fire apparatus engineer

THE FIRE APPARATUS ENGINEER DOES MORE THAN DRIVE

HERE'S WHAT OUR FAE'S SAY ABOUT THE JOB

IS THIS THE JOB FOR YOU?

RESPONSIBILITIES

safely DRIVING & GETTING THE CREW TO THE INCIDENT

Responsible for everyone in the rig and everyone and everything around the rig.
Spotting the rig and setting up the scene for safety (e.g., placing the rig in the right place to block traffic, parking the rig where it can access water efficiently, etc.).

mAINTENANCE & tROUBLE sHOOTING

Rig
Small engine tools
Apparatus bay

oPERATING THE RIG, PUMP, HOSE, AERIALS & MORE

Knowing the functions of a variety of different types of rigs and being able to operate them fluently under different conditions.

Big-picture outlook while still being hands on

Technical consultant to the fire captain.
Making decisions alongside the fire captain (where to drive, how to handle the rig, etc.).

FIRE GROUND SUPPORT

Water flow during incidents- tracking fire ground activity to ensure water flow can support what crews are doing, redirecting crews if tactics can’t be supported.
Anticipating the plan during an incident. Supporting what may happen before it happens.

Job Specifications

challenges

“On a fire scene, the firefighters and fire captains do independent problem solving, but the FAE are collaborative and problem solve as a team.”
“FAEs get to make decisions for themselves. They’re the Captain’s left-hand man.”

APPARATUS FAMILIARITY

There are 30 different types of rigs in OCFA stations and they’re all different—manufacturers (KME, International, Sutphen, etc.) and types (Type III, water tenders, TDA’s, foam tenders, etc.). If the rig is at the station, the FAE needs to know how to operate it from stem to stern. If there’s a rig in the station that the FAE is unfamiliar with (e.g., Water tenders, foam tender, TDA, etc.), some FAE’s arrive early for a longer pass along to familiarize themselves with the rig.

qUICK cALCULATIONS

Some struggle with the fast calculations. The math is not advanced, but it does require a reminder (dusting off the “math brain”) and using those skills again.

INDEPENDENCE

No one is watching over you, so you succeed and fail on your own. FAE’s require self-discipline to stay on task.

DRIVING AT NIGHT

FAE’s need to be completely alert during middle of the night calls.

PREPARE

YOURSELF

“It’s the most flexible job on the fire ground. FAEs are the utility player, identifying what needs to be done and filling in the cracks. They dabble in everything, they’re the jack of all trades.”
“The FAE job is the first opportunity to work independently—solving my own problems. The big thing with FAEs is the problem solving from lots of different angles.”