Relocation to North Carolina??

[Salman1]

Hey everyone. Career firefighter interested in possibly moving to North Carolina and a firefighter position. Looking in Greensboro, Fayetteville, Durham, Winston-Salem, and a few similiarly sized depts. Any information on hiring, salaries (top step), cost of living, housing costs, longevity and if they hire firefighters that are older ie. 30's etc. Just looking for info... 12 year vet with present department. Feel free to post or even email me at MFDLAD1@comast.net

[FTMPTB15]

Have you considered Charlotte Fire Department? It is the largest, busiest, and most advanced in the state. If you would like more information I'd be happy to help. Also, Durham FD is a decent department.. has TONS of fires, but that is also because most of Durham is lower income areas, rough areas. Let me know if you want more info.

[Salman1]

Thanks. I do have a whole list of questions etc. Would you please email me and I'll be in touch??

[FTMPTB15]

e-mail.. sent

[Salman1]

I sent you a response email and it came back as invalid??

[DaveyBoy]

Here's the web address for the Greensboro Fire Dept. I just came out of the academy a few months ago and we had a couple folks in their late 30's early 40's who came through as well. Let me know if you have any other questions.

http://www.gfdnc.com

[jknight]

It depends where your moving from. I've looked at those departments also. I'm in Northern Virginia The Starting salary is alot better up here but so is the cost of living. Charlotte seems nice and if you can handle an hour drive look @ High Rock Lake. H.R.L. is an hour from Charr. 30 Min from Greens. an 15 from Winston-Salem. Good Luck!
Jason

[jknight]

It depends where your moving from. I've looked at those departments also. I'm in Northern Virginia The Starting salary is alot higher up here but so is the cost of living. Charlotte seems nice and if you can handle an hour drive look @ High Rock Lake. H.R.L. is an hour from Charr. 30 Min from Greens. an 15 from Winston-Salem. Good Luck!
Jason

[Firefighter2230]

Here's the web address for the Greensboro Fire Dept. I just came out of the academy a few months ago and we had a couple folks in their late 30's early 40's who came through as well. Let me know if you have any other questions.

http://www.gfdnc.com


Hey DaveyBoy how was Greensboro's CPAT, written exam, and oral interview??????

[Dishwasher]

My wife and I are looking at relocating closer to her family in NC too. I had applied to a couple departments and realized that it would cost a small fortune to fly back and forth during the long application process. :eek:

Does anyone know of a department in NC with a shorter application process or one that accommodates the "out-of-staters?"

[Firefighter2230]

dishwasher which departments have you tried already?

[Dishwasher]

Rocky Mount and Fayetteville.

[Firefighter2230]

Is it around that area where you have to be? You could probably try charlotte,greensboro that might be a bit of a drive for you though

[Dishwasher]

Her family lives in fayetteville, but we'd settle for almost anywhere in NC or Virginia. We currently live in Wisconsin so you can see how it would cost an arm and a leg to go through a hiring process with a department. :(

Does Charlotte or Greensboro have a short hiring process? Could a candidate complete a couple steps in 2-3 days?

[Firefighter2230]

yeah i bet flying that far would cost an arm and a leg here are links to both websites http://www.gfdnc.com/ <greensboro and here is charlotte http://charmeck.org/Departments/Fire/Recruitment/Home.htm

[Dishwasher]

Thank You. :cool:

[FFGIGS]

Hey everyone. Career firefighter interested in possibly moving to North Carolina and a firefighter position. Looking in Greensboro, Fayetteville, Durham, Winston-Salem, and a few similiarly sized depts. Any information on hiring, salaries (top step), cost of living, housing costs, longevity and if they hire firefighters that are older ie. 30's etc. Just looking for info... 12 year vet with present department. Feel free to post or even email me at MFDLAD1@comast.net


hey e-mail me with all the info i need....dadeal2001@yahoo.com

[cd3d211]

hey i recently took the cpat for city of charlotte fire department ,which i passed. Im just a little curious if anyone has heard anything yet. i know they said a few weeks so im just wondering
aj

[DaveyBoy]

Hey DaveyBoy how was Greensboro's CPAT, written exam, and oral interview??????

Sorry it has taken me so long to reply to this.

I've only ever been through the Gboro hiring process so I don't know if I can give you any real insight as compared to other departments.

The CPAT was pretty standard from what I've read/heard about other departments. You put on a dummy-pack, carry hose roll up 5 flights, pull another hose roll to the top with a rope, down the stairs, hit the kaiser, pull a weighted tire 50 or 75 feet, then the dummy 100 ft. Once you go through the academy though it's a dream to run it in street clothes as opposed to full turn-out gear and SCBA.

The written portion was a series of apptitude and psychological exams. Honestly the psych exams were the worst- like 400 questions. It was enough to send a man over the edge.

I had two different oral interviews. One was in front of a mixture of five or six training officers/ Captains/Batt. Chiefs. It was pretty formal obviously but kept clear of questions pertaining to knowledge of actual firefighting. It was more just like a thorough job interview. The second one (that I got the job off of) was in front of a training officer and Assistant Chief. It was much more relaxed, much more like a conversation.

I guess it goes without saying that it was the hardest hiring process for any job I've ever been through. I had no prior ff or military experience and it took a few years to get the call.

[Firefighter2230]

no problem on the late reply the info is very appreciated :)

[cfdjesmith]

Be patient Charlotte tends to move fairly quickly once the Background interviews get done. You should hear something soon

[Salman1]

Dave,

Could you give us a quick run down of what the academy was like. I'm familiar with recruit school etc. but for the brother's on here that are first-timers, info. on daily physical fitness, etc. would be appreciated I'm sure. Also, if a firefighter receives an injury, are they automatically let go ie. shoulder injuries, knee injuries, back etc. or are they retained on a light duty roster(employee) until they can complete the academy? Info. like that if you have it...(Got your message, will be calling you shortly.)

C

[DaveyBoy]

Dave,

Could you give us a quick run down of what the academy was like. I'm familiar with recruit school etc. but for the brother's on here that are first-timers, info. on daily physical fitness, etc. would be appreciated I'm sure. Also, if a firefighter receives an injury, are they automatically let go ie. shoulder injuries, knee injuries, back etc. or are they retained on a light duty roster(employee) until they can complete the academy? Info. like that if you have it...(Got your message, will be calling you shortly.)

C

The academy was structured like a boot-camp that you got to go home from at the end of the day. While several departments have a paramilitary style of recruit academy, from what I can gather, Gboro may be more so than others. The morning started with a short formation march (most days singing cadence) down to the command post for the raising of the colors. (There was actually a fair amount of time in the first few weeks spent learning to march, call cadence, stand at attention, parade rest, etc. We carried a guide-on from begining to end and at different phases of training changed the color of the flag. Training officers were addressed as "sir... sir," Questions were answered with "sir, yes/no, sir" and so on. For those who have never been through it just think of a PG-13 version of the first 20 minutes of Full Metal Jacket without the guns)

There was PT everyday which consisted of a lot of the basics; push ups sit-ups, leg lifts, crunches, push up, formation runs, pull ups and then some more push ups. We also did training evolutions centered around the combat challenge. The PT staff paid close attention to injuries or aggrivated areas. They seemed to be pretty astute at knowing when a recruit needed to be pushed and when an injury was legitimate and they needed to ease up. We did PT from start to finish- there were only 3 or 4 days we didn't and those were the days we had live burns and water rescue classes.

An injury didn't get necessarily get you the boot. You have to figure that by the time they get you in the academy, with the whole interview process, health screening, training up to the point of injury, etc... that the city has already dumped a ton of money into you. We had folks who had injuries that either sucked it up or, by doctors orders, had to sit out of certain exericises in PT or be on "light duty" so to speak- but only for a short time. A training officer was asked what would happen if an injury was bad enough to put you out. The answer was that, more than likely, you'd be allowed in the next class if you came back with a clean bill of health. But, you wouldn't be retained in the interim. I would imagine though that if somebody was considered a problem recruit then they probably wouldn't get a second chance.

Hope that answers a few questions for folks out there.

Dave

[Salman1]

Dave,

What is the deparment like with respect to fire calls vs. medical calls? Does a firefighter get the impression that it is a decent department to be employed by because of it's resources, special teams etc. and do they invest in their firefighters that have additional training, education etc. with monthly stipend's ie. for various certifications, dive team, hazmat team etc. Also, the overall opinion of other depts nearby and what someone looking at the triad area vs. applying to Raleigh instead....

Christian

[Salman1]

What is the salary for recruit firefighter's and how long before you hit top step...Is top step your final year on the job or is there a yearly jump until top step in only a few years ie. 5,7 or so years. Just trying to compare to present salaries up here in New England...

Cost of living compared to recruit salaries and firefighter salaries???