Probationary Firefighter Day/Night Checklist

Author: Juan Serrano April 2, 2016

When I first became a full-time structure firefighter a little over 3 years ago, I had a good idea of what life would be like as a probationary firefighter. I knew because I have done my research and been around the fire service for quite some time beforehand.

If you don’t know, a probationary firefighter is a period of the firefighters’ first year (maybe longer) they are hired full-time. During this period, a firefighter is tested and trained to the level of their corresponding department in different aspects of the fire service.

What I did to help me when I started was that I made a checklist of what I needed to get done throughout the day. I had a morning and a night checklist and this helped me a tremendous amount. One reason was because I have a HORRIBLE memory and I need to write things down so I won’t forget them, another reason it helped was because of all the training and classes I had to teach I was exhausted at the end of the day and just straight out didn’t want to think at the end of the day.

Every morning I would wake up before everyone at my station and look at my checklist and see what I needed to do for the morning. It would be almost the same thing every morning but I still didn’t want to forget anything being that I was the new guy.

Now this list is for common things that are done daily like setting the dishwasher, and turning on the coffee. I plan to make more detailed checklists (like how to check out your gear, what firefighters should be doing daily, ways to keep yourself busy, etc.) in the future.

If you are a probationary firefighter or becoming one then I believe this list will help you out every day on the job. Simple things like remembering putting up the flags can help out a bunch. Moreover, forgetting to do these things will not be good and might get you in trouble.

Attached is a list of what was on my checklist so you can print it out and use it on your own.

Keep in mind that this list is for the department that I work for and your department might ask different things from you

CLICK HERE to download the simple Day and Night Probationary.                                                          Firefighter checklist. No email required.

If you have any questions about the list or don’t agree with anything please comment below or send me a personal message. I answer all emails and comments I receive.