Tampa area Brothers......

[BLSboy]

I am at U of Tampa right now, visiting friends and I love it over here. I went to Tampa FD Sta. 1 yesterday, and talked to the Capt. on Truck Co 1, (forget his name, he was AWESOME, answered all my questions, was more then happy to show me around, and talked to my friend and I for quite some time). Well, long story short, I have fallen in love with the area, and am seriously looking into moving into the area.
Now, I know that I won't get on TFD right away, so are there any VFDs, EMS agencies, or anything else in the area that would make me money to live off of, and keep my skills active until I can get hired?
Any help that anyone in the area could lend would be much appreciated.

[Firedawg34]

Well if your serious about living in that area and have a florida ff certification, you might be able to about an hour south and get hired at Bradenton airport with Rural Metro Fire Rescue. Could be a start until and only an hour drive in the morning. but you would be living over there until the a job opens up with tampa or hillsbourough county

[BLSboy]

I am going to Paramedic by Melbourne now, and I will be done in a little over a year. I am VERY serious about getting hired. I love the people, the places, and the things to do over here.
That is something else to look into. Thanks, Brother!

[IBQwerty21]

as for VFDs, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue has 42 stations and 6 of them are volunteer staffed to certain degrees. They are located in or near Lutz, Seffner, outside of Plant City/Thonotosassa, the Bloomingdale area, Dover, and close to Wimauma. I just became a volunteer at Station 24 in Lutz, and love it so far. Check it out if you want to gain some fire experience while trying to get on with tampa.

[KnightnPBIArmor]

I used to drill with the USCGR down in St Pete and it seems like I remember hearing that Manatee County and Polk County used to hire regularly, especially if you're a medic...