How old do you have to be to be a operational firefighter i your town/state/country

im jus curious
how old do you have to be before you join the fire service in your country
in new zealand you have to be 16 or older to become a fully operational firefighter

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Permalink Reply by Sarah Tinsley MacKenzie on May 14, 2009 at 2:33am

we get proper training,

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Permalink Reply by PFC Harmon on May 14, 2009 at 8:14pm

Nothing towards you, it is an inside joke that was meant for Tony. Although training is important.

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Permalink Reply by Fire Capt. 1304 on May 14, 2009 at 9:11pm

My department is 18 and so are all the departments in my county. I believe the whole state of Iowa is 18 but I do not know for sure.

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Permalink Reply by Eian Merino on May 15, 2009 at 1:25am

in illinois its 18 for volunteer and paid.

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Permalink Reply by FETC on December 21, 2010 at 3:08pm

18 for NH

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Permalink Reply by Mike "Lapo" Lapotasky on December 22, 2010 at 8:14am

Same in NJ. All of those in the US must remember that there are child labor laws that restrict activities of Juniors. Juniors can operate power tools during drills but can't operate hydraulics for example. It is kind of crazy and sometimes does not make sense. Juniors are explorers of the field. They should not be doing anything significant at a live fire/rescue scene...EVER!

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Permalink Reply by Mike "Lapo" Lapotasky on December 22, 2010 at 8:15am

PA actually has a DOH issued rescue tech cert? What are the requirements? NJ still has no recognized universal cert for tech rescue. Can you point me in the direction of some literature or internet links in this regard?

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Permalink Reply by Mike "Lapo" Lapotasky on December 22, 2010 at 8:18am

Don't you mean, before you can fight ANY fires? Car fires are dangerous too, as are brush fires as well. Your juniors are allowed to fight fires at all? I would be hesitant to let them extinguish a chimnea fire. But then again, open burning is allowed in Norf Cackalackee!

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Permalink Reply by Mike "Lapo" Lapotasky on December 22, 2010 at 8:22am

I'm sorry...what exactly can you learn about firematics or fire science, let alone tactics or self-rescue in 7 days. Is that 7 days without sleep? 168 hours of training straight through?