Protective Service
First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers
Directly supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in firefighting and fire prevention and control.
MAY 2025 · OCCUPATIONAL WAGES
A wage reference for United States.
Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.
Source wage group: First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.
May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.
Median annual wage$93,530USD per year · Published 50th percentile
Median hourly wage$44.96USD per hour · Published 50th percentile
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
Hourly wage thresholds
USD per hour
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $53,430 | $25.69 |
| 25th | $72,140 | $34.68 |
| 50th · Median | $93,530 | $44.96 |
| 75th | $119,500 | $57.45 |
| 90th | $140,010 | $67.31 |
“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.
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THE WORK BEHIND THE TITLE
What this career involves.
Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.
Selected title examples
Battalion ChiefChiefCrew BossCrew ChiefDeputy Fire MarshalDivision ChiefEngine BossEngine CaptainFire Battalion ChiefFire CaptainFire ChiefFire Department Battalion Chief
Expand more title examples (19)
Fire Department CaptainFire LieutenantFire MarshalFire Prevention Bureau CaptainFire Prevention CaptainFire Prevention ChiefFire SupervisorFire Suppression CaptainForest Fire Management OfficerForest Fire Specialist SupervisorHotshot SuperintendentIncident CommanderLieutenant FirefighterMunicipal Fire Fighting and Prevention SupervisorPrevention CoordinatorSection Forest Fire WardenSmoke Jumper SupervisorState Fire MarshalSupervising Fire Marshal
Typical tasks
- Provide emergency medical services as required, and perform light to heavy rescue functions at emergencies.
- Maintain fire suppression equipment in good condition, checking equipment periodically to ensure that it is ready for use.
- Assign firefighters to jobs at strategic locations to facilitate rescue of persons and maximize application of extinguishing agents.
- Communicate fire details to superiors, subordinates, or interagency dispatch centers, using two-way radios.
- Serve as a working leader of an engine, hand, helicopter, or prescribed fire crew of three or more firefighters.
- Evaluate size, location, and condition of fires.
Expand more tasks (24)
- Instruct and drill fire department personnel in assigned duties, including firefighting, medical care, hazardous materials response, fire prevention, and related subjects.
- Recruit or hire firefighting personnel.
- Assess nature and extent of fire, condition of building, danger to adjacent buildings, and water supply status to determine crew or company requirements.
- Monitor fire suppression expenditures to ensure that they are necessary and reasonable.
- Direct the training of firefighters, assigning of instructors to training classes, and providing of supervisors with reports on training progress and status.
- Perform maintenance and minor repairs on firefighting equipment, including vehicles, and write and submit proposals to modify, replace, and repair equipment.
- Evaluate the performance of assigned firefighting personnel.
- Perform administrative duties, such as compiling and maintaining records, completing forms, preparing reports, or composing correspondence.
- Recommend personnel actions related to disciplinary procedures, performance, leaves of absence, and grievances.
- Direct firefighters in station maintenance duties, and participate in these duties.
- Evaluate fire station procedures to ensure efficiency and enforcement of departmental regulations.
- Maintain knowledge of fire laws and fire prevention techniques and tactics.
- Inspect stations, uniforms, equipment, or recreation areas to ensure compliance with safety standards, taking corrective action as necessary.
- Inspect and test new and existing fire protection systems, fire detection systems, and fire safety equipment to ensure that they are operating properly.
- Recommend equipment modifications or new equipment purchases.
- Direct investigation of cases of suspected arson, hazards, and false alarms and submit reports outlining findings.
- Maintain required maps and records.
- Schedule employee work assignments and set work priorities.
- Participate in creating fire safety guidelines and evacuation schemes for nonresidential buildings.
- Drive crew carriers to transport firefighters to fire sites.
- Analyze burn conditions and results, and prepare postburn reports.
- Supervise and participate in the inspection of properties to ensure that they are in compliance with applicable fire codes, ordinances, laws, regulations, and standards.
- Plan, direct, and supervise prescribed burn projects.
- Study and interpret fire safety codes to establish procedures for issuing permits to handle hazardous or flammable substances.
Skills used in this work
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Expand more skills (29)
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
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