How to Become a Firefighter or Emergency Medical Responde

Positions on the St. Louis Fire Department are considered civil service positions with the City of St. Louis. The Personnel Department for the City of St. Louis handles the application and examination process. The position of Probationary Fire Private usually comes up about every few years as needed.

In order to become a firefighter with the St. Louis Fire Department, you must do the following:

1. Have a diploma or high school equivalent
2. Be at least 18 years of age and no more than 33 years of age (Up to 6 additional years for Military Service)
3. Apply for the position through the Department of Personnel.
   When the position is open, you may apply online or download an application form from Personnel's web page.  Successful applicants will be contacted by regular mail for further testing.
4. Pass the examination process which may include a written exam, physical ability test, and oral interview
5. Pass a pre-employment drug screen
6. Pass a pre-employment physical
7. Complete the 16 weeks of training in the Fire Academy
8. Pass the State Firefighter 1 & 2 Exams
9. Obtain and maintain certification as an EMT, within one year of employment and throughout your employment with the Department.

If you qualify, apply through the Department of Personnel.

Begin online

Once your application is accepted, you will receive information about the examination process.  This is very competitive, with an extremely large number of applicants vying for the positions.

Only the applicants who have successfully completed the examination process will be placed on an eligibility list and ranked based on their examination scores. The better you do, the higher you will be placed.

If you are hired, then you will have to complete steps 5 through 9 listed above.

If the position is not currently open, you may register with the Department of Personnel for Courtesy Notification (to receive an email when the position is open and applications are being accepted.  Note:  courtesy email notification comes from cinweb@stlouis-mo.gov.)