Protective Service · Holland code RCS
Firefighters
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.
Also called: Fire Engineer, Fire Equipment Operator, Fireman, Wildland Firefighter, Fire Rescue Technician (Fire Rescue Tech), Fire Technician (Fire Tech), Forest Fire Suppression Specialist, Forestry Fire Technician (Forestry Fire Tech).
O*NET 33-2011.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $59,280
- Middle half earn $44,490 to $77,250. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 2 of 5
- Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
- US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034
- +3% · As fast as average
- 344,900 jobs in 2024, projected 356,700. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Firefighters".
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Rescue survivors from burning buildings, accident sites, and water hazards.
- Administer first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation to injured persons or provide emergency medical care such as basic or advanced life support.
- Dress with equipment such as fire-resistant clothing and breathing apparatus.
- Move toward the source of a fire, using knowledge of types of fires, construction design, building materials, and physical layout of properties.
- Drive and operate fire fighting vehicles and equipment.
- Respond to fire alarms and other calls for assistance, such as automobile and industrial accidents.
- Search to locate fire survivors.
- Operate pumps connected to high-pressure hoses.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Active Listening3.6 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.6 / 5
- Active Learning3.6 / 5
- Speaking3.5 / 5
- Monitoring3.5 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.0 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Public Safety and Security4.1 / 5
- Transportation3.4 / 5
- Customer and Personal Service3.4 / 5
- Medicine and Dentistry3.4 / 5
- Mechanical3.3 / 5
- Communications and Media3.2 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic92
- Investigative32
- Artistic5
- Social40
- Enterprising34
- Conventional41
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- fire commissioner · DE Brandinspektor/Brandinspektorin · FR chef de centre d'incendie et de secours
- chief fire officer · DE Feuerwehrkommandant/Feuerwehrkommandantin · FR responsable de sécurité civile et de secours
- firefighter instructor · DE Feuerwehrausbilder/Feuerwehrausbilderin · FR sapeur-pompier formateur/sapeuse-pompière formatrice
- fire inspector · DE Brandschutzinspektor/Brandschutzinspektorin · FR inspecteur de conformité en sécurité incendie/inspectrice de conformité en sécurité incendie
- fire protection technician · DE Brandschutztechniker/Brandschutztechnikerin · FR technicien de maintenance sécurité alarme incendie/technicienne de maintenance sécurité alarme incendie
- firefighter · DE Berufsfeuerwehrmann/Berufsfeuerwehrfrau · FR pompier/pompière
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Senior officers in fire, ambulance, prison and related services (1163)8,000 employed
- Heavy and large goods vehicle drivers (8211)273,400 employed
- Fire service officers (watch manager and below) (3313)45,100 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Service and sales workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €32,957 |
| Sweden | €32,596 |
| Netherlands | €29,198 |
| Austria | €29,068 |
| Germany | €27,471 |
| Ireland | €26,978 |
| Italy | €24,995 |
| France | €24,971 |
| Spain | €18,303 |
| Portugal | €10,656 |
| Poland | €7,579 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -1.32. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (33-2011).
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