Thank you for your interest in the Texarkana, Texas, Fire Department. This department is a modern, full career fire agency. We offer an excellent employment opportunity for beginning firefighter positions, with competitive pay, benefits, and retirement. The information that follows is important to understanding your eligibility for this position and the hiring process. Please read it carefully. If you are interested in competing for a position in this department, please complete the Entrance Examination Application and include all applicable documentation.

Position Information

This position involves serving the citizens of Texarkana through providing response to incidents involving firefighting, rescue, hazardous materials, emergency medical, and other emergency response services. Also included in the position responsibilities are participating in fire prevention activities; training; equipment and station maintenance; and public education. The Texarkana Fire Department does not operate a transport Emergency Medical Service.

Salary

STARTING ANNUAL SALARY IS $44,024.64

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Technical Competence: Demonstrates a mastery of skills from current position; these skills include but not limited to EMS; Firefighting and Rescue situations; able to accept tasks and assignments in both emergency and non-emergency situations by your supervisor and have the skills necessary to complete those tasks; continuous self-development in order to maintain skills.; always show positive effort and expertise during training exercises and assist with the development of others; qualified work in position above current job 1 year from date of employment.

Initiative: Takes initiative and ownership of assigned projects; seeks opportunities to improve the service delivery system by proposing new programs and revising existing programs.

Maintenance: Maintains station, grounds, equipment, and apparatuses in a state of readiness; keeps station, equipment, and apparatus presentable at all times; takes initiative to repair discrepancies based on qualifications; promptly reports discrepancies according to established guidelines; teaches others proper preventative maintenance for station, equipment, and apparatuses.

Team-Work: Takes responsibility for own performance - both successes and failures; follows departmental/city policies/procedures; avoids participation in the perpetuation or rumors and speculation; does not share confidential information with peers or the public; consistently projects a positive attitude and professional image through appearance and actions (does not make negative statements about other departments or disparaging remarks about others).

Organizational Consistency: Provides service delivery consistent with City and Department policies, procedures, practices, and expectations; promotes organizational consistency by effectively communicating with internal and external customers; models behavior that promotes organizational consistency; seeks to verify service delivery efforts are consistent with other shifts.

Emergency Response: Performs firefighting activities including laying and connecting of hose lines; holding nozzles and directing fire streams; raising and climbing of ladders; performing forcible entry, salvage, and overhaul; ventilating heat and smoke; extricates victims from burning buildings.

Responds to emergencies, including fires, rescues, hazardous material spills and leaks, accidents, medical problems, and other emergencies.

Performs rescue activities including operating extrication tools, raising and climbing ladders, and performing firefighting activities related to rescue.

Performs hazardous material response activities, including isolating spill site, evacuating potential victims, recognizing and identifying materials involved, extricating victims, decontaminating victims and responders, and confining or containing chemicals involved.

Performs emergency medical activities including treating patients with injuries or medical conditions, stabilizing the spine, establishing an airway, assisting with ventilation, performing CPR, extricating patients from dangerous sites, and carrying patients from site of injury or illness to ambulance.

Physical Fitness: Achieve and maintain an acceptable physical fitness level.

Fire Prevention: Performs fire prevention activities, including educating the public through fire prevention classes and demonstrations, inspecting buildings for fire code compliance and the correction of hazards, and assisting in the investigation of fires to help determine cause and origin.

Participates in fire drills, attends classes in firefighting, emergency medical, hazardous materials, and related subjects.

PERIPHERAL DUTIES

Dons protective clothing and self-contained breathing apparatus.

Performs other job functions as assigned by the appropriate supervisor.

Eligibility Requirements
The eligibility requirements to be a City of Texarkana, Texas Firefighter are established by the City of Texarkana, Texas Civil Service Commission and the Texas Local Government Code, Chapter 143. Applicants must meet the following criteria:

1. Be at least 18 to 35 years of age at the time of testing.Must have reached 18 years of age as of the date of the exam, and not have reached 36 years of age as of the date of appointment.
2. Be able to prove legal eligibility to work within the United States and work in this position within the State of Texas.
3. Be able to read, write, and speak the English language.
4. All applicants for beginning firefighter positions in the City of Texarkana, Texas Fire Department shall possess a high school diploma or a high school equivalency certificate (GED) by the date of the exam to be eligible to take the entrance exam.
5. Must possess a valid driver's license.

No certifications are required to take the entrance exam. However, City of Texarkana Local Civil Service Rules allow preference in hiring to be given to individuals who possess Texas Commission on Fire Protection certification as a structural firefighter, Texas Department of State Health Services certification as an Emergency Medical Technician, and prior full-time, career fire service experience. Your chances for employment will be greatly enhanced if you possess both firefighter and EMT certifications.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS & WORK ENVIRONMENT
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. 

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to use hands to finger, handle, feel, or operate objects, tools, or controls; and reach with hands and arms. The employee is occasionally required to climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.

The employee is occasionally required to frequently lift and/or move up to one hundred (100) pounds. The employee is occasionally required to walk, sit, talk, or hear. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee frequently works in outside weather conditions. The employee occasionally works near moving mechanical parts; and is occasionally exposed to wet and/or humid conditions, fumes, or airborne particles, toxic or caustic chemicals, extreme cold, extreme heat, and vibration. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet at the station and loud at an emergency scene.
TO APPLY:

Complete an online Entrance Examination Application at the City of Texarkana, Texas Website at www.ci.texarkana.tx.us. ONLY ONLINE ENTRANCE EXAMINATION APPLICATIONS WILL BE CONSIDERED. If you are having trouble with the NEOGOV Applicant tracking site, please call the NEOGOV technical support number at 1-855-524-5627.
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Texarkana, Texas will make every reasonable effort to accommodate your needs. For any special requests, please call Human Resources at 903-798-3533.

The City of Texarkana, Texas is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of genetic information in compliance with GINA, race, sex, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, age, or disability in hiring, conditions, or termination of employment. Final applicants for employment with the City of Texarkana are subject to drug testing and background screening.

City of Texarkana, Texas

220 Texas Blvd, Room 104

Texarkana, Texas 75501

Phone 903-798-3533

Examination Information:

You will be notified by E-Mail within 7-14 business days that you have completed the Entrance Examination Application and are eligible to take the exam. 
The examination is a comprehensive exam in a multiple choice format with no required prior knowledge of firefighting.
Only those applicants who earn a score of seventy percent (70%) or higher on the test will receive further consideration. Those applicants having served in the United States Military and receiving an honorable discharge are eligible for five (5) additional points upon scoring at least seventy percent (70%) on the exam. In order to receive these Veteran's points, applicants must submit a copy of their DD-214 when completing the online Entrance Examination Application or submit their DD-214 prior to the beginning of the exam starting in order to be eligible to receive the additional points. All DD-214 Forms will become the property of the City of Texarkana, Texas and will not be returned to the applicants. In accordance with Section 143.025 (j) Texas Local Government Code, natural born or adopted children of firefighters who suffered a line of duty death while employed by a Chapter 143 city are automatically placed at the top of the eligibility list upon passing the exam with a minimum score of 70%. Anyone meeting these criteria will be required to produce satisfactory evidence of this qualification prior to the date of the exam. Contact the Civil Service Director for additional information. All applicants are required to provide positive identification before being admitted to the written examination. Please bring a valid driver's license or another form of valid identification.
The eligibility list shall be in effect for 6 months from the date of the examination, unless exhausted earlier.

Screening Information:

Upon passing the civil service exam, all applicants must complete a physical ability test.

A formal interview before a review board of fire department officers and a thorough background investigation, including polygraph examination, will be conducted. Examples of disqualifying background information include, but are not limited to, felony conviction, poor credit history, poor employment record, substance abuse, driving under the influence, and excessive traffic violations. Specific requirements on background are found in a subsequent section of this application.

Eligible candidates must pass a basic physical examination, including hearing and vision screenings, and urine drug screen. Applicants must be in good physical condition, free from disease or defects that would interfere with the satisfactory performance of the duties of the position.

The Texas Commission on Fire Protection (TCFP) is the regulating agency for all career fire departments in the state of Texas. TCFP regulations state, in Section 403.1 (b)

"The duties and responsibilities of persons who hold certifications issued by the commission each involve matters that directly relate to public safety. Fire protection personnel often have access to areas not generally open to the public. The public relies on the honesty, trustworthiness, and reliability of persons certified by the commission. Thus, crimes involving moral turpitude, including but not limited to fraud and dishonesty, are directly relevant. In addition, the ability of such persons to function unimpaired by alcohol or the illegal use of drugs, in dangerous or potentially dangerous circumstances, including but not limited to the operation of emergency vehicles is paramount in light of the duty to protect the health and safety of the public."

Based on this regulation and the obligation of this department to provide for the safety of the public and to maintain the trust of our citizens, we have established these guidelines for background investigations. It is our belief that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.
Please note that all standards listed are minimum standards. This department intends to hire the best possible employees, so meeting minimum standards does not insure employment.
Firefighter Entrance Examination Application Instructions

READ INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING
These instructions are provided as a guide to assist you in properly completing the Entrance Examination Application. It is essential to answer all questions truthfully, completely and accurately. Skipping a question and/or not digitally signing will result in disqualification.

1. The application is used to determine eligibility to sit for the examination based on the minimum hiring requirements and disqualifiers as outlined in Chapter 143 of the Texas Local Government Code, accompanied by the City of Texarkana, Texas Fire Fighters' Civil Service Commission Rules and Regulations.
2. Questions regarding the application can be directed to James W. Bramlett II-City of Texarkana, Texas Administrative Services Director/Civil Service Director; Email: james.bramlett@txkusa.org
3. If you do not meet the requirements or if the disqualifiers apply to you, do not submit the application as you are not eligible to sit for the exam.
4. If your "Yes" or "No" answer needs more clarification, provide more details on the "Comments" section of the application by identifying what number question of the application needs more details. Not providing an explanation may result in you being disqualified from the process.
5. Answer all questions truthfully, completely, and accurately. Every question requires a "Yes" or "No" response to the question. If one of the questions is not applicable to you, enter "N/A" in the space provided. If a question is skipped or if the application is not digitally signed by the applicant, it will result in disqualification.
6. Every question may be verified at a later date during the background investigation with the use of a polygraph investigation. Deliberately omitting or misrepresenting facts or deceptive responses will result in permanent disqualification from the application process.
7. Applicants will be notified within 7-14 business days via email whether or not they are eligible to sit for the exam. As unknown e-mail often reverts to the spam folder, it is the responsibility of the applicant to check both their inbox and spam folder.
8. Only the original submitted application will be accepted. We will not accept any revised and/or corrected applications.