Firefighter Schedules & Working Hours EXPLAINED

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[iliasarroyo]

You mean so much to aspiring firefighters that don’t have people in their corners to help them understand the ins and outs of firefighter culture and the hiring process

[desertbum]

We work a 5/6. So you work 24 on and 24 off for 5 shifts then get 6 days off. It is pretty amazing having a week off every week lol.

[adamwarner]

As a man who work 8-10 hours a day, 6 days a week I have no complaints. I can’t wait to be a firefighter.

[kelly]

When I went career (in 1979) we were on a 56 on 112 off, with 3 hours off during the shift. This was an attempt to comply with FLSA. We loved that shift. Every 3 months the shifts would rotate around and one shift would have 9 days off with pay. I'll agree that the FF schedule is something that the average civilian can't really grasp...but it is the most flexible schedule(s) you can it is the best job on the planet.

[JZETH_]

This is easily the best resource for fire academies and training. Thanks for doing this.

[zacharynunley]

My department works the 48/96 schedule, which I love, since we don’t run very many calls, we’re a rural county department, so we average about 4-6 calls per 48 hour shift.

Although on occasion we might spend 4+ hours on a single call, because lets say we go to a major vehicle accident and the driver is seriously injured, the weather is bad so choppers aren’t flying, we will transport to our local ER first, get the patient stabilized or at least pick up a doctor and nurse who are field trained, then immediately transport that patient to our nearest trauma center which is about 1 hour away with lights and sirens

[sjpproductions]

As an Air Force firefighter, I worked a straight 24 on/24 off. You were assigned a Kelly day which could be any day, Sunday through Saturday. There were no options to work your K-day, you must be off that day, including the civilians. The idea was to keep you from working more than 72 hours per week. However if your K-day was Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, the following week was a Sun/Tues/Thurs/Sat in which you wound up working 96 hours that week. It didn’t matter to me as it was just another Fine Air Force Day.

[coloradod]

What you call the Cali swing we call the modified Kelly. Our department ran a 50 hour week and over the course of the year the modified Kelly shift averaged 56 hours per week, so we were paid 6 hours overtime each week. The department encouraged trades and would pay out unused vacation in November of each year since it was cheaper than paying overtime. You did not have to sell it back, but it made for a nice Christmas bonus. I retired in 2012 and a few years later they went to a 48/96 and have since gone back to the modified Kelly due to too much fatigue.

[ClashDaddyCR]

Thank you for posting this stuff. You’re content is inspiring me to change my career and start an EMT program.

[Ghettofireman]

In Philadelphia we work 2 10 hour days and 2 14 hour nights with 4 days off and have 4 platoons a b c and d plus with 2 scheduled vacations and vacations u can put in for out of season vacation u work less than half the year I love it

[smallworldadventurer]

You guys gotta get on the Toronto schedule, also popular at many departments in Canada. 24h shift, 7 days a month. Goes like this, work Mon, Thurs., , then the next Fri.(yes, 7 days off), Sun., Wed., Sat., Tues.

One of each day of the week spread out over the month. Pretty dope right!?

[ammardardari]

Hey Mike! Awesome seeing you on YouTube. Been a while. Keep up with the awesome work and content. Hope all is well.

[jasonmartinez]

At my department in NJ, we work 24/72. Great schedule

[xpkingz]

Really appreciate these videos. I'm hoping to become a firefight when I get out of college. I used to think the 24 48 was really good than I heard about the Cali swing. I mean. If it comes to it. I can just take my "every other days" that are off sleeping in and getting as much sleep as possible if I really am tired. So yeah.

[matthewquinn]

Are you sitting down for this? A few caveats, we're a quiet house (700 calls annually, no EMS), we are allowed meal breaks, so our days are actually 22 and 21 hours shifts, but we can get recalled for OT if called off our meal break. It works for us.
I got to work Friday at 1700. I work until Monday at 0700. I get 3 meal breaks Saturday and 3 on Sunday. Monday Off, Tuesday On (only two meals on weekday shifts), Wednesday Off, Thursday On, Friday-Sunday Off, Monday On, Tuesday Off, Wednesday On, Thursday Off Friday on until 1700. Off for 7 days until it repeats. A 21 day cycle.

[dougcox]

In Oz, it's 2x 10 hour days, 8am-6pm, followed by 2x 14 hour nights, 6pm-8am, followed by four days off.

[alejandromurillo]

I’m looking into become a firefighter and this is really helpful information to know!! Thank you so much for this video!!

[piperjake]

Up in the Northeast, a popular schedule was 2-2-4. Two 10 hour days, two 14 hour nights, then 4 days off.

[ctt]

We run on an 8 day “work week”/ schedule. 4 on 4 off. The 4 on consist of 2 ten hour days then 2 fourteen hour nights then 4 days off.

[mikefargo]

I worked 37 yrs in the California Fire Service.... the California swing schedule is more commonly called a 3/4 schedule. Our department worked 4/4-4/6 schedule. I selfishly looked at it as the best working conditions for this reason.... taking 4 shifts off (be it vacation, holiday or comp-time) you then got 17 consecutive days off. To utilize 4 shifts off with the 3/4 schedule, only got you 11 consecutive days off. But as you know with unlimited trades, call backs and mandates... it wasn't uncommon to spend 8-10 shifts straight on duty, then have 23-30 consecutive days off.