How To Become A Fire Watchman: What It Is and Career Path

What is a fire watchman and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a fire watchman. For example, did you know that they make an average of $22.52 an hour? That's $46,843 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 38,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreFire WatchmanUS Average

Salary

3.7

Avg. Salary $46,843

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.6

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.25%

Asian 6.07%

Black or African American 16.97%

Hispanic or Latino 13.39%

Unknown 4.85%

White 57.46%

Gender

female 22.22%

male 77.78%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

8.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.9

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

9.4

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a fire watchman

Explore fire watchman education requirements

Most common fire watchman degrees

High School Diploma

51.1 %

Diploma

17.8 %

Associate

13.3 %

Start to develop specific fire watchman skills

Skills	Percentages
Safety Standards	83.33%
Construction Sites	9.42%
Fire Hazards	7.25%

Complete relevant fire watchman training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New fire watchmen learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a fire watchman based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real fire watchman resumes.

Research fire watchman duties and responsibilities

Direct maintenance and repair of firefighting equipment, or requisition new equipment.
Fire watch personnel maintain surveillance of areas where hot work--welding or cutting with torches--has occur.
Update critical standardization documents that establish the unit's procedures for conducting team certifications and operations in combat environments.
Coordinate and synchronize intelligence gathering assets with artillery, mortar, and aviation systems in support of complex tactical operations.

Prepare your fire watchman resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your fire watchman resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a fire watchman resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable fire watchman resume templates

Build a professional fire watchman resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your fire watchman resume.