Overview
Many Pennsylvania fire departments begin offering junior firefighting as an option to interested young people between the ages of 14 and 16. Precautions are in place to keep them safe.
General Rules
Volunteers who are at least 14 years old can participate in emergency service activities, including training, providing first aid, assisting with cleanup, and food service.
However, minors are not allowed to:
- Operate a truck, ambulance, or other official fire vehicle.
- Operate an aerial ladder, aerial platform, or hydraulic jack.
- Use rubber electrical gloves, insulated wire gloves, insulated wire cutters, life nets, or acetylene cutting units.
- Operate the pump of a fire vehicle at the scene of a fire.
- Enter a burning structure, except in certain, limited situations outlined below.
When Can a Minor Engage in Firefighting Activities?
All of the following conditions must be met in order for a minor to be allowed to engage in firefighting activities:
- Be at least 16 years old.
- Successfully complete a training course equal to the standards for basic firefighting established by the State Fire Commissioner.
- Successfully complete a training equal to the standards for basic firefighting established by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
- Be under direct supervision of the fire chief, an experienced line officer, or designated forest fire warden.
These qualified junior firefighters are permitted to participate in such activities as attacking fires with hose lines as part of exterior operations, setting up ladders, vehicle rescue, and more.
Other Considerations
Departments employing junior firefighters must follow rules set by the Pennsylvania Child Labor Act. These regulations include time limitations, hours of employment, required permits, and other rules to keep minors safe.
Restrictions begin on page five of our program compliance manual.
Interior Firefighting Training
As of January 2023, 17-year-old junior firefighters are able to receive interior firefighting training.
This is because the state legislature passed Act 155, which amends the Child Labor Law to allow junior firefighters to enter burning structures in certain, limited situations.
Nothing waives Child Labor Law prohibitions on minors performing any tasks prohibited by Pennsylvania Child Labor Laws in the field, regardless of their level of training and education, or any other act that the Department of Labor and Industry determines is dangerous to the health of a child.
Parental & Fire Chief Permission
Junior firefighters who meet the criteria must have written permission from their fire chief and legal guardian to participate.
Download, print, and fill out the Act 155 Permission Form with signatures from the legal parent or guardian and fire chief. Bring the completed form along on the first day of training and turn it in to the instructor.
Act 155 allows junior firefighters to enter burning structures if all of the following criteria are met:
- The student is engaged in a training session for an interior firefighting module with live burns.
- The student will be 17-years-old on the first scheduled day of class.
- The student has written permission of the fire chief of their sponsoring fire company to participate, prior to the first scheduled day of class.
- The student has written permission of their legal parent or guardian to participate in the class, prior to the first scheduled day of class.
- The minor is under the supervision of a credentialed Pennsylvania State Fire Academy instructor.
Entering a burning structure is part of training in Entry Level Interior Firefighting. This is the fourth module that must be completed.
The order is as follows:
- Introduction to the Fire Service
- Fire Ground Support
- Exterior Firefighting
- Entry Level Interior Firefighting
A credentialed Pennsylvania State Fire Academy instructor shall mean an instructor accredited by the academy as a suppression instructor while under contract to a Pennsylvania Training System educational training agency, as part of an entry-level training program, or as an instructor as part of an entry-level training program registered with the academy.
Live-fire components shall be subject to the following:
- All interior live-fire components for junior firefighters shall be in a controlled environment that is prop-designed and constructed to meet the requirements of National Fire Protection Agency Standard 1402 and National Fire Protection Agency Standard.
- Acquired structures shall not be used, for any reason, during the course of a junior firefighter in Entry Level Interior Firefighting.
- A 16-hour Pennsylvania State Fire Academy structure burn session that is pre-scheduled as part of the larger entry level training program and conducted in a burn pop constructed for the express purpose of performing live-fire training is permitted, as long as enrollment in the program is limited to entry-level students only.
- An educational training agency may apply for an exception to these requirements by submitting a review request, in writing, to the academy administrator. No exceptions for use of an acquired structure will be permitted.
- An entry level training program with no reasonable access to a training prop that meets the standard can request that the academy schedule a session with its mobile live-burn simulator.
- General fire company training or non-entry level training programs do not constitute acceptable junior firefighter Entry Level Interior Firefighting live-fire components.
Junior firefighters who are 17-years-old shall be permitted to complete all lessons of the entry level training program if they meet the above requirements.
Junior firefighters who are 17-years-old and have completed all prerequisite cours work will be permitted to sit for their Firefighter 1 (Pro-Board/IFSAC) examination.
