Dallas Fire-Rescue
Serving and protecting the citizens of Dallas since 1872
- Location
- Dallas, Texas
- County
- Dallas County
- Established
- 1872
FROT is the no-cert academy path. Confirm the next civil service exam on the recruiting home page before you apply.
Hiring status checked Aug 12, 2026. Deadlines change without notice; confirm on the official page.
Record figures
- 1,980
- Sworn personnel
- 59
- Stations
About the department
No document cited for this section.
Dallas Fire-Rescue protects Dallas from 59 stations. The entry path most candidates use is Fire Rescue Officer Trainee (FROT): a paid academy assignment of up to 18 months that teaches basic fire suppression and Emergency Medical Technician skills. The city's recruiting qualifications page does not require TCFP or EMT certification to start as a trainee. A separate Single Function Paramedic track does require Texas and National Registry paramedic credentials.
Pay
Source: Pay plan, checked Aug 19, 2026.
- Overtime
- Shift work; the recruiting benefits page says officers work about 10 days per month
- Incentive pay
- TCFP Intermediate: +$600/yr
- TCFP Advanced: +$4,800/yr
- TCFP Master: +$7,200/yr
- EMS Pay: +$2,400-$3,000/yr
- Health Benefit Supplement: $4/mo per year of service (max 25 years)
2026 Uniformed Fire Rescue Salary Schedule / effective January 1, 2026
Salary steps
Source: City of Dallas, 2026 Uniformed Fire Rescue Salary Schedule, checked Aug 19, 2026.
- Fire-Rescue Officer
Market-survey start (1 F Start)
$78,924.00
Year 0-1 (1 FF Start)
$81,232.00
Year 9 (1 FF-9)
$102,304.00
- Adopted 2026 schedule start is $78,924 (market-survey line) / $81,232 (year 0-1).
- Live NEOGOV T44100-FY26 and DFR benefits on 2026-08-19 still print $75,397 (https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/dallas/jobs/newprint/5171151, https://dallascityhall.com/departments/fire-rescue/Pages/recruiting-benefits.aspx). Record both. They are not averaged.
- Cite the adopted schedule for startingPay.
Benefits
No document cited for this section.
- Health Insurance
- Life, health, dental, and vision insurance with comprehensive coverage
- DPFP Pension
- Dallas Police & Fire Pension Fund (est. 1916): two defined benefit plans (Regular and Supplemental), plus optional 401(k) and 457(b) through Fidelity
- Paid Time Off
- 24 hours on, 48 hours off shift rotation with holiday and vacation accrual
- Education paths into FROT
- 45 college hours with a 2.0 GPA, or a passing TSIA (MATH 950 and ELAR 945 with essay 5-8) in the last 12 months, or 48 months of honorable active U.S. military service
What a candidate must hold or clear
Eligibility
No document cited for this section.
- Age
- At least 18 and not yet 36 on the date the civil service written exam is given
- Education or service
- 45 semester hours (no developmental courses) with a 2.0 GPA from a regionally accredited school, or the TSIA scores listed on the recruiting page, or 48 months honorable active military service (DD-214 member page 4)
- Certifications at hire
- None required for Fire Rescue Officer Trainee. The academy includes EMT training and basic fire suppression. Paramedic is a different job (Single Function Paramedic and laterals).
- Work authorization
- Must be legally authorized to work in the United States (page updated 1/9/23)
- Background
- No felony conviction, guilty plea, nolo contendere, probation, or deferred adjudication. Class A misdemeanor in 5 years and Class B in 2 years are listed as disqualifiers.
- Driving
- Not three or more moving violations in the 24 months before application. Deferred adjudication and defensive driving do not count. Camera red-light tickets do not count.
Training and education
No document cited for this section.
- Fire Rescue Officer Trainee academy
Up to 18 months
- Limited assignment while the employee is in basic training. Includes EMT training (required for TCFP certification) and basic fire suppression. Employment in the trainee program should not exceed 18 months.
- Paid academy
During trainee assignment
- The recruiting benefits page lists a paid academy plus life, health, dental, and vision insurance and the Dallas Police and Fire Pension Fund.
11 recorded
Assignments and specialties
No document cited for this section.
Operations
- Structural Firefighting
- Advanced Life Support
- Wildland Firefighting
Technical rescue
- Technical Rescue
- Dive/Water Rescue
- Urban Search & Rescue (TX-TF2)
Prevention and investigation
- Hazardous Materials
- Fire Investigations
- Fire Inspections
Support and community
- Community Risk Reduction
- Public Education
Living in Dallas
No document cited for this section.
- 1,600,000
- Population
- $375,000
- Median home price
- 100
- Cost-of-living index
- Ninth-largest city in the United States with explosive growth projected to continue
- Home to the fourth-largest urban forest in the USA
- Major financial, technology, and telecommunications hub
- World-class arts district including the Dallas Museum of Art and Nasher Sculpture Center
- DFW International Airport provides global connectivity
- Pro sports: Cowboys (NFL), Mavericks (NBA), Stars (NHL), Rangers (MLB), FC Dallas (MLS)
Accreditation
No document cited for this section.
- Held
- ISO Class 1 Public Protection Rating
Contacting the department
No document cited for this section.
Applications, testing dates and eligibility decisions are handled by the department. Ready to Serve does not take applications, forward candidates, or speak for any agency.
- Official site
- https://dallascityhall.com/departments/fire-rescue/Pages/recruiting-qualifications.aspx
- Phone
- 214-670-4321
About this record
- Compiled by
- Ready to Serve is a free public resource for first-responder candidates. It is not a government agency, not affiliated with any department listed here, and not a recruiter for any department. Figures come from each department's own published documents, cited with the date they were read.
- Affiliation
- Ready to Serve is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or authorised to speak for this department, its city, or any of its officials. Department names, insignia and marks belong to their owners and appear here only to identify the agency being described.
- How to read a stamp
- Published by the department means the agency supplied the section or authorised its publication.Read by Ready to Serve means a named public document is cited under the heading, with the date it was read.A section without a stamp was assembled by Ready to Serve without a document to cite. Confirm details with the department before you rely on them.
- Sources checked
- 1 cited document on this record. Most recent check Aug 19, 2026.
- Corrections
- Anything on this page can be corrected, removed, or claimed by the department at no charge.Write to us about this record