Fire Department · Career
Binghamton Fire Bureau
Binghamton, NY · Broome County
10,155 calls for service in 2020; the department's EMS division alone handled roughly 8,200 EMS calls and about 3,000 patient transports in 2019.
No active openings right now
Watch this department to be notified when Binghamton Fire Bureau is hiring, or check their careers page.
Department careers page ↗The Binghamton Fire Bureau operates out of five stations staffed around the clock with two Engine Companies, a Tower Ladder, and two Quints. A Special Operations Division built around the Heavy Rescue Squad and a HazMat team (staffed from Quint 3) handles high- and low-angle rope rescue, confined-space and building-collapse rescue, vehicle extrication, and river/swift-water/ice rescue, and the HazMat team trains and responds jointly with Broome County's HazMat unit and the New York State Foam Response Task Force. The department is organized under a Fire Chief, one Deputy Chief, and three Assistant Chiefs who serve as duty/shift commanders over four rotating Groups working 24-hours-on, 72-hours-off shifts.
The department traces its roots to an 1834 state legislative act authorizing the Village of Binghamton's trustees to organize fire and hook-and-ladder companies; it became the Fire Department of the City of Binghamton in 1869 as the village incorporated as a city, and went fully paid on October 1, 1911 with 91 officers and firefighters (adding 30 more in 1920). Motorized apparatus arrived in 1910 and the last fire horses retired in 1922 -- a 1929 Larabee pumper originally run by the department's Squad Company 1 was donated back to the BFD by its owning family in 2011 and is preserved as a piece of that history.
Beyond suppression, the BFD runs its own EMS Division -- providing both BLS first response from all five stations and ALS/paramedic-level ambulance transport out of Fire Headquarters -- and a Fire Prevention Division (a Fire Marshal, a Captain, and two Lieutenant investigators) that handles cause-and-origin investigation, code enforcement, commercial inspections, and public fire-safety education. New firefighters and probies from BFD and neighboring departments train together at the department's James M. Sullivan (JMS) Training Center, which also houses the department's fleet maintenance operation.
MissionWe will provide the City of Binghamton and its citizens with Firefighter/EMT's and Firefighter/Paramedics trained to the highest and most progressive level of skill, to protect and serve our community with the utmost professionalism.
Firefighter hiring in Binghamton runs through the City's civil service system rather than through the fire department directly: candidates apply for and sit a competitive civil service exam administered by the City of Binghamton Department of Personnel / Civil Service, and hires are made from the resulting eligible list as vacancies open.
Requirements
- Broome County residency required at time of appointment
- Legal resident of Broome County for at least one month immediately preceding the civil service examination date
- Pass a pre-employment drug test as a condition of hire
- Once hired, required to become a New York State EMT-Paramedic within a set timeframe
Hiring process
- File a civil service exam application with the City of Binghamton Department of Personnel / Civil Service (4th floor, City Hall) during the announced filing period
- Sit the competitive written civil service examination (make-up/accommodation available for religious observance, disability, or military service conflicts)
- Be placed on the civil service eligible list and considered for appointment as vacancies arise
- Pass a pre-employment drug test
- Complete department training, including required NYS EMT-Paramedic certification within a set timeframe after hire
New firefighters train alongside probies from surrounding departments at the Binghamton Fire Bureau's James M. Sullivan (JMS) Training Center.
Is open burning allowed within Binghamton city limits?
Open burning within the City of Binghamton is only permitted under certain specific circumstances under City Ordinance §235-12; call the Fire Marshal's Office at (607) 772-7123 with questions.
Are smoke alarms required in my home?
Yes -- New York State Code requires smoke alarms be present and in working order in all residential properties, and the property owner is responsible for supplying, installing, and maintaining them.
Who do I contact with fire department ambulance billing questions?
Ambulance billing questions go to the department's billing agency, Intermedix Billing Company, at (888) 244-3705 (for service on or after June 1, 2025) or (888) 980-9318 (for service before that date).
Where do I get an application to work for the fire department or take a civil service exam?
Applications are available on the City's Employment page or from the Civil Service Office, 4th floor, City Hall, 38 Hawley Street, Binghamton, NY 13901 (open Monday-Friday, 9:00am-4:45pm).