2010 Police Fire

If you are considering firefighting as a career or you are just curious about this very important job, you might be wondering how much firefighters earn. Determining how much money firemen can be complicated. A number of factors like location, experience and number of hours worked all factor into the amount each firefighter makes. While the amount firefighters makes varies significantly, this guide will give you some basic information about firemen pay.

Basic Pay

The national base pay for firefighters averages around $47,000 per year, with the bottom of the scale falling around $23,000 and the top around $75,000. Pay varies significantly by state. Some top paying states for firefighters include New Jersey, California, Washington and New York. These states average between $60,000 and $70,000 per year.

Firefighter pay also varies by city. Not surprisingly, larger cities land at the top of the list of highest paying areas for firemen. Metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, Washington DC and Chicago are among the highest paying areas for firefighters.

Benefits

When considering firefighter pay, you must also look at what benefits firefighters receive on top of their base pay. Firefighting is a hazardous job and the base pay may not seem like enough in some cases, but other benefits must be considered when examining how much money firemen make.

Firefighters typically receive health and dental insurance, vacation and sick pay, and a pension plan for most firefighters. These important benefits can add up to a lot and mean that the base salary is actually worth much more for most firefighters.

How to make extra money

There are several ways to make extra money as a firefighter. Many firefighters work overtime, especially during special circumstances like wildfires or other emergencies. Fireman must be paid overtime for these extra hours, and overtime can add up to quite a bit of extra money.

This career also offers several opportunities for advancement that mean more pay. In order to advance in this career, firefighters must prove themselves through experience and receive positive reviews. Additional training on techniques and new equipment is also necessary. Firefighters must also pass both written and hands on examinations to advance to higher levels. Some possible levels firemen can advance to are Lieutenant and Captain, among others. The highest possible level is Chief; it can be difficult to advance to the highest levels.

Besides showing good performance and completing training in new techniques regularly, those with a goal in mind of advancing to Chief should consider obtaining an Associates or a Bachelor’s degree. Many departments now require a degree for the highest positions.

The Bottom Line

If you are wondering, ‘how much money do fireman make?’, it is possible that you are considering a career in this important, challenging and hopefully rewarding career. Firefighting is a necessary job for public safety; so the need for firemen will always be there, making the job outlook pretty good for this job.

Highly sought after benefits like good health coverage and a pension mean that these positions can be highly sought after and competitive. It might take some time and effort to land a job, and once you have a job it is important to do well and keep up with training in order to stay competitive and advance.

Firefighters are paid fairly well and receive attractive benefits, but the most important reason to become a firefighter is the desire to do an important job and have a huge impact on public safety. Firefighters risk their lives for the safety of others, and no amount of pay is worth that unless you truly want to do it and feel that it is the best job for you.

Fires, on most cases, are considered as highly negative events that plague mankind. These destructive incidents bring about great sorrow mercilessly claiming innocent lives and leaving the rest in desperate, homeless plights.

Many factors contribute in the onset of this calamity and many of them are manmadeNatural fires also take place; these disasters are contributed by the interplay of the elements—the wind and the fire.

On a brighter aspect, fires do inspire humankind to strive harder. Some of the greatest cities at present rose after the ravage of fires. Here are some of the greatest fires in history:

The Great Fire of Rome

In 64 AD a great fire broke and swept through 10 out of 14 states of Rome. Though unfounded, rumors have pointed out Nero as its instigator; accordingly, this was done to give way to the construction of his grand palace—the Domus Aurea.

The Four Great Fires in Constantinople

The Orthodox citadel of the East fell into the hands of the Crusaders after the ravage of the four great fires in its capital, Constantinople. This turn of events, though a great source of shame from the West, ended the schism between the two Christian sects.

Moscow Fire

This catastrophic event led to the uprising of the displaced mob against the newly-crowned Tsar, Ivan the Terrible and his family. The 80,000 homeless people blamed the Tsar’s grandmother for using witchcraft to start the fire and stoned some of his relatives to death.

The Great Fire of London

The 1660s blaze in the British capital started from a bakery. Due to an inordinate urban sprawl of wooden houses, the flames quickly spread out to the rest of the city smoldering down 90% of the homes and left 70,000 destitute. Consequently, England faced a tremendous economic and social breakdown at this time.

Furisode Fire

This calamity in the 1660s annihilated 70% of Japan’s former capital, Edo. The conflagration spread through houses that were built primarily on wood and paper and the fire-brigade at that time is not equipped and skilled to resist it.

Big Blowup in 1910

This is one of the most extensive wildfires in history which coursed through Washington, Idaho and Montana. Due to the extremely dry weather that wilted down vegetation, little hot cinders from locomotives easily escalated into an inferno. Some towns were burned to the ground or were completely deserted because of this.

Halifax Explosion

The collision between the explosives-loaded SS Mont Blanc and SS Imo resulted into over 9000 casualties and the obliteration of the commercial structures in Halifax. So great was the explosion that a tsunami was created afterwards. Hence, this is considered as “world’s largest man-made accidental explosion”.

The Changsa Fire

Also known as the Wenxi Fire, this is dubbed as the largest city-wide blaze in the history of China. The military leader, Chiang Kai Sek passed the idea of intentionally burning down the metropolitan to prevent Japanese invasion. The devastation that incurred this Chinese conurbation was akin to that of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The Dresden Bombing 

Still remaining as one of the most controversial among the Allied Air Raids, this German city was fiercely attacked during the eventful days of February 1945. Bodies of the dead piled all over as explosion after explosion followed; and planes of the RAAF were relentlessly dropping down bombs. The death toll rose up to more than 22,000.

Atomic Bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki

When atomic bombs “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it wiped off structures within 1.6km radius from the Shima Surgical Clinic where it detonated directly. About 80,000 or 60% residents were eradicated immediately, 30% from falling debris while the other 10% from other reasons.

This act of is military act is then by far one of the most debated topics in History and Ethics. Many historians now argue the necessity of such action. Was it really an act of Necessary Evil?

Fire insurance is optional; homeowners don’t have to purchase it unless they are being required to by their mortgage lenders. But, no one should have to force anyone to buy fire insurance because it is a wise choice to make. People who have this type of insurance can only be happy they made the decision to purchase it after their houses have completely burned down. It would be stupid not to look into home insurance when you can get free home insurance rates.

What Fire Insurance Covers

Why is this type of insurance such a good investment? The answer to this question can be seen in what it can do for the homeowners in the event that they suffer a devastating loss of their houses due to fire.

Under a homeowner’s insurance policy, the house and the contents may be covered if they are damaged in a fire, but these policies may have restrictions. In order to fill any gaps that may be present in a homeowner’s policy, people can purchase extra coverage for damages caused by fire. Depending on the company, these extra coverages may include:

• Money for a hotel, food and emergency items such as clothes while the house is being repaired or rebuilt,
• Anything within the home that couldn’t be covered by the homeowner’s insurance policy,
• Pays to have the house repaired or rebuilt after fires that started within the home as well as outside.

How Did the Fire Start?

A fire can begin all kinds of ways, and the fire insurance policy will cover the damages that occur for several of these reasons that fires begin. In a standard policy, damages covered under a fire insurance policy may have been started by:

• Lightning,
• Riots,
• Explosions,
• Smoke,
• Earthquakes,
• Storms,
• Wind,
• Water damage and
• Fire.

Coverage Limits

When people purchase fire insurance, they may decide how much they would like to receive if they ever lose their houses in a fire. When setting the limits of their coverage, people are thinking of how much their premiums will cost them every year, but this isn’t the place to economize. Homeowners will need to have as much coverage as they can possibly afford.

Actual Value (AV)

When homeowners choose to purchase coverage for the actual value of their homes, they will have lower premiums, but they will not receive sufficient funds to rebuild the house as it was before the fire. The actual value is how much the property is worth minus the years of depreciation. If the homeowners need to rebuild their homes, they will receive far less than they will need to do this if they have chosen the actual value.

Replacement Value

When people choose the replacement value, they will have higher premiums to pay every year. But in the event that their houses burn down, they will receive the amount of money required to rebuild the house as it was before the fire.

Property Covered under the Policy

The main dwelling, the house, will be covered under the insurance policy. If there are other structures, such as a barn on the property that also catches fire, the policy will replace or repair this structure, also. The contents within the house, appliances, furniture, clothing and all personal items if they have been itemized in the inventory under the policy will be covered if they are destroyed due to a fire.

People’s homeowner’s insurance policies aren’t always enough to cover all the instances when their houses are damaged by fire. In order to make sure that they are covered under most circumstances, people have the option of purchasing fire insurance. It’s completely out of people’s control when a fire begins, especially if it starts outside of the home. Purchasing fire insurance protects them when these unfortunate, unexpected events happen and they have no ability to stop them.