Firefighter Requirements

Minimum qualifications to apply

• Minimum of 60 semester/90 quarter hours of accredited college courses, with a minimum of 2.0 cumulative GPA.
• Must possess and maintain a valid driver's license in good standing.
• Background must be free of disqualifying criminal activity.
• If selected to participate in the Administrative Interview (the final interview to determine an employment offer), a candidate must possess a valid, current Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certification. The EMT certification is not required to begin the testing process; however, it is required to be able to participate in the Administrative Interview.

Firefighter, Poudre Fire Authority

2007 base salary for introductory firefighter: $42,744.00

Benefits: Employment with a progressive, energetic, service-oriented fire department located on Colorado's Front Range, at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Also, paid attendance at the Front Range Fire Consortium Fire Training Academy; health, and dental coverage; money purchase plans; deferred compensation plans; life insurance; eight paid holidays per year; paid vacation; sick leave.

Status: Non-exempt (eligible for overtime)

Schedule: PFA firefighters work a 24 hour rotating schedule: 24 hours on duty, 24 off duty, 24 on duty, 24 off duty, 24 on duty, 96 hours (four days) off duty.

Essential functions: Control and extinguish fires, and provide emergency medical services and rescue to 156,608 citizens in a 235-square-mile response area. See also, the "Duties and Responsibilities" section of this web site.

PFA Specialty Areas

• Wildland and urban/interface firefighting. The PFA Wildland Team is available for out-of-district deployment. Team members have assisted with fighting wildland fires in Texas, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and Colorado.
• Hazardous Materials Response Team. The HMRT is available for hazardous materials incidents within the PFA district, as well as assisting with incidents involving neighboring departments and the Front Range Fire Consortium.
• Public Education Team. The team is active in numerous community and school events and is available to present public education programs. The LAFS program, or Life and Fire Safety, uses puppets and clowns to teach fire prevention and safety to school children.
• Urban Search and Rescue. Several PFA firefighters are members of Colorado Task Force 1, a USAR team available for deployment to natural disasters and other large-scale incidents.
• EMS
• Truck/Heavy Rescue operations
• Fire prevention
• PFA has numerous employee committees, and from their first day on the job, firefighters are invited to participate in the "behind-the-scenes" committee work that makes PFA a progressive, quality fire department.

The Hiring Process

A candidate must pass each step during the process to be allowed to continue. With the exception of the oral-resume interviews, each step is pass-fail; candidates are not given "extra points" for higher written test scores or a faster CPAT time, for example. Scoring on the oral resume, however, determines candidates' placement on the final hiring eligibility list.

1. The Application Period

Applications must be completed at poudre-fire.org.

Applications must be correctly and completely filled out, and all required documentation must be included for the candidate to be allowed to take the written test. Applications that are incomplete or incorrectly completed will be discarded, and the candidate will not be allowed to continue in the process.

2. The Written Test

PFA utilizes various written tests as the second step in the hiring process. The written tests are pass/fail.

3. Panel Interview

Candidates who pass the written test are invited to the panel interview. The interview consists of 3-5 PFA firefighters, driver/operators and/or captains who interview applicants for approximately 20 minutes. Each candidate answers about five questions. Applicants are given scores based on interview answers. Candidates will only be considered for the CPAT if they pass the panel interview.

4. Candidates Physical Ability Test (CPAT)

Applicants who are selected to continue on to the CPAT will be notified after the panel interview.

PFA, along with other members of the FRFC, use the Candidates Physical Ability Test. The CPAT is the result of a cooperative effort by the International Association of Fire Fighters, the International Association of Fire Chiefs and 10 fire departments of various size and location.

Practice days will be scheduled before the actual CPAT. At these practice sessions candidates who are continuing in the eligibility testing process can practice the CPAT. More information on this practice session will be provided in the application packet and on this web site.

For detailed information on the CPAT, read that section on the PFA web site and follow the links.

5. Oral-Resume Interview

Applicants who pass the CPAT are invited to the oral-resume interview.

During the oral resume, the candidate is allowed approximately five minutes to give a presentation about him or herself. The candidate may use a resume, flip chart, videotape or other media for the presentation to 3-5 PFA firefighters, driver/operators and captains (no equipment will be supplied by PFA). The candidate then answers a series of questions asked by panel members. The interview is about 30 minutes.

6. Eligibility List

The oral-resume interview determines the candidates' placement on the final eligibility list. The applicant with the highest score from the oral resume finishes No. 1 on the eligibility list, the person with the second-highest score is ranked second on the final list, and so on. The eligibility list is valid until the next testing process begins.

7. Administrative Interview

When vacancies occur on the department, candidates are invited to a final interview, the Administrative Interview, based on their eligibility list ranking. Chief Officers conduct this final interview. Performance at the Administrative Interview determines whether a candidate is offered employment with PFA. The number of applicants invited to the Administrative Interview depends on the number of vacancies that need to be filled. If there is one opening, a minimum of three individuals are interviewed. For two or more openings, at least two candidates for each vacancy are invited to the Administrative Interview. So if there are, for instance, four openings, at least eight candidates would be invited to participate in the Administrative Interview.

At the time of the interview, the candidate must present a current, valid EMT certificate from any state or national certification entity. Candidates without proof of current EMT certification will not be allowed to participate in the Administrative Interview.

The offer of employment is contingent upon candidates passing background checks, medical and psychological evaluations, as well as a valid EMT certificate.

In recent years, PFA has sometimes contacted every candidate on the list by the end of the eligibility period. This is because PFA serves a growing community: The 1990 US Census had the Fort Collins area at 88,000 population, compared with 116,000 in 2000. Add to that the approximately 25,000 students enrolled at Colorado State University during the 2003-2004 academic year. Growth in the area means more fire stations, and thus more firefighters, are needed to effectively serve the fire, medical and rescue needs of the community. Since 1994, PFA has hired about 65 firefighters, due to the opening of new stations, retirements and promotions. The department has about 155 uniformed personnel.

Fire Training Academy

All newly hired career firefighters must attend a fire training academy approved by PFA. In recent years, PFA has used the fire academy operated by the Front Range Fire Consortium (FRFC).

Other members of FRFC include the Boulder Fire Department, Longmont Fire Department, Loveland Fire Department and Union Colony Fire/Rescue in Greeley, Cheyenne Fire Department, Mountainview Fire Department, Berthod Fire Protection District, Evans Fire Protection District, and Larime Fire Department.

The member departments have joined together to enhance hiring processes, training programs, promotional opportunities, mutual aid and emergency response. The focus is on quality and cost effectiveness.

The FRFC operates a 14-week fire training academy for new recruits of member departments. FRFC provides the instructors, facilities and equipment for the academy.

During the academy, firefighter recruits use classroom and hands-on training to learn about fire behavior, firefighting equipment, structural fire suppression, ventilation, search and rescue, wild land (urban/interface) firefighting, vehicle extrication, fire-extinguishing and alarm systems, physical fitness and fire prevention.

After completion of the academy, firefighters are prepared to step into their new roles at their fire department.