Fire Safety Directors

Talk to fire safety directors about their careers. Ask your counselor to help arrange an information interview. Suggested interview questions include: What made you want to enter this career? What do you like most and least about your job? How did you train for this field? What are some key skills for success? What advice would you give to young people about preparing for the field and being successful on the job? How will advances in technology change the field? Perhaps you could even job-shadow a fire safety director to learn even more about the field.

If you live in a large residential building, see if you can join its fire safety team as a fire warden. Talk with your school’s safety director or principal about its fire plan. Visit the Fire Prevention and Community Risk Reduction section of the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA)Web site, https://www.usfa.fema.gov/prevention, which offers fire-safety tips, publications, facts about fires, and more. Listen to the USFA Podcast (https://www.usfa.fema.gov/podcasts) to learn about fire prevention and fire protection trends.

If you are in sixth grade through age 20, participate in the Learning for Life program (https://www.exploring.org/fire-ems), which is affiliated with Scouting America (formerly known as Boy Scouts of America). Participants in its Fire & EMS Exploring program learn about fire service careers through classroom training and hands-on activities. Both young men and women may participate.