Becoming A Mass Firefighter???

[lilpinkrescuer]

Hey Everybody

My names Amy and I started fire school here in Fl.But now have to relocate to the Boston area and still want to pursue it! Can anyone tell me how and where to begin it's alo different here.Thanks

[PuffyNPFD]

The State (Commonweath) of Massachusetts gives a civil service entrance exam for most departments. They also run the CPAT. It is usually in April and I believe that it is coming up in April 06'. There are some departments that do their own. The further you get from Boston, many towns have combination departments with paid crews supplemented by call FF's.Depends on which way you want to go.

[fostah182]

The Civil Service test is your first step. However, unless you happen to be a Vet., be prepared to be towards the bottom of the list. Your next best shot is a non civil service dept, but most require at least an EMT, you'll actually most likely need to be a paramedic. As far as "on-call" status goes, you usually need to live in the town you are "on-call" for, though there are exceptions. These dept's also tend to hire from the ranks of the call members. As someone once told me... "You want a big department? Forget about the college classes and join the military..." or you can just become a medic... That's what I did... less boot camp that way...

[pubcrawler]

become a paramedic, you go on a seperate list for paramedics, way better shot.
my home town just hired a non vet non resident female. she was 58 on the overall list, but # 1 on the paramedic list.
paramedic is the way of the future
if you have your basic ff certs and emt or paramedic and apply to non civil service towns, i would bet atleast an interview