Qualifications for Applying for Firefighter

In order to apply with the Poudre Fire Authority a candidate must have the following:

Have a minimum of 60 semester or 90 quarter hours from an accredited college or university with 2.0 GPA or greater.

All applicants are required to have an EMT-Basic certification at the time of their Chief's interview. For those individuals that are from another state other than Colorado and posses their National Registry EMT-Basic, they will have to file for reciprocity to receive their Colorado EMT-Basic prior to the beginning of their academy. To file for reciprocity, candidates will have to go through the Colorado Department of Health, Division of Emergency Services. Colorado requires a FBI/CBI security check with fingerprints which may take 6-8 weeks before the reciprocity process is started so applicants should begin the process a minimum of 12-14 weeks before the Fire Academy begins. Below is the link to the Colorado Department of Health and the reciprocity process.

http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/em/certificationeducation/FrequentlyAskedQuestions.pdf

*NEW* Candidates must provide proof of successful completion of the Candidate Physical Ability Test (CPAT) with a current and valid card at the time of their conditional job offer. What this means is that when a candidate goes to their chief interview, which will only occur when the Poudre Fire Authority is prepared to possibly make that candidate an offer; the candidate must have a valid and up to date CPAT. If it takes a candidate 1 to 2 years to get to the chief interview, it is up to that candidate to keep their CPAT card valid and current.

*New* Military Service can be used in place of the required 60 College credit hours:

The Poudre Fire Authority will accept Honorably Discharged Veterans from any branch of the United States Military who can prove their status by mailing a copy of their DD214 to PFA with a mailing date prior to 17:00 hours on February 4, 2011. It should be noted that the SPD (Separation Program Designator), the SPN (Separation Program Number), and the RE (Re-Entry Number) list on the copy 4, DD214 will not be used by the PFA. The DD214 must state that an Honorable Discharge was granted.

Any active member in the Guard or Reserve branches of the United States Military with four years of experience or more may also apply. The components of the U.S. Military Guard and Reserve which qualify are; Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Coast Guard Reserve, Army National Guard of the United States and the Air National Guard of the United States. Applicants will be required to send in a memorandum stating your enlistment dates and that you are in good standing order within a Guard or Reserve Branch. The memorandum must be a notarized original document that is signed by your current Company Commander or equivalent officer. The memorandum must be sent in with a mailing date prior to 17:00 hours on February 4, 2011.