Public service, teaching and people · Ohio
Firefighter: what the job actually is
Answering every kind of emergency call, most of them medical, and spending the hours in between training, cleaning and checking equipment.
By Nick Gonzalez, founder, U.S. Air Force veteranChecked against official Ohio sources Pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025
The work
What this job actually is
- Mostly medical calls. Falls, chest pain, car crashes and overdoses far outnumber fires in most departments.
- Living with your crew. Many departments work 24-hour shifts, so you cook, clean and sleep at the station with the same people.
- Constant training and equipment checks, because the gear has to work the one time it really matters.
- Physically hard work in heat, smoke, cold and confined spaces, while carrying heavy gear.
- Seeing serious injury and death, sometimes involving kids, and then going back to the station and eating dinner.
A Tuesday
What a normal day looks like
Not a good day or a bad one. The ordinary version, which is what you would actually be living.
- 7:00 a.m. Shift change. Check the truck, the air packs and the medical bags.
- 8:30 a.m. An older man has fallen at home. You help him up, check him over, and take him to the hospital.
- 10:00 a.m. Training: ladders and hose drills behind the station.
- 12:30 p.m. Lunch the crew cooked together, interrupted by an alarm that turns out to be burnt toast.
- 3:00 p.m. A car crash on the highway. Traffic control, patient care, cleanup.
- 7:00 p.m. Station chores, a fitness workout, reports on the day's calls.
- 2:00 a.m. A call for trouble breathing. Back to bed at 3:30, if you are lucky.
Honestly
Who loves this, and who should not do it
- You like being part of a tight team that depends on each other.
- You stay steady when something scary is happening in front of you.
- You are fine with physical work, routine chores and constant practice.
- You want to help people with your hands, not from behind a desk.
- You need a full night's sleep every night.
- You want mostly fires. Most calls are medical, and many are minor.
- You do not want to be around blood, vomit and very sick people.
- You struggle living closely with the same people for long shifts.
The route in
How you actually get there in Ohio
Get the age and school basics
In Ohio you must be at least 18 to enter a Firefighter I course. A program can admit you at 17 if you have graduated or are in your senior year. Some high school public safety programs can start students at 16 in 11th grade, but those students cannot do live-fire training.Take Firefighter I, then Firefighter II
Courses are run by Ohio chartered fire training programs. Firefighter I is at least 160 hours, including hazardous materials training. A combined Firefighter I and II course is at least 244 hours.Pass the state exams
You pass a practical skills exam first, then a written knowledge exam within 180 days of finishing the course. You apply for the certificate within 90 days of passing, and you must pass a criminal history review.Get EMT training
Much of the job is medical, so departments train firefighters as EMTs too. Cincinnati, for example, runs an EMT class after recruit school for anyone who does not already have EMT certification. Some career centers prepare high school students for EMT.Apply to a department
Each city sets its own hiring process and age limits. Cincinnati lets you apply at 17 if you will be 18 by your first day, and pays recruits during 20 to 24 weeks of recruit school. Openings can be years apart, so watch the departments you want.
While you are still in high school
- Some Ohio career centers prepare students for Firefighter I and II and EMT. Mahoning County Career and Technical Center's public safety program, for example, includes fire training and EMT.
- Some departments run cadet programs for teens. The Cincinnati Fire Department points students aged 14 to 18 to its cadet program.
- Get fit and stay fit. You will carry heavy gear up stairs in heat.
- Take CPR and first aid classes. You will use them on the job, and in life.
Where this comes from: Ohio Administrative Code 4765-24-11: Firefighter I course hours and age rules · Ohio Administrative Code 4765-24-13: Firefighter I and II course hours · Ohio Administrative Code 4765-20-02: firefighter certificate exams and criminal history review · Cincinnati Fire Department: Recruiting FAQ · Mahoning County Career and Technical Center: Public Safety program. Rules change, so check the official page before you rely on a detail.
The money
What it pays in Ohio
Last on purpose. Pay matters, but it is a bad reason to pick a job you would dislike for thirty years.
- $59,370
- Median pay in Ohio, a year
- $28.54
- Median pay in Ohio, an hour
- 18,100
- People doing this job in Ohio
- $61,140
- Median pay in the Akron area, a year
Most people in Ohio earn between $34,420 (the lowest-paid tenth, usually new starters) and $84,010 (the highest-paid tenth) a year.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: Ohio and Akron, OH metro area. Median means half earn more and half earn less.
Try it this week
See what most of the calls are
Call or email your local fire department and ask if you can visit the station or attend an open house.
Ask how many of their calls last year were fires and how many were medical.
Take a free or low-cost CPR class from the Red Cross, the American Heart Association or your local hospital.
Ask yourself whether you would be glad to do mostly medical calls for 25 years.
Questions to ask somebody who does it
- What share of your calls are medical?
- How does a 24-hour shift actually feel by hour 20?
- What was the hardest call you ever had, and how did you deal with it?
- What do you wish you had done in high school to get ready?
- How long did it take you to get hired after you were certified?
Can you own one?
Not really: this job is almost always done for an employer.
Questions
Quick answers
- How much does a firefighter make in Ohio?
- The median pay for a firefighter in Ohio is $59,370 a year ($28.54 an hour), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for May 2025. Most people earn between $34,420 and $84,010.
- How do you become a firefighter in Ohio?
- Get the age and school basics. Take Firefighter I, then Firefighter II. Pass the state exams. Get EMT training. Apply to a department.
Close cousins
Jobs like this one
- ParamedicResponding to 911 calls, treating sick and injured people where they are, and keeping them alive on the way to the hospital.$51,300 a year
- Police officerGoing to the calls nobody else will go to, mostly talking people down, and then writing up every bit of it so it holds up in court.$77,020 a year
- Registered nurseWatching patients closely, giving their care and medicines, and catching the thing that is going wrong before it turns into an emergency, usually on twelve-hour shifts.$82,510 a year
Still deciding?
Start with you, then look at the work
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