About This Career

Directly supervises and coordinates activities of workers engaged in firefighting and fire prevention and control.

This career is part of the Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security cluster Emergency and Fire Management Services pathway.

A person in this career:

• Assigns firefighters to jobs at strategic locations to facilitate rescue of persons and maximize application of extinguishing agents.
• Provides emergency medical services as required, and performs light to heavy rescue functions at emergencies.
• Assesses nature and extent of fire, condition of building, danger to adjacent buildings, and water supply status to determine crew or company requirements.
• Communicates fire details to superiors, subordinates, or interagency dispatch centers, using two-way radios.
• Serves as a working leader of an engine, hand, helicopter, or prescribed fire crew of three or more firefighters.
• Instructs and drills fire department personnel in assigned duties, including firefighting, medical care, hazardous materials response, fire prevention, and related subjects.
• Maintains fire suppression equipment in good condition, checking equipment periodically to ensure that it is ready for use.
• Evaluates the performance of assigned firefighting personnel.
• Directs the training of firefighters, assigning of instructors to training classes, and providing of supervisors with reports on training progress and status.
• Schedules employee work assignments and sets work priorities.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would often handle loads up to 20 lbs., sometimes up to 50 lbs. You might do a lot of lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling.
• Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
• Exposure to pollutants, gases, dust, fumes, odors, poor ventilation, etc.
• Exposed to disease and infections more than once a month through work such as patient care, laboratory work, and sanitation control
• Lighting is either extremely bright or inadequate
• Conditions are very hot (above 90 F) or very cold (under 32 F)
• Exposed to conditions such as high voltage electricity, combustibles, explosives, and chemicals more than once a month
• Exposed to hazardous equipment such as saws, machinery, or vehicular traffic more than once a month
• Work in this occupation requires being inside most of the time
• Sound and noise levels are loud and distracting
• Work in this occupation requires being outside most of the time
• Work in this occupation involves use of special protective items such as a breathing apparatus, safety harness, full protection suit, or radiation protection

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Maintaining a body position that prevents falling when in an unstable position
• Identifying color and seeing differences in color, including shades and brightness
• Short periods of running, jumping, or throwing
• Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching
• Seeing clearly at a distance
• Seeing clearly up close
• Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
• Identifying and understanding the speech of another person
• Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying objects
• Using abdominal and lower back muscles repeatedly or over time without tiring

Work Hours and Travel

• Irregular hours
• Weekend work