Also called: Fire Testing Engineer, Fire Lab Engineer
Sets things on fire on purpose, from sofas to battery packs to whole rooms, to prove products and buildings meet fire codes.
Under a giant smoke hood, you set up a living room with a couch and curtains, wire it with heat sensors and cameras, and light a match. Ninety seconds later the room flashes over. You study the data to see how fast fire spread and whether a new fire-resistant fabric made a difference.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in fire protection, mechanical or chemical engineering.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Fire Protection Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering.
Growing faster than average. EV batteries, solar panels and new building materials all need fire testing.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. Fire modeling software improves, but running real burns and certifying results stays human.
Classes: Physics, AP Chemistry, AP Calculus, Engineering CTE.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.