Good luck! Funding in California has been cut and people already in the business are losing their jobs as it is and I know police forces and stuff are freezing new additions for a while... as in not hiring... only to fill in retiring officers and stuff... shouldn t be too diff for fire departments...
From what I understand, fire department jobs are really competitive here, ESPECIALLY with the economy the way it is. It is very hard to compete against returning Iraq vets who get a big advantage due to being a veteran. The state and local governments are desperately running out of money, so many areas are not hiring anyone. Firefighting seems to have a low turnover, so there may not be all that many opportunities to get in.The state s financial disaster has hit colleges too, because the state has slashed funding for higher education. If you go to a CC in California, you can expect fairly high tuition (you will be considered out of state for at least the first year), and lower class availability. Unless you live in Chicago, I m guessing that rents in our area will seem astronomical (possibly even compared to Chicago).I m not saying you shouldn t go for it, just that there is this reality that you need to face, and make your own decision. Also, I know CA has a reputation for wildfires, but most of these are fought by Calfire. Many of the employees are seasonal, hired for the fire season (generally summer and a couple months before and after). You can read more here: http://www.fire.ca.gov/ Municipal and county fire departments help with these fires, but they are mostly responsible for the day-to-day stuff which is the same anywhere, like being the first responders to medical emergencies.