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15 Las Vegas firefighter openings draw hundreds of hopefuls
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Photo by Gary Thompson
Craig Mills, 21, stands in line at City Hall on Monday for Las Vegas firefighter positions. He said he has wanted to be a firefighter since he was a child. Officials began accepting applications at 8 a.m. By late afternoon, more than 1,400 people had applied for 15 available positions and others that might open over the next few years.
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The line to apply to become a city of Las Vegas firefighter weaves around the block outside City Hall early Monday. More than 1,400 people showed up in hopes of becoming one of 15 firefighter trainees. Photo by Gary Thompson
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Apr. 10, 2012 | 9:24 a.m.
Craig Mills had been ready for Monday morning for five years.
The 21-year-old Las Vegan stayed physically fit, worked to become a certified emergency medical technician and completed a junior firefighters program. His next step was to apply to become a city firefighter.
"This is all I've wanted to do," he said.
With application, resume and letters of recommendation in hand, Mills arrived at Las Vegas City Hall about 5 a.m. He was ninth in line because he had reserved his spot ahead of time, but it didn't guarantee his dream would be fulfilled.
About 1,300 other hopefuls lined up behind Mills early Monday, all eyeing 15 existing vacancies and others that might come up in the next few years.
The jobs are good ones in normal times, let alone in the middle of a recession. They pay well, come with a good health insurance plan, allow early retirement and don't require a college degree.
Monday's line grew and snaked along the sidewalks outside the building before offices opened at 8 a.m. and the applications were accepted.
It was a familiar scene for city officials, who go through the process every two years.
"We typically see about 1,800 applications in a regular year," city spokeswoman Diana Paul said. "We knew we'd have an overwhelming response."
Paul said officials knew the sagging economy would draw a lot of applications, so the department limited the number to 1,500.
As of Monday afternoon, 1,440 people had submitted applications, but officials expect to hit 1,500 in the next few days. Otherwise, the application deadline will be Oct. 16.
Maha Hawwass arrived at 4:30 a.m. with two friends to apply. The 24-year-old waitress said it took her a while to realize she wanted a career in which she was part of a team.
"I'm a Las Vegas girl. It took a while for the light bulb to go off," Hawwass said. "I'm a very driven person when I know what my role is."
Hawwass said she was surprised by the number of men and women waiting in line.
"I expect a lot more," she said. "This wasn't secret."
Requirements to apply included being at least 18 years old with a high school diploma and basic emergency medical technician certification.
Although only 15 will get the call to continue the steps to the fire academy, all of the applications will stay on file for the next two years, Paul said.
The accepted candidates will go on to written exams, interviews, physical ability tests and criminal and personal background checks.
If accepted, they will spend 16 weeks of training at the city firefighter academy.
The annual salary for a Las Vegas firefighter starts at $49,947 and caps off at $77,602.
Once hired, the firefighters can retire earlier than other city workers and can increase their earnings by getting overtime, callback and longevity pay.
Skie Crawford's uncle, who has been a city firefighter for more than 25 years, encouraged the 31-year-old to apply.
"He's made a great living," he said.
As the 1,014th person in line, Crawford spoke about what set him apart from the other applicants.
"I'm in really good shape, and I have world experience some of these younger guys don't," said Crawford, who is a former National Guardsman.
"This would be more of a career for me. There are a lot harder things in the world; you just have to give it your best."
Contact reporter Maggie Lillis at mlillis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.
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john - they retire the list so they can keep the high priced employees in personnel busy doing something. otherwise there is nothing to do and they can't justify their position.
It's a game they play to keep payroll flowing, the FD does it best with overtime. (who takes a sick day, who gets OT, who covers who, who gets OT, who goes on vacation, who gets OT.........)
Perliminary Will Knock Out Most wrote on September 29, 2009 02:14 PM:
The background checks, physicals and tests will knock out so many applicants that the amount that go to verbal interviews will actually be very small.
When I tested, I could not decide between FF and Police, I took both tests.
Where I tested (different state) The FD did not change their tests at all for women v men.
Made #1 with the police (out of 300) and #9 with the FD (out of about 700). I ended up going law enforcement.
There may be 1500 today, but most will end up being disqualified before they ever do a single interview.
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And that is the problem with the new Police State America.
The Corporations and their puppets now look for reasons to NOT hire people!
They look to NOT hire and not to HIRE. This is the new Police State America and all of you people love this way of living in fear because everyones bad now.
What garbage!!
Here is the prime example of fire fighters in Southern Nevada being under worked and over paid. They can be heroes ... but you know what ... so are cops, teachers, doctors, nurses, private sector paramedics (who earn less than half of what a fire department EMT would earn), and on and on. They have been selling this BS "we are the only heroes" line of garbage so long they believe it. A fair days work for fair pay. Lets see documentation on what each and every fire fighter does in Southern Nevada every day. Not just calls, but broken down by an independent outside analyst. How many burning homes do they save? How many times per year does the average fire fighter actually put their life in danger. Until then its just a bunch of BS ... mumbo jumbo that the fire fighters and their families spew to justify their off the charts pay and benefits. Fire Fighters have bankrupted Nevada ...
I'm glad they'll be more firefighter --- to sit around, do nothing, suck the life and money out of the budget, and steal from the charity boot drive.