Firefighters in St. George (Salt Lake City, Hurricane: wages, jobs, housing)

[i want to move]

Hi everyone, I live in So. Cal right now and my family and I are wanting to move to St. George. My husband is taking refresher courses, and a class for EMT. We want to move out there but we want to know if he would be ablle to get a job as a firefighter right away? He is not a firefighter yet all he needs to take is the full time academy. Does St. George have there own fire academy or should he take it out here then move there? Would he have to be a volunteer before he gets hired on? Are there any openings in St. George or surrounding areas for ANY EMT, or firefighter positions? Please help me because we want to move out there so bad but we can't until we figure out how he can become a firefighter or EMT out there. Thank you!

[SergeantL]

The only way your husband will get the answers to your questions would be to contact the Personnel Office and the Fire Department in St. George.

[Trebek]

If he is not an established Firefighter (but close to it), Salt Lake City area should have way more opportunities than St. George. In SLC, he can finish his training, get a feel for possiblities in other towns, and visit places like St. "G", before commiting to move there. You wouldn't have any probs getting a job in the area either.

[NearlyNative]

St. George Fire Department hires full-time firefighters from their volunteers after they have been on for a year. They run their own fire academy after one is hired as a volunteer. They have been hiring volunteers about every two years, and full-time firefighters as needed. The process is slow, like in most departments. If you and your family want to move to St. George, then move here. Your husband should get a job doing what he knows how to do, then work on getting on as a volunteer. As for St. George, Washington and Hurricane, they are all combination departments, a mix of career and volunteer firefighters. Santa Clara and Ivins have volunteer departments also, but I don't know if they have full-time firefighters yet. Check with these departments for residency requirements. They may require that you live in the city you volunteer for to be able to respond 24/7. These departments generally want to see someone work as a volunteer for a while so they know what kind of work ethic they have. If your husband wants to be a firefighter anywhere in Utah, then 'trebeks' opinion may work, but you were specific to St. George. I can only speak of St. George about hiring frequency. For Washington and Hurricane, call the city oiffice or the department. The EMS transport agency is a local one. The wages aren't 'career' wages and they usually only hire EMT-I's or paramedics, but it may be a foot in the door. He would also have to get reciprocity for his EMS certification. Good luck.

[carlessbiker]

A lot of Las Vegas firefighters live in St. George.

Just FYI.

[rhondaw]

Southern Utah would probably be your best bet, there is a bigger need for firefighters at the southern end of our state, thats where most of the fires are. check out City of St. George, Utah :: Fire Department - Station 2 that should help a little. Good Luck to you, and thanks for fighting fires

[Blondie-Rabbit]

My Neighbor is on the St. George volunteer FD. He has been there for years. The chance of being more than a volunteer at this time is not good. The EMT's are also sought after jobs, and there are an overload of them right now. Other jobs pay very little. A very high wage for this are is $15 an hour. Most will be if you can get in the back door, around $10. Can your family live on those wages? Housing is obscenely priced. Food is more than California. Gas is also high compared to even the Bay area. Utlitities are not cheap, and in St. George you will need A/C. Our bill for one month with the A/C going in a crappy made 1200 sq. Ft house hit $450. These are the realities of living here. Poor wages, high prices, and unreal competition for any good jobs. There may be a lot of fires listed last year in So. Utah, but this year not one more than a small little few feet brush fire. Those big fires are usually in the National Forest or BLM lands, which the Fire fighters for those crews are different, and if it is big, can come from amny different states. Those are part of the Forest Service fire Crews.