Also called: District Chief
Commands several fire stations during a shift and runs major emergency scenes.
Battalion chiefs drive a command vehicle to big fires, set up incident command, and decide where each engine and ladder truck goes. Between calls they handle staffing, training, and paperwork for multiple stations.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 15 years after high school. Promotion through ranks; bachelor's in fire science often required.
Ways in: On-the-job training, 4-year college. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Fire Science, Emergency Management.
Growing about average (about 3% over 10 years). Approximate.
Low risk for 10 years. Drone video and dashboards inform incident command; deciding where crews go stays human.
Classes: Physics, Leadership class, Health / first aid, Psychology.
Official data: O*NET occupation 33-1021.
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.