the Municipal Fire Departments in this area require their candidates to be Arizona State Certified EMTs. I would recommend starting with an EMT104 class. Successful completion of this course will qualify you to sit for the National Registry and Arizona State EMT-B Certification examination.

What is the testing process like to become a Firefighter?

Answer: There are typically 5-6 steps in the testing process. The process usually begins with an application for the specific department you are testing for. The applications are reviewed and applicants are invited to sit for a written examination. There are a couple of different tests used right now. Some departments are utilizing a video based test, while others use a more traditional type of written test. At this point, the organization will usually invite a top portion of testers to continue in the process.

The next steps in the process may be organized in different orders. Next will usually be the first round of oral board examinations. The organization will then hold a CPAT, Certified Physical Agility Test. After successfully completing the CPAT, you may be invited to sit for a 2^nd oral board examination. Each of these steps is used to reduce the number of candidates and pick out the top performers.

Some departments in this area make job offers based on their findings during the 2^nd oral board examinations. The candidates that are offered jobs will be put through a full time fire academy and be employed on a probationary status for one year.

Other departments add an additional step to the testing process. After the 2^nd oral boards, candidates are chosen to attend a part-time intern academy. This academy will meet twice a week for about 7 weeks. At the end of this intern academy, the top performers will be offered full time employment. They will then go through a full time paid academy and be employed on a probationary status for one year.

Answer: You can find links to manr of the local Fire Departments and Fire Districts on the CGCC FSC website. These links can be used to research the various departments, as well as finding when these departments are planning on testing. You will notice that some of the larger departments test every year at the same time, while some of the medium departments test every two years at the same time. Most of the smaller departments will conduct the testing process on an "as needed" basis.

Answer: Firefighters in this area work a 56-hour workweek. The schedule becomes confusing to most because we work 24-hour shifts. In addition, our workweek is based on a nine-day rotation as opposed to the typical 7-day rotation that fits with our calendar. As a result, the specific days we work are continually changing on a 9-week rotation. This basically works out to one 24-hour shift every three days. There are two basic schedules used in this area. They are: 1) 24-48 and 2) 3-4. A shift calendar generator can be found at fire-ems.net.

What is a typical workday for a Firefighter?

Answer: Firefighters will usually conduct shift change at 7:00 or 8:00am. This consists of a brief information exchange from the off-going shift regarding any pertinent information for the on-coming crew. Once this is done, the firefighters will move to the bay area to put their personal gear on the truck and perform a complete check-off on the equipment. This is to ensure everything is on the truck and in working order at the beginning of each shift.

If your company is scheduled for training, you will usually need to quickly check off the truck and prepare to go to training. If you are not scheduled for training, the plan of the day is up to the company officer. He will make this plan based on input from the Battalion Chief and the needs of the crew. There may be station cleaning duties or truck cleaning or maintenance duties that need to be done. There is also an annual fire inspection list that the Captain may choose to work on. The crew will need to perform their PT, Physical Training, usually an hour each day. In addition to these duties, many of the Captains and crew members are involved in various projects that need attention for the organization. While planning and carrying out these tasks, the crew will need to maintain themselves in a state of readiness so they can respond to emergency calls when needed.

The evenings are usually set aside for personal time if there are no emergency calls. Current fire stations are designed with individual bunkrooms so the crewmembers can try to get some rest at night. Rest between emergency calls at night allows the crewmembers to stay sharp and prepared for whatever the demands of the next emergency will be. Crews will usually get up around 6:00am to ensure the station and truck is ready for the on-coming crew. This consists of cleaning and moping the station, cleaning the bathrooms, washing the fire truck, and cleaning the bay floor. After that, shift change occurs and the process of the day starts over again.

For more information about CGCC's Fire Science Technology Program or if you have questions/comments regarding this page, please email val.gale.jr@cgcmail.maricopa.edu.