certification?

[odonnsea]

Hey, I am a 20 year college student trying to find out all of the possible paths to become a firefighter. I have a question about certification. Where are places you can go to get certified and how long does it take. Should I get certified before I start my fire science degree, or do both at the same time?

Also when you volunteeer as a firefighter, is it on call or do you work shifts? Would they pay for my training?

[MTFD07]

Hi Odonnsea, Welcome to the crew. I started out as a volunteer firefighter and have worked up from there. I believe most fire departments will pay for the training through a local training counsil. It all depends on what your area does. If you want to get into firefighting sooner than later I would recommend going and visiting your local fire department and see what they do for training. A fire science degree definitly helps when applying to a full time career department. Contact the fire department I believe you get your firefighter I & II through the fire science classes. Departments like real experience though so I would recommend getting into it now and work towards you goals. If you have any more questions you can email me at mtfd22@yahoo.com