Job Information

CHARLESTON FIRE DEPARTMENT
520 JACKSON AVENUE
CHARLESTON, ILLINOIS 61920
217-345-5650
https://www.charlestonillinois.org/

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Updated: August 28, 2020

City of Charleston Fire Department
1510 A Street
Charleston, Illinois 61920

www.charlestonillinois.org/firedept

The Charleston Fire Department currently has open testing for Firefighter/Paramedic positions. This position requires the FireTEAM exam and the Candidate Physical Ability Test with ladder certification (CPAT with ladder) must be valid at the time of offer of conditional employment.

The open testing will end on August 5,2020.

Job Classification: Firefighter-Paramedic

Salary Information: Starting pay: 0-6 months $45,720; 6 months – 1 year $50,868.

Additional compensation includes longevity pay and specialty pay for Paramedic and Pre-Hospital RN.

Benefits information:

Medical, Dental, Vision & Life Insurance plans provided at the lowest cost possible for employees.
Pension Plan.
Paid vacation, sick, holiday, personal and Kelly days.
Uniforms and equipment provided, plus an additional annual uniform allowance.
Work schedule runs one day (24-hours) on/two days (48-hours) off rotating with a “Kelly day” off duty every eighteenth (18th) duty day to produce average workweek of 52.88 hours per week.
Advanced training.
Tuition reimbursement.

Additional Benefits:
Section 125 Cafeteria Plan for unreimbursed medical and/or dependent care expenses; Deferred Compensation Plans and Employee Assistance Programs.

Department Overview: Charleston Fire Department is a progressive career department providing Fire, ALS Ambulance, Rescue, Haz-Mat, and Technical Rescue services (TRT). We have 24-Firefighters-Paramedics, 6- Lieutenants, 3-Captain-Paramedics, a Chief and Assistant Chief. We provide ALS ambulance and rescue to Charleston, EIU, and the Eastern half of Coles County. We have Mutual Aid Response with ten area fire departments and five area ambulance services. In 2019 Charleston Fire responded to 5,433 fire calls, and Emergency Medical calls. We are active in pre-fire planning, and we perform annual occupancy inspections of all places of assembly within the City of Charleston.

Charleston is a regional training ground for several area departments. We offer several classes throughout the year from fire, rescue, command, technical rescue, Haz-Mat, and some classes with police and the crisis response team. Charleston is a host department for one of the State Hazardous Material and Technical Rescue teams. The Haz-Mat team involves fifty members from area agencies as does the Technical Rescue team with a roster of forty Rescue Technicians. We cover 14 counties in the Department of Homeland Security Region 17. This is the largest region in Illinois, covering 6800 square miles, with a population of 300,000. With some of the southern state teams not up and running, we cover even a larger area of central and southern Illinois. We have had Haz-Mat responses that involved an hour of road time.

Charleston is a member of the Illinois Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS). We are in Division 26 of Illinois MABAS. With MABAS, Charleston Fire responded with an Engine Company to New Orleans with the first deployment and four personnel with the second deployment. Both teams spent two weeks in New Orleans helping with the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina. We have members on the State Incident Management Team that responded to Hurricane Gustav in 2008 and the Mississippi Floods in 2009 and again in 2011. You can see we are a small department but, a very active group providing several disciplines and services, locally and at the State level.

Charleston protects several facilities within the city and county. In Charleston, we protect Eastern Illinois University and its power plant. We protect over thirty residential care homes in the City. We are also the designated confined space response team for numerous business and manufacturing facilities, in Charleston and a six-county area as first due.

Department Overview: The City of Charleston is downstate Illinois’ biggest secret. It offers world-class arts and culture through top-rated Eastern Illinois University. Superior schools, parks, and recreation in a friendly historic setting, as well as a vibrant downtown and pulsating main street, are available. Charleston gives you the best of rural living in a friendly, tight-knit community.

Contact Information:
Debbie Burkhart
Deputy City Clerk
217-345-8454
dburkhart@co.coles.il.us

Population: 21,838

Job Requirements

Age: At least 21 years of age but not exceeding 34 years of age by June 15, 2019, unless exempted by Illinois statute.

US Citizen: Yes

High School Grad/GED: Yes

Valid ILLINOIS State Driver's License: Yes

Ability to Read/Speak English: Yes

Vision: 20/20 vision, either corrected or uncorrected; close vision; peripheral vision; depth perception and the ability to adjust focus. Disqualifier: Color blindness.

College: EMT certification

Academy Certification: Candidates must be certified as an EMT-B or EMT-I at time of testing. Candidates must be certified as an EMT-P or Pre-Hospital RN prior hire.

Necessary Certifications : Candidates will need to provide a copy of their EMT certification. Proof of the Candidate Physical Ability Test (CPAT) and proof of passing the Ladder Climb Test with licensed agency issued within 12 months of testing. CPAT and Ladder Climb certification must also be valid at the time of offer of conditional employment.

Additional Requirements: Candidates must participate in an oral interview to be conducted by the City of Charleston on September 12, 2020. Candidates will be notified of the time of their oral interview after successful completion of the written examination. Group interview techniques will be utilized. The score for the oral examination is based on a maximum 100 percent. An overall passing score of 70% is required. Failure to attend/pass the oral examination will result in termination of applicant’s candidacy. Residency within a twenty (20) mile radius of Charleston City Hall, 520 Jackson Avenue, by the end of the officer’s probationary period.

Hiring Process :

A written test score of (70%) along with your oral interview score (30%) will determine your rank on the Initial Eligibility List.
Candidates will be ranked in descending order. All candidates on the Initial Eligibility List will receive written notification of their standing.
Candidates will have a ten-day window to provide the Board of Fire and Police Commission with written evidence concerning preference points for veteran status and/or education status.
A candidate may not receive educational preference points under this subsection if the amount of points awarded would place the candidate before a veteran on the eligibility list.
The Board of Fire and Police Commissioners will analyze written documentation received.
Candidates meeting required preference criteria will have said preference points added to their score on the Initial Eligibility List.
Candidate’s scores will be ranked in descending order and the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners will publish the Final Eligibility List.
The board shall strike off the names of candidates for original appointment after such names have been on the list for more than 2 years.
When a vacancy occurs following the posting of the Final Eligibility List, an oral examination will be administered to any candidate ranked in the top 5%. During the oral examination Board members will evaluate applicant’s personal skills and qualities, and assess applicant’s ability to succeed as a firefighter-paramedic and as an official representative of the Fire Department in the community at large.
The score for the oral examination is pass/fail. A candidate who fails the oral examination will be removed from the Final Eligibility List.
Each applicant for original appointment to the fire department of the City of Charleston, Illinois, shall submit to fingerprinting to facilitate the mandatory background investigation before employment.
This investigation pertains to past employment, personal references, reputation, driving record, education, training, and criminal history.
Results from the background investigation are reviewed by the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners to determine if the candidate should be rejected for cause or allowed to proceed.
If the results are satisfactory, the Board approves the candidate's appointment, pending the successful completion of a personality assessment and medical examination.

Each applicant for original appointment to the fire department of the City of Charleston, Illinois shall:
Submit to a psychological examination by such psychologist or psychiatrist as the Board may in writing designate.
Such examination shall be without expense to the applicant.
Failure of the applicant to take or successfully complete such test shall eliminate him from further consideration; and
Submit to a medical examination performed by a licensed physician designated by the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners at no cost to the applicant.
The examination will include drug screening.
Any candidate failing the medical examination will be removed from the Final Eligibility List; and Submit to a Polygraph Device Deceptive Test, commonly known as a lie detector test, if required, at such time and place as the Board may in writing designate.

Such test shall be given without expense to the applicant.
Failure of the applicant to take or successfully complete such test shall disqualify him to enter upon the duties of the office for which the application for examination was filed.
Following the background investigation or the personality assessment, the Board may, at its discretion, recall the candidate for further interview if it deems additional information is required.

Disqualifiers:

No person shall be appointed to the fire department unless he or she is a person of good character and not an habitual drunkard, gambler, or a person who has been convicted of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude.
No person with a record of disqualifying misdemeanor convictions shall be appointed to the police department.

Preference Points: Veteran’s and educational preference.

Preference points shall be given after the posting of the initial eligibility list.
Candidates shall make a claim in writing ten (10) days after the posting of the initial eligibility list or the claim shall be deemed waived.
Upon request from the candidate and after the Charleston Fire & Police Commissioners verifies said request, preference points will be awarded in compliance with 65 ILCS 5/10-2.1-6.3(h).
A candidate may not receive educational preference points under this subsection if the amount of points awarded would place the candidate before a veteran on the eligibility list. (65 ILCS 5/10-2.1-9)

Equal Opportunity Employer
The City of Charleston will not discriminate in its hiring practices on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, political affiliation, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, or other non-job-related factors, except where such factors constitute a bonafide occupational qualification. Charleston is an equal opportunity employer hiring those persons whose qualifications best correspond to those of the position being filled. Equal employment opportunity will be practiced in related activities pertaining to applicants and employees who will be judged on their individual merit and relevant qualifications in a fair and equitable manner.

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