The most obvious of fire science jobs is firefighter. Many kids grow up dreaming about fighting fires professionally. They wait until they can enter training. Many who enter fire science degree programs are already active fire fighters. However, it is also a good way to prepare for a fire fighting job before you get one. Many fire departments want to hire those who take the profession very seriously. Getting someone who already has a degree is a bonus in many departments. Many still have to go through physical training, but their degree will help them fit into the department faster.
Another job is arson investigator. An arson investigator has the responsibility of looking at a fire scene and determining if the cause was accidental or deliberate. If someone deliberately set the fire, then the investigator must determine how he or she set the fire. All of this involves first learning the skills of a fire fighter. Then it means learning about how fire behaves under specific circumstances. Taking samples of certain areas will help determine if the arsonist used an accelerant or not. This is one of the more popular fire science jobs.
A third potential job is fire safety directors. Fire safety directors are private individuals employed in large structures and organizations. Their job is to plan and implement fire prevention and safety measures. They create emergency safety plans and train building occupants on how to conduct fire drills and evacuations. They act as a liaison with the fire department regarding fires or potential problems. They train others in the building to help with monitoring evacuations. They maintain records around this role and perform various inspections. It is one of the common fire science jobs for those not employed by the fire department directly.
A fourth job is fire public education specialist. The best way to fight fires is to prevent them in the first place. That is what a fire public education specialist does. Their job is to educate children and adults on fire prevention and safety. Sometimes large school districts have these people on staff. Sometimes, they are members of the fire department that do this job on the side. In either case, they take certain props and learning tools into a classroom. They help children learn how to avoid starting fires. They also help adults learn how to teach their own children. Of all fire science jobs, this is one where working with the public is quite common.
A fifth job you can get is as a fire protection engineer. This sort of engineer works on designing and building fire prevention and suppression systems. Large buildings, especially, need these sorts of systems. Commercial and industrial buildings must often have these systems installed as part of construction or retrofit. Many homeowners are choosing to place these sorts of systems in their homes also. The engineer can work on designing customer systems for an individual building. The engineer can also work on designing general systems for installation in a number of buildings.