California fire jobs, what is open now
Open recruitments are at the top, sorted by the soonest deadline, so you do not miss a window. Below them is every department we track and how each one typically hires. Always confirm a posting on the department's own page before you rely on it. Postings and dates change.
Open recruitments
Open now
Live California fire-service openings we could confirm from the NEOGOV/GovernmentJobs job feeds that most cities and counties use. Results include recruit, firefighter-paramedic, lateral, cadet, seasonal, volunteer, and promotional roles. Soonest deadline first. This is a sample of the agencies that post there, not every open role in the state. Departments that hire through other systems still appear in the directory below.
Sample listings shown; verify each one against the department's official page before relying on it. Postings and dates change without notice.
Where openings are posted
The official sources
Our board is a convenience layer over these. When in doubt, these are the systems of record.
FCTC Now Hiring
The list 170+ California departments hire from, plus who is recruiting now.
Visit → ApplicationsGovernmentJobs
Where most California cities and counties post openings and take applications.
Visit → State agencyJoin CAL FIRE
The state's wildland and contract-county firefighting recruitment.
Visit →The full directory
Regular cadence: every department we track
Departments without a confirmed opening above still hire on a regular cadence. Here is who requires an EMT certificate to apply, who hires from the FCTC list, and where to apply. Filter by region or search by name.
371 California fire departments that employ career firefighters. Roster from the State Fire Marshal's FDID list (May 2026), FCTC affiliation from FCTC's own participating-departments list, staffing from the federal fire department registry. Requirements come only from a recruitment bulletin dated 2023 or later, or a currently published class specification, and each carries a source link. "Not confirmed" means the department does not state it publicly, which is not the same as no. Recruitments change; check the current bulletin before relying on any field.
Plan the steps around your applications
The EMT-to-Badge Roadmap puts testing, applications, the oral board, and background in order, with typical costs and timing.
Get the hiring roadmap