Many fire departments have a fire protection division. Some places have
combined fire prevention, education, safety and emergency medical services
into a single organization.
Job prospects are steady, says Gary Coley. He is an instructor and program
advisor at Fox Valley College in Appleton, Wisconsin. "It's not any better
than it was, and it is certainly not any worse," he says.
Incomes for fire protection technicians in the U.S can range between $25,000
and $60,000 in the private sector. They range from somewhere between $25,000
and $45,000 in the public sector. That's according to Coley.
"Most of the private [consulting and engineering] companies typically want
a four-year degree person," says Coley.
Private sector companies hire college graduates, but only if they have
some special training or work experience through an internship, he says.
One reason why fire protection engineers are in high demand is a change
in building standards. Architects, and by extension, fire protection engineers
are moving away from descriptive standards to performance-based standards.
So what's the difference? Descriptive standards limit architectural choices
and design. Performance-based standards do not. But this change also means
that fire safety becomes an even higher priority.
Earnings and employment information from the U.S. Department of Labor is
not available for this field at this time.