How To Pursue A Career In The Fire And Safety Arena?

The early cave people were scared of the fire. When forest fires would break loose, they would be the ones who would try to run to safety. Over time, humankind learnt to tame the fire and use it to their benefit and fire came to become an essential part of our existence. However, in spite of it all, the occurrences of fire accidents and the same demolishing life and property continued.

As civilisation progressed, education became one of our key weapons to tackle any form of a disaster and fire was no different. This created ample job opportunities for people who were ready to use their intellectual capability and educational knowledge and brave the fire.

Till date, the number of job opportunities in this field continues to rise. As technology advances, it has a two-face impact in the world of fire safety. On one side, the increasing use of electrical and electronic appliances has led to an increase in fire accidents.

On the other hand, technology has equipped firefighters to tackle accidents and mishaps in a more effective manner. In the light of the current scenario, this article talks about how you can pursue a successful career in the world of fire safety.

• Educational Qualification

From an academic point of view, having passed your matriculation exam is enough to kick-start a career in fire and safety. These days, the cause of a fire may be varied. Things like fire from chemicals, nuclear attacks and gas leakage come into the picture.

Firefighters need to know how to identify the cause of the fire and thereby deal with it in an effective manner. These sorts of things are taught to them as a part of the job training that they get. It is here that they learn all that they need to know about dealing with fire and the appropriate safety measures.

A basic high school certificate ensures that the candidate is capable of receiving all that knowledge and applying the same in an hour of need.

• Skills Required

Most people take it for granted that firefighters are people who need to be brave. All this is an important attribute of most firefighters; this is not the only quality that they need to possess.

Firefighters must be prompt and should be able to take decisions on their feet. There must be proper coordination amongst the firefighting teams and that is why it is an absolute must for you to have the capability to cooperate with others. They must always remain alert, have compassion and be ready to help those in need.

If you do not have a helpful attitude and are only taking up the profession in order to make money, chances of you succeeding in this field are very bleak. Physical fitness is another important attribute for a firefighter that is often ignored. One needs to be physically agile and be prepared to climb buildings if the situation so demands.

• Work Life

As a firefighter, a major part of your job will be to be ready to step in if there is any disaster. If there is no disaster in the offering, you can relax in the office. That is why the work life of firefighters is quite different from that of most others. Here, there are enough recreational activities for you to relax over when there is no work.

This gives you ample scope to bond well with your colleagues. This sort of thing is very important for a firefighter as you will need to depend on the same colleagues at times when it is a question of life and death.

Another work of firefighters is to participate in mock drills and offer educational sessions to students, residents and others. They organise workshops wherein they enlighten people about how to use fire extinguishers and about the appropriate course of action on their part in case of a fire.

• Monetary Remuneration

As is the challenging nature of the job role here, the monetary compensation associated with the same is equally rewarding. The starting salary here is about INR 30,000 per month. With experience, the salary of firefighters increases by leaps and bounds.

People working in private firms as managers are often paid much higher. Other than the basic pay, firefighters get a lot of extra benefits and allowances. These include things like shift allowance, uniform allowance and conveyance allowance including others.

• Career Growth

Needless to say, this is a very taxing job and you must be prepared for the same. As a part of your job, you will meet people who are injured or killed in fires. You must not let things like this wear you down and you should learn to move on despite the hurdles.

During emergencies, you may have to work even when you are sleep-deprived. However, if you can survive all of this, the chances of you growing in this field are very high. With time and experience, you will move to managerial and supervisory positions. This will create employment opportunities for you both in the private as well as the government sectors.

Most established private companies these days prefer having their own fire safety experts who can tackle the situation first-hand in case of any contingency. In the coming years, the fire safety departments of institutions are expected to expand and that would mean better employment opportunities (and higher scope of career growth) for thousands of people who are working in this profession.

Thus, on a concluding note, it will be fair to say that firefighting is one of the most challenging professions of the modern world (both from the physical perspective as well as that of the psychological). However, if someone is dedicated enough and genuinely wants to help humankind, this is one profession where there are numerous opportunities to do so.