This is a rough look at how I get paid. Look through the years and see how the salary jumps up as I work for the fire department. The first number is the base salary followed by the gross annual income for that year.
2000- $27,935 What in the hell! My pay checks were like $800 bucks or something every two weeks. However did I survive?
2001- $31,287
2002- $34,614
2003- $39,405 but grossed $49,733. I went to a shift work unit which consisted of a 24 on 48 off schedule so my salary increased to this number due to the shift differentials plus medic pay.
I think somewhere between 2003 and 2004 I must have gotten promoted and started receiving ALS pay. That’s Advanced Life Support supplemental pay for being a medic. I received an extra $5000 added to my annual salary plus $3.00/hr extra for being assigned to a medic unit, plus the shift differential pay for holidays. The salary amounts listed below with reflect both my base salary and what I grossed due to the shift, ALS stipend, overtime and holiday pay.
Being a Medic is well worth it!
2004- $46,336 but grossed $59,675
2005- $49,545 but grossed $66,776
2006- $53,370 but grossed $76,842
2007- $57,360 but grossed $82,168
2008- $60,840 but grossed $93,489. Remember this was the great market bubble crash.
2009- $62,862 but grossed $85,780
I decided to take the promotional process since we weren’t getting any raises due to the hard economic down turn. We were receiving the meager 3% cost of living raises only. I figured the half way point in my career was a good time to step up to the leadership position. I was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in 2009.
2010- $69,231 but grossed $96,394
2011- $70,405 but grossed $93,986
2012- $71,782 but grossed $93,307
2013- $74,598 but grossed $92,914
The amount of overtime that I might have worked one year over the next resulted in varying pay scales year to year.
2014- $76,627 but grossed $104,893
2015- $79,303 but grossed $103,753
2016- $81,847 but grossed $108,018
I attended and graduated from the Fire Marshal Law Enforcement academy in 2016. I am currently still working in this capacity.
2017- $84,718 but grossed $104,248
2018- $87,963 but grossed $109,604
2019- $94,991 but I’m expected to make over $120,000.
Keeping up with the Joneses
Due to a compression study that was done in my department, it was realized that our salaries were not comparable to the salaries of the neighboring jurisdictions within our area. Hence a $20,000 dollar raise will take effect on July 1, 2019. Yay! Happy Birthday to me!
Our fiscal year is from July to June so on July 2019 my base salary will go up to $111,920. My anniversary year with the Department is in January 2020. This will give me another bump in base salary to $115,277. At that time, I will decide when my time to go will actually be. So far, it has been quite the ride.
A job with the fire department doesn’t look so bad does it?
https://www.indeed.com/salaries/Firefighter/Emt-Salaries,-Virginia