Firefighters

What Firefighters Do

Control and extinguish fires or respond to emergency situations where life, property, or the environment is at risk. Duties may include fire prevention, emergency medical service, hazardous material response, search and rescue, and disaster assistance.

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 2024–2034.

Related work experience

None

On-the-job training

Long-term on-the-job training

Self-employed

0%

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

• Public Safety and Securityimportance 4.5/5
• Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 4.2/5
• Education and Trainingimportance 4.1/5
• Building and Constructionimportance 4.0/5
• English Languageimportance 3.9/5
• Mechanicalimportance 3.8/5
• Medicine and Dentistryimportance 3.6/5
• Telecommunicationsimportance 3.6/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

• Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.8/5
• Contact With Others4.7/5
• Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team4.7/5
• Physical Proximity4.6/5
• Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets4.6/5
• Deal With External Customers or the Public in General4.5/5

Related Careers

• First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers
• Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists
• Fire Inspectors and Investigators
• Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors
• Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers
• Emergency Medical Technicians
• Paramedics
• Occupational Health and Safety Specialists

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

• Forest and Conservation Workers95% skill match
• Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians94% skill match
• Sound Engineering Technicians94% skill match
• Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators94% skill match
• Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation93% skill match
• Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand93% skill match
• Motorboat Operators92% skill match
• Shuttle Drivers and Chauffeurs92% skill match

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

• Coordinationimportance 3.6/5
• Service Orientationimportance 3.6/5
• Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.6/5
• Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.4/5
• Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.3/5
• Operations Monitoringimportance 3.3/5
• Operation and Controlimportance 3.3/5
• Time Managementimportance 3.1/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

• Stress Tolerance
• Self-Control
• Dependability
• Cooperation
• Adaptability
• Integrity
• Perseverance

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

• RealisticHigh
• ConventionalMedium
• SocialMedium
• EnterprisingMedium
• InvestigativeLow
• ArtisticLow

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where firefighters make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).

1. 1Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ3.96× national avg
2. 2Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC3.50× national avg
3. 3Hinesville, GA3.22× national avg
4. 4Wildwood-The Villages, FL2.95× national avg
5. 5Jacksonville, NC2.94× national avg

Possible Career Moves

A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.

• Forest and Conservation WorkersCareer Change
• Hazardous Materials Removal WorkersCareer Change
• Nuclear Medicine TechnologistsCareer Change
• Cardiovascular Technologists and TechniciansCareer Change

See the full career path from Firefighters →

Related Education Programs

Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.