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First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers

Directly supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in firefighting and fire prevention and control.

What you’d do

  • Provide emergency medical services as required, and perform light to heavy rescue functions at emergencies.
  • Maintain fire suppression equipment in good condition, checking equipment periodically to ensure that it is ready for use.
  • Assign firefighters to jobs at strategic locations to facilitate rescue of persons and maximize application of extinguishing agents.
  • Communicate fire details to superiors, subordinates, or interagency dispatch centers, using two-way radios.
  • Serve as a working leader of an engine, hand, helicopter, or prescribed fire crew of three or more firefighters.
  • Evaluate size, location, and condition of fires.
  • Instruct and drill fire department personnel in assigned duties, including firefighting, medical care, hazardous materials response, fire prevention, and related subjects.
  • Recruit or hire firefighting personnel.

Skills that matter

  • Active Listening
  • Critical Thinking
  • Management of Personnel Resources
  • Speaking
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Monitoring

How to get there

Medium preparation: usually vocational school, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree

Also called

  • Engine Boss
  • Fire Battalion Chief
  • Fire Captain
  • Fire Chief
  • Battalion Chief
  • Fire Lieutenant

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