Is 48 ys old to old to be a firefighter?

Answer 1

Some of the answer will depend upon what sort of firefighter you mean.

As a retired career (full-time) firefighter, I'll give answering a try.

As far as age, my department had a minimum age of 18. But you would need to be in exceptional physical condition to compete with fire academy trainees half your age. That is a huge hurdle to overcome. You also need to exhibit a high level of intelligence to compete.

A volunteer firefighter is different. I've also been a volunteer firefighter, and while you still need to be in shape, the age of 48 is quite common for them. A lot less is required, simply due to it being either a low-or-no-pay position, with relatively few fire calls. Good luck.

Speaking as a volunteer (on-call) firefighter, I would have to agree with the above: it was somewhat difficult to obtain certification at the age of 50 at the state fire academy, but they wouldn't let me work structure fires without being certified in this state, even though I started in firefighting 35 years ago.

I know smokejumpers who "retired" before they were 40, but there are a few who continue well into their 50s.