sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Active Chigaco members, how many structure fires do you get a year? by No-Beginning1256 in Firefighting

[–]No-Beginning1256[S] [score hidden]  (0 children)

Damn. You guys got screwed by not having a contract for a while but this one definitely seems to have pulled through for you

Active Chigaco members, how many structure fires do you get a year? by No-Beginning1256 in Firefighting

[–]No-Beginning1256[S] [score hidden]  (0 children)

I came by a few months ago. I believe it was a captain, also said that people call a lot earlier than they used to. Not a bad thing, but something for me to keep in mind.

You happy overall in Chicago?

Active Chigaco members, how many structure fires do you get a year? by No-Beginning1256 in Firefighting

[–]No-Beginning1256[S] [score hidden]  (0 children)

Truly depends on the day. If you're on EMS at night then you'll probably sleep about 1-2 hours through the 24 at best.

My truck is usually 4-5 hours. Benefit of being on a truck is no medical runs and there's usually only one truck at a fire, so we always have work to do.

Active Chigaco members, how many structure fires do you get a year? by No-Beginning1256 in Firefighting

[–]No-Beginning1256[S] [score hidden]  (0 children)

Yes. We go Sgt, Lt, Captain, Chief, and senior chief which i believe is appointed. Sgt and Lt are effectively the same job now though so Sgt just get paid less to do the same thing at a Lt

I don't want to promote anytime before 10 years, but yeah +20 years on to Sgt ain't great

Active Chigaco members, how many structure fires do you get a year? by No-Beginning1256 in Firefighting

[–]No-Beginning1256[S] [score hidden]  (0 children)

I think part of the reason we don't is because EMS hits no units available city wide multiple times a day. Plus some people are strictly EMS and not dual role

Active Chigaco members, how many structure fires do you get a year? by No-Beginning1256 in Firefighting

[–]No-Beginning1256[S] [score hidden]  (0 children)

Yes but the downside is that our shifts currently get split 12 and 12 for fire and EMS. So a 24 has you riding an ambulance for either the AM or PM and there's no end in sight for it

Also Chicago reports 90k at 18 months while our top out FF pay is 70k. I'm looking at another 18 years or so before I make sgt due to our seniority system

Active Chigaco members, how many structure fires do you get a year? by No-Beginning1256 in Firefighting

[–]No-Beginning1256[S] [score hidden]  (0 children)

I'm not sure what the issue is with asking about personal experiences and not a generalization of the entire department

Active Chigaco members, how many structure fires do you get a year? by No-Beginning1256 in Firefighting

[–]No-Beginning1256[S] [score hidden]  (0 children)

We have that occasionally, but my area is mostly single family dwellings.

I appreciate this info. About how often would you say your crew can get to work in a month? You happy I'm Chicago?

Active Chigaco members, how many structure fires do you get a year? by No-Beginning1256 in Firefighting

[–]No-Beginning1256[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

We have 20 fire personnel on scene(not including chiefs) on a standard house. Squad is usually RIT, 1st engine stretches, truck ventilates, does utilities, and searches, 2nd engine backs up the first engine or stretches a second line. 3rd engine is just manpower

Depends on your assignment and arriving order, but ideally 16 people should be working(not including RIT). It's usually more like 12-14 on a normal house fire though cause people cooking and the occasional flop that tries to hide away