Job Description
The City of Grand Forks is accepting applications for the position of Firefighter. This position offers the opportunity to serve the community by protecting life, property, and the environment through emergency response, fire suppression, rescue, and prevention activities.
Please read the Firefighter Applicant Handbook linked below to find out more about this position and the process timeline.
2026 Firefighter Applicant Handbook
DESCRIPTION To perform fire suppression, community risk reduction, rescue, emergency medical, disaster aid, maintain station equipment and apparatus, and manage incoming phone calls and radio communications.
DEFINITIONS Firefighting Tasks: Including but not limited to hoseline operations, extensive crawling, lifting and carrying heavy objects, ventilating roofs or walls using power or hand tools, forcible entry, and climbing ladders up to approximately 100' in height.
Essential Functions: 1. Perform fire suppression duties; identify, select, and operate fire hoses, nozzles and appliances; place and operate ladders, fire service tools and equipment; provide pre-hospital emergency medical treatment as needed.
2. Identify the need for and implement forcible entry techniques; secure and safeguard the emergency scene.
3. Perform fire prevention duties; assist in conducting and preparing building pre-incident plans; execute and document fire inspection of buildings as assigned.
4. Respond to events of an emergency or non-emergency nature including hazardous materials incidents, aircraft or multi-casualty incidents; rescue trapped individuals.
5. Perform general maintenance and minor repairs on apparatus, equipment, and departmental property; perform weekly inventories on equipment as assigned.
6. Complete and utilize special training in apparatus operations and fire service hydraulics; maintain appropriate levels of certification.
7. Answer emergency and non-emergency telephone calls; dispatch fire apparatus and personnel according to departmental policies; manage and respond to electronic communications as necessary.
8. Perform public relations and education duties; demonstrate and display firefighting equipment and apparatus.
9. Assignment to a specialty function following successful completion of the probationary period.
10. Complete annual incumbent physical ability test (IPAT).
Marginal Functions: 1. Prepare records, logs, and reports as required.
2. Perform related duties and responsibilities as required.
Knowledge : Principles and practices of fire suppression and prevention; principles, practices, methods, and techniques of modern firefighting; principles, practices, and applications of emergency pre-hospital care; operational characteristics of rescue and firefighting equipment and tools; occupational hazards and standard safety practices.
Skills: Communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing utilizing the English language; establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work; maintain mental capacity which allows for effective interaction and communication with others; maintain physical condition appropriate to the performance of assigned duties and responsibilities; maintain effective audio/visual discrimination and perception to the degree necessary for the successful performance of assigned duties.
Abilities : Learn to operate and test a variety of firefighter apparatus and medical equipment under emergency conditions; learn to interpret, explain and enforce department policies and procedures; achieve and maintain appropriate certification levels for firefighting duties; react quickly and work productively under hazardous conditions; understand and follow oral and written instructions; ability to maintain physical conditioning to meet the environmental and physical working conditions .
Supervisory Controls: The supervisor assigns work in terms of very general instructions. The supervisor spot-checks completed work for compliance with procedures and the nature and propriety of the final results.
Guidelines: Guidelines include the International Fire Code, NFPA codes, North Dakota Century Codes, city codes, ASME/ASTM codes, city and fire department policies and procedures. These guidelines require judgment, selection, and interpretation in application.
Complexity/Scope of Work: The work consists of varied fire and other emergency response functions. The necessity of responding to dangerous and complex fire scenes contributes to the complexity of the position.
The purpose of this position is to participate in fire suppression and other emergency response functions. Success in this position contributes to the safety of community life and property.
Contacts: Contacts are typically with co-workers, other city personnel, law enforcement and other emergency response personnel, health care providers, towing companies, and members of the general public.
Contacts are typically to give or exchange information, to resolve problems, to provide services, or to motivate or influence persons.
Physical Demands/Work Environment: During any scheduled work period, the employee could be required to engage in one or multiple of the below listed physical activities or work environments:
- Performing firefighting tasks, rescue operations, and other emergency response actions under stressful conditions while wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).
- Working in extremely hot or cold environments for prolonged periods of time.
- Wearing an SCBA or air purifying respirator (APR), which requires the ability to tolerate increased respiratory workloads.
- Climbing six or more flights of stairs while wearing PPE and SCBA weighing 50 pounds or more and carrying tools or equipment weighing an additional 20 to 40 lbs.
- Search and rescue operations that involves rescue-dragging or carrying victims that range from newborn to adults weighing over 200 pounds while wearing PPE and SCBA in hazardous conditions with low visibility.
- Advancing water-filled hoselines up to 2.5" in diameter from the fire apparatus to a structure approximately 200' which may involve negotiating multiple flights of stairs, ladders, or other obstacles while wearing PPE and SCBA.
- Climbing ladders, operating from heights, walking or crawling in the dark along narrow or uneven surfaces that may be wet or icy, operating in the proximity of power lines or other hazards while wearing PPE and SCBA.
- Operating fire apparatus or other vehicles in an emergency mode with emergency lights, sirens, and air horns.
- Critical, time-sensitive, complex problem solving during physical exertion in stressful, hazardous environments, including hot, dark, tightly enclosed spaces, which is further aggravated by fatigue, flashing lights, sirens, and other distractions.
- Communicating while wearing PPE and SCBA under conditions of high background noise, poor visibility, and drenching from hoselines or sprinkler systems.
- Functioning as an integral component of a team, where sudden incapacitation of a member can result in mission failure or in risk of injury or death to civilians or other team members.
- Working in shifts at a fire station, including during nighttime. Shifts can extend beyond 24 hours.
- Wearing PPE and SCBA that is encapsulating and insulated, which will result in significant fluid loss.
- Possibility of working in unpredictable emergency requirements for prolonged periods of extreme physical exertion without benefit of warm-up, scheduled rest periods, meals, access to medication(s), or hydration.
- Possible exposure to toxic fumes, irritants, particulates, biological, infectious, non-biological hazards, and heated gases despite the use of PPE and SCBA.
Supervisory Responsibilities: No direct supervision. This position may have functional supervision over new firefighters for mentorship purposes or when otherwise assigned.
Experience : No firefighting experience is required. New employees will participate in a training academy once employed.
Training : Equivalent to an Associate's degree from an accredited college or university, or equivalent in combined work experience and education.
License or Certificate Possession of, or ability to obtain, an appropriate, valid driver's license.
Possession of, or ability to obtain within the probationary period, a valid National Registry Certification as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) to include
North Dakota licensure at employee's expense.
Ability to obtain Pro Board Firefighter I, Hazmat Awareness, and Hazmat Operations at the completion of the Firefighter Academy.
Ability to obtain Pro Board Firefighter II within the probationary period.
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Job Tags
Work experience placement, Shift work, Night shift,