I’ve noticed that while drilling, working, or training I am unable to stay in full bunker gear for over 30 minutes. Full bunker gear as in pants, coat, hood, helmet, gloves and a tank. While I’m working my internal body temperature rises higher and higher until the point that I can’t continue to work because the heat is unbearable. My goal is to be able to be fully bunked out, and do moderately physically taxing work for an extended period of time before tapping out. I’m in very good shape strength and stamina wise but this heat is something I can’t seem to tolerate well.

got the offer from seattle! pretty stoked considering my love for my city and the hard work I put into this.

I am extremely grateful for the help I got along the way. looking to give back to my fellow redditors who are also trying to get hired. specifically people from this community who would be happy to make a career out of serving this diverse community. please be lgbtq friendly etc etc. no I will not give you the questions for oral board or chief’s, but I will tell you what worked for me.

I wonder how long it took the lady to convince them that this wasn't a prank call and that she wasn't on drugs, or off her psych meds?

I love this story.

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/09/02/acfd-rescues-tiktok-famous-toucan-from-behind-pentagon-city-dishwasher/

I know this sub is a lot of men… looking at a really small niche group in the fire service here….
Looking to see what you do with feeding/pumping post fire (training or real). I’ve pumped and separated my milk at my pediatricians recommendation.
I’m hoping maybe I can send it in for a study somewhere to see if there is any transfer of carcinogens? I can’t seem to find it online. Not much literature on it.

Creativity is super important for mental health! Does anyone else have any cool creative hobbies off the job? I think it’d be cool to see what others do as I’m always looking for ways to engage my creative brain.

I’m in my early 30’s and just got hired as a firefighter about 5 months ago. Before that I worked as an EMT in the same city as my Department and got recruited because they saw how I handled myself on scenes. I go through the hiring process, get hired and start my rookie process. It was a learning curve, flooding the chainsaw, being slow with gearing up, not knowing what stuff was called or where it was. All that went away with time, training, and dedication to master my craft. I feel like I was making a lot of mistakes but they were genuine rookie mistakes that I corrected and didn’t make more than once. I got my Class B license, tore though my rookie book checklist, and started fitting in with my Lt. and driver.

Recently I learned my chief had told the capt. and Lt’s to never hire someone from the ambulance again. I felt like that was a major dig at me, even though I was progressing very well according to my Lt. Ever since I heard that 2 weeks ago, I felt a shift in the air. My capt has been on my ass socially, trying to get a rise out of me, my Lt. has begun getting on to me very aggressively over tiny things (like doing a report for someone when it wasn’t my report to do) and my Chief, who never really talked to me to begin with, has felt colder.

Being a new firefighter, trying to learn the job on top of finishing paramedic school, has been hell to begin with and now it feels like I’ve got a target on me and I genuinely don’t know why. I still get joked around with so there’s not any indifference or apathy to me, it just feels like I’m being judged for not being an expert at this yet and for working an ambulance before getting hired, especially after chiefs comment about new hiring criteria.

I’m still young enough to jump to another department after I finish medic school but lately I’ve been feeling a hell of a lot of imposter syndrome. Like maybe I don’t fit in to the fire service. I worked 6 years to get hired somewhere, put myself through EMT, Fire academy and medic school, all while working full time, in order to be here and I want to keep on keeping on but it’s starting to wear me down. Anybody else feel like this? Or have any advice?

Calling all rope nerds! Today one of my supervisors told me that (using the rope in the picture as a reference) under tension, in the event of a failure, the black fibers are manufactured to break first as a sign that you done f-ed up before the whole rope fails.
I’ve tried to confirm this with some basic googling with no results. Has anyone heard of this being a feature?
I thought the tracers were meant as a reference to keep multiple ropes moving at the same pace.
TIA!

I’m a full time city firefighter, I have an offer at an airforce base. Just looking on Insight strictly on which pays more and what’s best for retirement. City pays high 5 at 60%
I think we start on base as a GS7. Anyone that made the swap let me know. Give me an idea on how easily it is to climb ranks and GS, plus pay for retirement. Thank you.

I’ve been on the job for about 7 years now. Within the past year or so I’ve been having extremely vivid night terrors, sometimes waking up my bunkmate from jolting awake yelling or talking in my sleep. Generally I’m not bothered by calls or have trouble sleeping, but these dreams can be wild and terrifying. I’ve never experienced sleep paralysis and I’ve only had a couple of nightmares at home that reach “night terror” levels. Is this common after being on the job for a while? I would love to hear some feedback from anyone that experiences these types of dreams.

In process for Houston FD they gave me a projected academy date I have my NREMT and I’ll be doing my fire with HFD any tips for me or advice about the department culture etc I’ve read a bit on here but most is from a few years ago so any updates would be greatly appreciated I’m a 28 year old black male married with 2 kids under 2 years old my wife’s a full time stay at home mom. I know Houston doesn’t pay the best but I’m okay with the pay right now might be interested in HCESD12 in a few years but I’m hoping HFD can be a career department for me. thanks in advance!

Hello, I am an EMT student here. I chose this job because I want to get my foot in the door in Public Safety. If you have both good and bad stories I’d like to hear them both. Any advice for school and the field, what to do and what’s not to do?

Looking to get a clip on flashlight for my radio strap. Just looking for recommendations from those that have one and like it.

Was about to order a radio strap However, thought something produced locally would be a little cooler plus I get to support the local homies

A French-Canadian theater company is coming to Chicago in January. The performance is centered around an ambulance team, and they are worried their translation from French to English isn't right when it comes to radio transmissions. Can you take a look at the following bits of script and let them know what the proper Chicago FD language would be? TIA!

"Unit 3612 to the ED, ETA two minutes. Sixty-two-year-old female, foreign body in theright thorax. Suspected hemothorax, possible head trauma, multiple contusions. Patientis currently in shock and severely confused. Over.

Unit 3612 to Dispatch. Patient's condition is deteriorating. We're continuing prioritytransport to the ED. Over.

Unit 3612 to the hospital. ETA twelve minutes. Penetrating abdominal trauma, foreignbody removed. Patient is unstable. We need the trauma bay ready on arrival. Over.

Unit 3612 to the ED. Sixty-two-year-old female, high-speed MVC. Patient is dyspneic.Suspected hemothorax. ETA approximately fifteen minutes. Over.

Unit 3612 to Dispatch. Priority transport to the ED with a sixty-two-year-old female,(following a) high-speed MVC. Over.

Some questions

- Do they use ED (Emergency department) or ER (Emergency room)? Or something else.

- I think in Chicago, they don’t use the 10-code. So I wrote “priority transport”. Is it the way they say it?

- Is there a range of number for Chicago area units (vehicle #)?

- Any comments/corrections are welcome for the radio communications to be as close as possible from the Chicago paramedics."

ADDED: I'm a Chicagoan, and I have looked at the script. It's not satire or comedy, and treats the job with respect. The focus is on the care they are giving the patient. We appreciate you!

hey y’all, 21 male long story short I strongly dislike the fed gov and demonstrate this online. no violence, cursing, or the like. but i’m obviously not supportive of our fed gov, ICE, mass surveillance, etc.

I am considering trying to get into the FD because simply put, I love people. I want to help people for a living. I’m wondering if my comments and political stance would prohibit me from entering.

PICS APPRECIATED!

I’m going to try to keep this short, I’m still new to posting on here so if I do anything wrong please let me know so I can fix or do it right next time.

Long story short my boyfriend wants to try a new hairstyle but has limited options as he’s gotta wear his helmet, which so far can only fit braids pulled back into a bun. It pulls his hairline back a bit and obviously comes with some headache so he wants to try something that’s a bit more free and relaxed while still being professional looking and still able to fit comfortably in his helmet.

His hair is like 3c (we think but haven’t asked a stylist yet) and he’s got a whole lot of it maybe 14-16 inches.

TLDR: Would like suggestions for hairstyles for 3c long hair that will fit properly in a fire helmet. Currently do braids but want something more relaxed and more gentle on hair.

UPDATE:

TLDR: He does not have a hood, just a heavily structured helmet issued by the department that he said didn’t fit properly when he left his hair out. Low maintenance and highly comfortable styles would be ideal, thank you.

Ok real quick wanted to mention a couple things - I mentioned a hood to him before posting and he said he doesn’t know what that is, they usually wear structured helmets. When he first brought this up I suggested he just go with the fro but he said his helmet didn’t properly fit when he tried it. I appreciate the suggestions and I’ve let him know these things as well in the past but he’s said he just doesn’t think anything else will fit. I have had some concern for some time that he might be reluctant to try new styles freely for judgement reasons as well but I think that’d need to be a whole different thread cause that’s a whole conversation in its own.
Please consider it’s a person who feels more comfortable taking baby steps when trying new looks in general. If you have a style in mind that would be particularly comfortable in a structured helmet and is low maintenance keep sendin them my way! Thank you :)

My uncle gave me one of his old firefighting jackets (roughly from the mid 2010’s if I had to guess), and I’d like to wear it to a friend’s house party. I’m not going to claim I’m a firefighter or anything I just really like the fit of the jacket. I’m a bit concerned though, because it does have my city’s fire department sigil on the shoulder and “[MY CITY] FIRE” written across the entire back. I don’t want to appear as something I’m not and I just wanted to clear it with people who have experience. I checked the original manufacturer and it doesn’t seem like they sell this specific jacket anymore and I don’t want to ruin this one by taking off the patches.

I recently got a job offer with a department offering 24/48 schedule. I always thought of that as the norm but lately I’ve been seeing some people post about their 24/72 schedules or even better 24/96. Just wondering if anyone has experience with the 24/48 schedule and if it’s good for a healthy work/life balance or if you’re constantly feeling drained. Thank you

Hello I’m writing an essay for my college course regarding fitness and cardiovascular disease in the fire service. 1 of the requirements is I need a surgery instrument. I have made a 6 question google forum survey. This is for educational purposes only. Thank you for your time.

This is the survey link https://forms.gle/UrsmtMgkGJo1NmDY6

I’m the developer of Super Scooper, an upcoming iOS game inspired by water-bombing aircraft. I’ve put a lot of care into it and thought the trailer might interest some of you here

My experience with Trifecta Leather Concepts

On May 28, 2026, I placed an order for a Boston style shield with Trifecta Leather Concepts and paid $57.94 by credit card. As of October 15, 2026, I have not received my order.

I contacted the company multiple times seeking an update or resolution, but I have not received a satisfactory response. The company's website lists typical lead times of 8–16 weeks, and that period has passed.

I have filed complaints with the North Carolina Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission, and I have initiated a credit-card chargeback through Capital One.

I am sharing my experience so prospective customers can make an informed decision. I will update this review if the company delivers my order or resolves the dispute.

I would highly recommend reading the reviews for this company before considering order a shield. Wish I had

I have a question regarding high rise firefighting (which we hardly do). There is a couple of high rise buildings in our area (10 plus stories) that only have 1.5 outlets in the stairwells. Our current set up is a 2.5 TFT valve where we connect our 2.5 inch hose bundles to. We do have reducers / adapters for the valve. If we had the valve connected to the 1.5 standpipes via our reducer, how much of an issue would this cause? I understand you should never go small to big but this is what we currently have. We do not carry any bundles smaller than 2.5. Would there even be enough pressure to flow our lines? (We also have an inch and an eighth nozzle on our bundles). Thanks.