Cal Fire Hiring Process

[GREGOR831]

Hello, I am currently a college student and I am planning on working for Cal Fire when I graduate.

I was wondering if someone could give me some details about the Cal Fire hiring process for the seasonal firefighter 1 position, and also about the ranking system they use.

Anything will be great. Thank You

[GREGOR831]

also any tips on getting hired on to cal fire would be nice as well

[arff42]

also any tips on getting hired on to cal fire would be nice as well


First, finish your Firefighter 1, 67 , EMT, and HAZ MAT FRO. Once you complete these items you can type up your applications and compete against thousands of other hopefuls who want the same job.

Tips for getting hired: Apply to EVERY SINGLE UNIT IN CALIFORNIA and prepare for your interview.

Stay safe.

[hyrisk]

Question. I heard that some people this season didnt even go home for three solid months. Is it true? I'm not arguing about this since it means making end's meet. I'm also wondering if anyone could explain how the CalFire shifts work for a seasonal firefighter?

[arff42]

Question. I heard that some people this season didnt even go home for three solid months. Is it true? I'm not arguing about this since it means making end's meet. I'm also wondering if anyone could explain how the CalFire shifts work for a seasonal firefighter?

Season Firefighters work the 72/96 schedule. However, when manpower is needed, expect to work a lot more. If you are at a fire, I believe it is 24 hours on the fire line and then 24 hours off. You are paid the entire time you are gone.

[dustinlevengood]

The most you can be held on is 21 days at a time, then you get 48 hours off. You usually have the option of taking these 2 days off at home without pay, or you can choose to sleep at the fire station or at a unit supplied hotel and recieve overtime pay for it.

[lilfighter]

can some one help me find out were to apply for a wild land fire fighting job just relocated to california and want to get info to fighting fires

[mrjcrickett]

"The most you can be held on is 21 days at a time, then you get 48 hours off. You usually have the option of taking these 2 days off at home without pay, or you can choose to sleep at the fire station or at a unit supplied hotel and recieve overtime pay for it."

Not sure what unit you work in, but it must be nice.

You will work as long as you are needed. For example this season, we all worked through the lighting bust up north until it was done. I personally worked over a month straight and I was nowhere near the top in regards of days worked. As far as days off go you get them as they are handed out. The 48 off is not a rule in the CDF. The feds have a rule like that but even there you are subject to agency needs ( I worked there before I worked CDF, so yes I know). If you are serious about working wildland be prepared to write off your summer/fall. Don't be one of those FNGs who start crying on day 10.

[Ticonderoga]

"The most you can be held on is 21 days at a time, then you get 48 hours off. You usually have the option of taking these 2 days off at home without pay, or you can choose to sleep at the fire station or at a unit supplied hotel and recieve overtime pay for it."

Not sure what unit you work in, but it must be nice.

You will work as long as you are needed. For example this season, we all worked through the lighting bust up north until it was done. I personally worked over a month straight and I was nowhere near the top in regards of days worked. As far as days off go you get them as they are handed out. The 48 off is not a rule in the CDF. The feds have a rule like that but even there you are subject to agency needs ( I worked there before I worked CDF, so yes I know). If you are serious about working wildland be prepared to write off your summer/fall. Don't be one of those FNGs who start crying on day 10.
I would write off my whole year to see fire. I say that now as an ambitious teenager, but i'm sure that would change in 10 years :)

[Deihs11]

I live in Illinois, and need to pay for college and plan on going out west this summer to fight wild fires. Does anyone have any suggestions on where i can apply?...

[emthaze]

i just completed my first year as a seasonal with CAL fire and to have the best shot you need emt, hazmat fro, confined space awareness and the cdf 67 hour wildland class which you can sign up for this winter if you have all those then you meet all the check boxes on their app and when it comes down to you or the next guy it might come down to your certs, also a strong interview is important they really wanted to know who i was and how i would fit into the fire house cause when your stuck with the same guys 24 hours a day for a month straight its important everyone gets along. Earlier this summer i worked for 34 days straight with a 2 day rest after the first 21 or so. And for the ranking system i think it was a 1-4 rank in the interviews 4 was usually for someone who had previous fire experience and had all the certs, and if you dont get hired first round there is usually a second hire a few months later so applying in every unit and interviewing with them helps get you used to the questions so when you get to the "chosen" unit your ready for the questions and also in that unit going to the stations and bringing by a resume to the captains on the different shifts at different houses can really help when they get the hiring list and they can put a face to the name. and id call the station before you visit to make sure its ok to stop by, i made that mistake and they werent too happy with me. good luck

[Veers13]

Where can you go to take all the courses? Are they all just one course in a Firefighter I Academy?

[mandownco]

your wrong nathaniel. To clear things up... in the interviews, your ranked 1-4. 1 Being the highest and 4 being the worst. If you get ranked 3 or 4 in your interview, your pretty much not going to get a call back from that unit. Just be prepared for the interview and dress nice and you will do fine. Also, the easiest way to get a job right away if by completing a fire academy. Yea you could get by with just the bare minimum. But when your competing with 1000+ applicants per unit, you want to do anything and everything you can to stand out. Good luck and if you have any questions PM me.

-Todd

[furlofmalta]

I live in Illinois, and need to pay for college and plan on going out west this summer to fight wild fires. Does anyone have any suggestions on where i can apply?...

Read this...
http://www.fire.ca.gov/about/downloads/careers/FFCareer.pdf
Most of the Units (all the southern units I believe) require you to file your application in person...
You must apply to each unit you want to work for (their is no central location where you can apply to all the units).
My guess is that your best fit would be one of the units in the northern half of the state (don't be picky) because of the fact that you probably will only be filing by mail and also because you are in school the fire season in the northern half of the state is a better fit for a student (socal typically burns pretty late in the year).

Best of luck

[Deihs11]

thanks alot furlofmalta!

That helped out alot... any other suggestions on making myself standout?

[dkline1]

I just recently had my interviews for Cal-Fire and was wondering about station visits AFTER the interview. On a couple of the cards under my score say "PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT UNIT we will contact you", I would like to put my face in but do not want to jeopardize my chances of getting hired. Any suggestions of what I should do?

[rawbff15]

what that means is dont call the unit headquarters and ask if you have been given a job, but you need to go to the stations and talk to the captains and bring them your resume, if you dont your going to have a hard time getting a job, you want the captains to be able to put a face to the name

[dkline1]

Hey I had interviews with San Mateo/Santa Cruz, Sonoma Lake/Napa and Santa Clara Units and received a 1 and two 2's on my scores. I want to visit the stations but can't seem to find any of the stations phone numbers or adresses. What should i do? On the card i received under my score as well says don't contact the unit we'll contact you? What should I do?

[dkline1]

Thanx dude, another questions, I'm having trouble finding the units fire stations phone numbers and adresses for those units. I've looked everywhere and can't find them. What should I do?

[xxfiremanxx]

Hello, i am a full time college student at Modesto Junior College. I recently just did my very first interview with MMU and was very nervous during the whole process. I got a letter back saying i ranked a 3 and im not really sure if that is a good thing or bad thing. Are the chances of getting hired good?

[rowdyroddy]

Thanx dude, another questions, I'm having trouble finding the units fire stations phone numbers and adresses for those units. I've looked everywhere and can't find them. What should I do?

Whats up man, in regards to "what to do now" Im in a similar situation. I didnt get any 1's but a 2 with a unit I really want to get in with. I dont have any fire exp per say besides being halfway through a 350+ hr academy. It sounds like you present yourself well, do you have any friends in Cal Fire that can give you advice? I know for sure after talking to a lot of guys that you have to politic, you have to.. As far as getting addresses, phone numbers etc that can be tricky, I went through the same thing. Id say call me and I would give them all to you but I've only applied to one unit, and its not any that you applied to. Tip, start with operations headquarters for your area (North-South). Every person I've spoke to with Cal FIre thus far has been extremely helpful and pleasant. Just tell them straight up what you want to do, if you get the cute receptionist "at least she sounds cute" then she'll do her best to help you or transfer you to someone that can. Most units will have a main station where there will be more Caps than say the other stations in the area, focus on that station being your best visit. In other words dont start there, start small, and by the time you get to the station with the caps then youll be warmed up. Time of day is really important, you can ruin everything by showing up at the wrong time. Again, just my .02. Im brand new to this, but have doen a lot of research and spoken to a lot of knowledgeable people. Good luck, keep in contact, if I find anything that works better I'll let you know and you do the same. Remember, most of these guys got a break in their day, and are open to helping you.

[CALFFBOU]

Need some CAL FIRE info? There are some people over at www.californiafirefighter.com. The site will be up in a few days, but you can long in and join now at- http://siteground228.com/~califo21/

[FortechFEO]

Welcome back CalBou!

[dkline1]

Hey dude thanx for the info. I did my station visits to about five stations big and small and they were quite helpful with everything. Now i guess we wait and see. Do you know when they start calling people for seasonal work?QUOTE=rowdyroddy;1049022]Whats up man, in regards to "what to do now" Im in a similar situation. I didnt get any 1's but a 2 with a unit I really want to get in with. I dont have any fire exp per say besides being halfway through a 350+ hr academy. It sounds like you present yourself well, do you have any friends in Cal Fire that can give you advice? I know for sure after talking to a lot of guys that you have to politic, you have to.. As far as getting addresses, phone numbers etc that can be tricky, I went through the same thing. Id say call me and I would give them all to you but I've only applied to one unit, and its not any that you applied to. Tip, start with operations headquarters for your area (North-South). Every person I've spoke to with Cal FIre thus far has been extremely helpful and pleasant. Just tell them straight up what you want to do, if you get the cute receptionist "at least she sounds cute" then she'll do her best to help you or transfer you to someone that can. Most units will have a main station than say the other stations in the area, focus on that station being your best visit. In other words dont start there, start small, and by the time you get to the station with the caps then youll be warmed up. Time of day is really important, you can ruin everything by showing up at the wrong time. Again, just my .02. Im brand new to this, but have doen a lot of research and spoken to a lot of knowledgeable people. Good luck, keep in contact, if I find anything that works better I'll let you know and you do the same. Remember, most of these guys got a break in their day, and are open to helping you.[/QUOTE]

[rowdyroddy]

I havent heard anything yet. I havent had an opportunity to politic, with a f-t job, academy and 2 toddlers its hard, but then again its all about sacrifice. Im going to try to get up there this weekend. If I dont and I get a thank you letter I'll be ****ed off at myself. I hope to get a call, anyone out there know what contact method is used if they want you? i.e. call or mail?

[archimusprime]

Hey guys,

I'm a 20 year old college student with only my first responder and a few fire classes. I had an interview and got a 3 on it due to the lack of my fire experience. However, I politiced hard (I live 3 hours away from the unit I interviewed in) usually about once a week to different stations in that unit. On monday I got a call with a job offer. I mean this might be rare, but it just proves that you don't necessarily have to have all the certs as everyone else. But you need to be a salesman when you go to the stations. You need to show them that you are a better canidate than the next guy.

[rowdyroddy]

[QUOTE=dkline1;1050349]Hey dude thanx for the info. I did my station visits to about five stations big and small and they were quite helpful with everything. Now i guess we wait and see. Do you know when they start calling people for seasonal work?


From another thread I started I've been told you can get a call anytime, and that you better respond asap if you get a voicemail. Even if you get a denial letter, you can still be on a list for late hire, so its still not out of the ? You dont accept private messages? I was wondering if you've heard anything?

[fiftyonefifty]

Politic your *** off

[adlx21]

Hey guys, I wanted to bring this thread back up because I wasn't completely sure, by reading all on this thread, what I need to join CAL Fire. I would like to know the requirements and if I DO need to be a firefighter in order to apply?

From reading this thread, I see that an EMT-1, hazmat fro, confined space awareness, and CAL FIRE Basic Firefighter (67 Hours) is required and ideally what i need.

Also, where in the Bay Area can get the cdf wildland class(67 hours) cert?
Is that class called S-130?

[thernandez63]

Hey, I wanted to find out what type of odds I was looking in getting hired for the 2010 season. I am planning on applying to the forest service and cal fire. I'm currently a explorer and have been for 2 and a half years, I have also went to a wild land academy for explorers and have my I-100 S-110 S-130 S-190 L-180 IS-700 and going to finish my emt program around mid november.