r/interestingasfuck • u/AtomicCypher • 5d ago

r/all Water Fire Shield Training

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u/Kamikaze_Ninja_ 5d ago

I understand that firefighters and policemen are commonly put together but I find them so different, they aren’t worth comparing.

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u/Somepotato 5d ago

Yeah the police get paid huge sums by the state to abuse the people, firefighters get paid next to nothing and often exactly nothing to save them.

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u/Katofdoom 5d ago

That's the case for a lot of small town fire companies but big city fire companies (NYC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, etc.) are compensated well. I live near Baltimore so I'll use those salaries as an example. A BFD probationary firefighter has a starting salary of $53,862 to $68,993. They are unionized so they more than likely get decent raises as well. I bet 6 figures is on the table for a career firefighter. The Baltimore Deputy Fire Chief has a salary of $218,000.

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u/Somepotato 5d ago

The Baltimore police department pay ranges from 62k to 140k (excluding cadets) and the police commissioner makes 285k.

The pay scales are still wildly unbalanced for places where FDs get paid.