They help with emergency response, the EMS, vehicle accidents, hazardous materials, technical rescues, confined space rescues, fire inspections.

Fire Stations: This is their home base. Firefighters live, eat, train, sleep, and perform administrative duties at the fire station for their shifts, which are often 24 hours long.
Emergency Scenes: This is where the action is. When a call comes in, firefighters respond to a wide variety of emergencies, including:
- Fires (structural, vehicle, wildland)
- Medical emergencies (often as first responders)
- Vehicle accidents
- Hazardous materials incidents
- Technical rescues (e.g., from collapsed buildings or high places)
- Natural disasters

Being a firefighter requires a special kind of person with a mix of personality traits that allow them to handle extreme stress, danger, and deeply emotional situations.

You need physical fitness, mental skills, interpersonal and communication skills, technical and knowledge based skills.

Firefighter salaries vary, but here's a general idea for the U.S., and specifically for Austin, Texas:
**Nationally (US Average, as of mid-2025):**
- The average firefighter salary is around **$55,561 per year**.
- Entry-level can be around $36,192, while experienced firefighters can make over $80,220.
**In Austin, Texas (as of late June/early July 2025):**
- The average annual pay for a firefighter is about **$59,082 per year**.
- Starting (cadet) pay is often around **$43,680 annually**, increasing after academy completion.
- More experienced firefighters in Austin (top 90th percentile) can earn around **$87,722 annually**.