Detroit Fire Department

[detroitfire1552]

YES... DFFA343 was ruled against... which means the city/department COULD lay off
Detroit Fire Departments proposal to the Mayor of Detroit, I believe, 8 houses may be shut down and lay-off of 65 firefighter positions including, I believe, 4 battalion chiefs. This was back in 2005

http://www.mpffu.org/news/Detroit131463-Opinion.pdf

http://crainsdetroit.com/article/200...G/131012628/-1

As of April 21, 2008 there are 13 Pending Retirements from the Detroit Fire Department

Since 2005 I cannot tell you how many employees from the Detroit Fire Department Firefighting Division have retired, left for other reasons, or were forced into retirement due to injury.

My thinking is that they will be hiring soon... they currently put a group of City of Detroit ONLY workers through the Written exam, Physical Agility, Background Investigations, Oral Boards, and as of last week Medical Evaluations...

No start date for an academy yet but the department is down in numbers and I cannot tell you the average age of a Detroit Firefighter but I know it is high compared to most departments...

I doubt Detroit City would pay for all of this screening just to lay anyone off as of now... Best of luck to Detroit's Bravest!!!

My 2 Cents

[nfrcityjake]

Read in an article that the average age of the Detroit Fire Dept is 43. They were also saying that they need young blood on the job.

[FFER55]

Maybe the citizens of D-town need to re-elect the major again so he can waste more money on himself and not where its needed the MOST...PUBLIC SAFETY. LOL

[zachis4wheeling]

Any update on this situation? I'd really like to be kept abreast of the next time they hire.

[michfire]

Well, ol' Kwame won in court, so we'll probably have to wait until Sep 3, and hopefully Jenny will throw his butt out.

[Snowman4537]

Just an FYI to anyone interested, they tested a lot of people that were Detroit employees, it was never open to the public and won't be any time soon. I know three Detroit firefighters that were handed jobs because of who they knew or were related to. That seems to be the only way to get in these days. Unless of course you want to work Detroit EMS for 10 years and maybe get a shot that way, but there is a lot of hatred between EMS and Fire in the City of Detroit. You have better odds winning the lottery.

[detroitfire1552]

Just an FYI to anyone interested, they tested a lot of people that were Detroit employees, it was never open to the public and won't be any time soon. I know three Detroit firefighters that were handed jobs because of who they knew or were related to. That seems to be the only way to get in these days. Unless of course you want to work Detroit EMS for 10 years and maybe get a shot that way, but there is a lot of hatred between EMS and Fire in the City of Detroit. You have better odds winning the lottery.

Somewhat true...
Handed Jobs doubt it...
My father was DFD now retired
My Brother is DFD now Sergeant
I applied for DFD in 2001 went through the process I wasn't handed a job
I applied for DFD in 2004 went through the process I wasn't handed a job
I applied for DFD EMS in 2007 went through the process and hired
I applied as a city employee this year and I was hired to the fire department

Better odds winning the lottery? YES
But same goes for places like FDNY Pittsburg Chicago... It is hard to get on a big name department... The funding just isn't there these days...

Whether people want to believe it or not with all of the govt problems in the city right now there is a lot of things happening...
DFD is an OLD department with a great number of people that are going to be retiring over the next 1, 2, 3, 4... and so on years

It took me since my first app as an 18 y.o. in march of 2001 with 2 months left of high school until now september of 2008 which if my math is still working is over 7 years... during which I went to school got a fire science degree, fire I and II, Paramedic license, and kept my nose clean...

Keep your ears open and your eyes on the prize and work hard...

[zachis4wheeling]

I applied as a city employee this year and I was hired to the fire department

Congratulations man. I'd say DFD is definitley one of the toughest in the country to get on. I been calling down to the Coleman A. Young center on a weekly basis, for about a year and a half now, just to make sure the opportunity doesn't pass me up, with no dice yet on any words of hiring. Did the whole interest card thing a while back and am going to put another one in next week on Tuesday when I'm back downstate in Port Huron for Labor Day weekend. (I live up by Traverse City now).

Anyways, at first, when i heard that they were only hiring city employees for the Department, I WAS ****ed off. Really ****ed off. I WAS thinking "WTF? They're gonna go hire a bunch of older, out of shape, not even interested in firefighting, close to senior citizen aged geriatric firefighters. Great!" I wasn't the only one thinking this either. I know of a lot of guys who were ****ed as well. Well after readin yur post, my opinion has now changed. I can't speak for the other guys who wish they had a job with DFD and got all ****ed about you guys gettin hired, but I know my opinion has DEFINITLEY changed.

What I said above, about the type of people everyone thinks they are hiring is obviously not the case at all. It sounds like you have actually wanted this job with DFD for a long, long time. I can respect that, as I'm in similar shoes.

My old man retired from Port Huron Fire Department a couple years back. Now I know PHFD doesn't get near the # of fires and action, but it's just an example. It's something I as well have wanted for a very, very long time. Pretty much all I've ever wanted to do to be honest with ya since I was a kid. Grew up in the fire family blah, blah, blah. I actually went to the fire station when I was coming home from the hospital, before I went home to my crib. I know that sounds corny, but it's true. And now I'm 23 and am a full timer with a department that gets MAYBE 3-6 structure fires a year. You guys get that in a night. It bugs me sometimes and whatnot, but then I remember hey, at least I have a job; which is a lot more than a lot of other guys my age can say. I'd give either of my kidneys to have a spot with DFD though.

Anyways, since I got off track, I'll get back on. I guess what I'm saying is this; if there are guys like you who they are hiring, who have wanted this for pretty much ever, that brings a sigh of relief to me. I'd hate to see ya get passed up and they hire some dude who on a whim thought it'd be cool to do.

Glad there are still some guys out there, who like me who got bit by the fire bug at birth and havn't let go of the dream. Again, congratulations! You definitley earned it.

[detroitfire1552]

Hey thanks a lot man... I know a couple people up on Port Huron FD I have rode up there probably 4 maybe 5 times... Thats a good department... At some point that city will be like flint, detroit and saginaw... Do you work for Traverse City? I hear they do well for money up there....
I can't speak for everyone because I have only met a few guys so far but I'll keep you updated on the academy and how everyone is doing

[Macari]

Anyone know when the next EMS academy is going to start? I put in an app a few weeks ago, haven't heard anything.

[zachis4wheeling]

I know a couple people up on Port Huron FD I have rode up there probably 4 maybe 5 times... Thats a good department... At some point that city will be like flint, detroit and saginaw...

You know what, I've thought about this a lot myself lately, and thought I was the only one thinking this. So in essence, you think there is the possibility for some serious fire in Port Huron in the near future? What do you base your thoughts on? I'm not disagreein at all, just comparin yur observations with mine.

Do you work for Traverse City? I hear they do well for money up there....

No, I work for a smaller combo. department right next to Traverse City. TC firefighters do get paid pretty well though, but ya gotta have yur paramedic license as they, like a lot of Southeastern/metro detroit, are ALS departments. They make comparable money as their downstate counterparts in areas like West Bloomfield, Shelby Twp. and Clinton Twp.

Anyone know when the next EMS academy is going to start? I put in an app a few weeks ago, haven't heard anything.

I know that I've heard from a couple buddies of mine who work for DFD EMS, that it can take from a couple weeks up to almost a year before you hear anything about the next medic academy. I know, prolly not what ya wana hear, but maybe it helps.

[skiwiz6]

So if you get on Detroit EMS, you can apply through the city as a employee and get on the fire department without all the test hoops like other jobs? Isnt that like the forum about FDNY and EMS backdoor? Can you work D-Ems part-time and get hired through the city to the FD?

[zachis4wheeling]

So if you get on Detroit EMS, you can apply through the city as a employee and get on the fire department without all the test hoops like other jobs? Isnt that like the forum about FDNY and EMS backdoor? Can you work D-Ems part-time and get hired through the city to the FD?

Yea, you can do this, but unless you already have a good solid reputation established with DFD through yur family or whatever like the guy above, I wouldn't count on anyone really givin you any kind of respect for quite a while, if ever if you switched over. It's kinda like takin cuts in line at an amusement park or whatever; even if you do have a legitimate pass, yur still not jumpin through the hoops prolly 95+% of the rest of the guys on the department had to jump through. I know guys who switched over from EMS to Fire in some of the larger cities in Michigan, and there are still guys who were on the fire department before them that still look down on them for doing that. It just sounds like they got a kind of shoe in or a hand out.

It just sounds to me like yur tryin to fawk the system to try and get a step ahead of other guys who are doing things the normal way to geta foot in the door with DFD. Not that I blame ya cuz every little step helps, but it's a hard decision to make; to know that you probably won't get as much respect when you get on the job, as a guy who had nothin to do with DFD or DFD EMS and did it on his own.

I guess when ya look at it from a cities standpoint; if they have someone already employed for them, that they can allow to switch departments and keep their seniority and job and pension, etc...then that seems like an alright city. It's just hard to swallow knowin that they're doin that and there are prolly guys who, like I said above, wanted nothing to do with the fire department that are only doin it to keep their job versus guys who just want, and have only ever wanted to be firefighters. I'm not neccesarily sayin they're all like that, as I said and you can see by detroitfire1552, but I'm sure there are quite a few.....

IDK man, ya gotta do what ya gotta do...

[SQUAD1NOMORE]

So if you get on Detroit EMS, you can apply through the city as a employee and get on the fire department without all the test hoops like other jobs? Isnt that like the forum about FDNY and EMS backdoor? Can you work D-Ems part-time and get hired through the city to the FD?

What's wrong...don't get enough fires here at home?

[detroitfire1552]

[QUOTE=skiwiz6;982755]So if you get on Detroit EMS, you can apply through the city as a employee and get on the fire department without all the test hoops like other jobs?

NO... There is no lateral movement like Chicago and FDNY
This is the first time EVER that the city has done this and DFD EMS was only allowed to let go of 2 members per contract every time the city hires... This time since it was labeled as a "promotional opportunity" the fire department took 5 from EMS and a rumored 5 from police and the other 20 from random city departments... You still have to take the written, physical, oral, background, and medical evaluation

Nobody looks down on people that get hired and leave EMS they are usually happy for them for being one of the lucky few... it is just some times EMS people and I am sure you have seen them are worse than an old out of shape firefighter and those are the people that DFD does not want and sometimes have gotten...

Go to school and get your fire 1 and 2 and get your medic just as I did... I didn't sit around and wait for Detroit ONLY like a lot of people do... just so I could whine and say bad S*** about the city... I did something about it on my off time and it paid off... Get in gear and fight for this job and if you are lucky you will end up on a good department

[Macari]

yes that does help allot

thanks

[skiwiz6]

I was just asking, I"ve got it too good down south of you guys to switch over to D-Town, love it there, but love my job here and time I got in. I just remember a FDNY/ems forum going crazy over these types of lateral moves. Oh and I always here this chick at the Y saying she is going to get on DFD through EMS and I thought it was crap, but I guess it really is slighlty possible.

[detroitfire1552]

I was just asking, I"ve got it too good down south of you guys to switch over to D-Town, love it there, but love my job here and time I got in. I just remember a FDNY/ems forum going crazy over these types of lateral moves. Oh and I always here this chick at the Y saying she is going to get on DFD through EMS and I thought it was crap, but I guess it really is slighlty possible.

Slightly possible but not really that easy considering that this is the 3rd hiring over the course of about 10 years and the last class was around 30 people if I remember correctly...

[zachis4wheeling]

Go to school and get your fire 1 and 2 and get your medic just as I did... I didn't sit around and wait for Detroit ONLY like a lot of people do... just so I could whine and say bad S*** about the city... I did something about it on my off time and it paid off... Get in gear and fight for this job and if you are lucky you will end up on a good department

Yea, like detroitfire1552 said man, don't just sit around and wait for the Fire/EMT-Basic dept.s to hire.......because when they do, there are probably going to be guys who can test better than you since there is such a large pool of guys who apply for firefighter/emt-basic jobs. Now when you get into that "elite"-(if you want to call it that) group of Firefighter I&II, Medic, Assoc. -or- Bachelor's of Fire Science group educated type of guys who are testing, you got a lot better shot at getting hired somewhere since you are testing with a lot less guys.....for instance, one dept. I know of hired for EMT-B/FF one time in metro detroit and about 350+ guys showed up, and the next time, they required medic and around 30 showed up....

Just something to think about. Honestly, I would say if you get yur bach. degree (which is a good idea), yur FF 1&II, medic, and other training, there is probably like 6 or 7 years worth of training. A lot, yes, but worth it, oh FAWK yea....

Basically, if ya arn't prepared to do AT LEAST that nowadays educationwise,ya might wana rethink if ya wanna do this for your job.....

[skiwiz6]

Hey Squadie..just check my last post, not me wanting a new job.