Firefighter I · NFPA 1010 chapter 6 · state rules read November 13, 2026
Firefighter I certification: one standard, state rules
No national board gives the Firefighter I exam. You test with the state's fire training office, or with an academy it has accredited, against the job performance requirements (JPRs) of NFPA 1010 (2024), chapter 6: a written exam (multiple choice), then a skills exam on the state's own sheets. Question count, pass mark, retakes and prerequisites belong to the state, so they are compared state against state below.
Firefighter I at a glance, row by row with sources
Common ground across the states we read on November 13, 2026. Where a row says "State rule", the state table below has the figure.
Fact
Value
Source · checked
Who certifies
Your state fire training agency, or an academy the state accredits; IFSAC and the Pro Board accredit those agencies, not individual candidatesThe certificate or seal comes from the accredited agency, so there is no national Firefighter I exam.
NFPA 1010 (2024 edition), chapter 6 — Firefighter INFPA 1010 replaced NFPA 1001 (2019), where Firefighter I was chapter 4. The job performance requirements were renumbered 4.x → 6.x and the requirement to take a non-emergency telephone call (1001 4.2.2) was dropped.
About 100 multiple-choice questions in the states we checked (Texas, California, Pennsylvania)Texas adds up to 10 unscored pilot questions to its Firefighter I section; Pennsylvania draws its 100 at random.
70% in every state we checked (Texas, California, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina)Texas requires 70% on each section of a combined exam; North Carolina on each unit exam.
A separate practical exam scored on the state’s skill sheets; some skills are required, some are drawn at randomTexas draws 4 skills at random, one per subject category; California tests 7 required and 3 random skills; Pennsylvania tests every station.
Hazardous materials operations (NFPA 470, chapter 7, plus sections 9.2 and 9.6) is part of Firefighter I qualification under NFPA 1010; states test it as its own section, a module or a prerequisiteTexas: separate Hazmat Awareness and Operations sections; California: module 1B; Pennsylvania: certification or training within one year before applying.
IFSTA Essentials of Fire Fighting (8th edition, 2024) or Jones & Bartlett Fundamentals of Firefighter Skills and Hazardous Materials Response (5th edition, 2025)Banks written for NFPA 1001 used Essentials 7th or J&B 4th. California’s evaluator picks a bank from one publisher only; Pennsylvania lists the J&B text.
294 recommended hours for the Firefighter I course in Texas (NFPA 1010 manual, from January 1, 2027)Hours are a Texas course guide, not a share of exam questions; no state publishes question weights by topic.
Not published by any state agency we checked (Texas, California, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina)A state may start publishing it (read Nov 13, 2026)
NFPA 1010 (2024) merged NFPA 1001, 1002, 1003 and 1005; each state moves its Firefighter I exam to it on its own dateExamples: Kentucky and California July 1, 2025; Alabama June 1, 2026; Texas January 1, 2027. California retired its 2019 exam on July 1, 2026.
FireTEAM, the National Firefighter Selection Test and the CPAT are entrance tests a department gives before it hires you. Firefighter I comes later, at the end of academy training, and the rules below do not cover those tests. They will get a page of their own.
What NFPA sets and what your state decides
NFPA 1010 lists what a Firefighter I must be able to do, from donning SCBA to raising a ladder and advancing an attack line. It does not set a question count, a cut score or a retake limit. Those come from the state agency that writes and gives the exam, and IFSAC or the Pro Board accredits that agency so its certificates can carry their seal.
The practical result: two recruits trained to the same JPRs can face different exams. Texas has no stand-alone Firefighter I certificate: Firefighter I is a section within the Basic Structure Fire Protection Personnel exam, which also takes in Firefighter II and hazmat. California splits Firefighter 1 into Structure, HazMat and Wildland modules, each certified on its own. Pennsylvania will not let you test until you have Support Firefighter certification, hazmat operations (NFPA 470) training or certification dated within one year, an interior live-fire course, and CPR and medical care training. Florida tests at the end of its Minimum Standards Course, which covers Firefighter I and II together.
Firefighter I rules in eight states
Each cell is copied from the state's rule, handbook or certification page, read November 13, 2026. A dash means we have not confirmed that rule yet; your state's current handbook decides.
IFSAC · Pro BoardConfirm with the state office before you test (read Nov 13, 2026)
NFPA 1001Confirm which edition your state tests (read Nov 13, 2026)
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Patterns worth knowing before you book:
Retakes differ the most, and the retakes column gives each state's count and window. Use them up and Texas, Ohio and North Carolina then require the course again.
Texas scores expire. A passing Texas score lapses after 2 years, so a long gap between the exam and the certificate application costs you the result.
A seal from elsewhere can count. In Texas, candidates never certified in Texas who hold IFSAC seals or a TEEX Pro Board certificate can skip the state exam; the two routes cannot be mixed. North Carolina gives equivalent credit for IFSAC or Pro Board certifications.
New York and Virginia rows are thin. Their pages name the agency and accreditation; the standard shown is our best reading and is marked unconfirmed.
A page for each state's full route is planned under requirements by state.
NFPA 1001 became NFPA 1010: when each state switches
Firefighter I used to be NFPA 1001 (2019), chapter 4, and now sits in NFPA 1010 (2024), chapter 6. NFPA folded several professional qualification standards into this one document, and each state adopts it on a date of its own. The requirements were renumbered rather than rewritten, so a 4.3.x JPR in an older study guide is the matching 6.3.x today.
Kentucky and California
Firefighter I testing moves to NFPA 1010.
Alabama
Firefighter I testing moves to NFPA 1010.
California
The 2019 Firefighter exam is retired.
Facts checked
for this page
next
Texas
The NFPA 1010 curriculum manual takes effect.
California
Retakes and certification under the 2019 exam end.
Pennsylvania's July 2026 candidate handbook already tests to NFPA 1010 (2024), while Texas keeps its 2019 curriculum until the date above. Check which edition your academy teaches before you buy a study guide, because the question bank follows the textbook edition the state picked.
Two scope changes matter for study: hazardous materials operations now counts toward Firefighter I, and rescue duties sit entirely with Firefighter II. Both rows are in the facts table above.
The written exam, then the skills exam
Written
The written part is a timed exam drawn from the state's question bank, where each question has one keyed answer. Texas, California and Pennsylvania write their banks from IFSTA's Essentials of Fire Fighting or Jones & Bartlett's Fundamentals of Firefighter Skills (in the current editions, IFSTA 8th or J&B 5th). California narrows it further: the evaluator picks one publisher’s bank. Ask your academy which text and edition it teaches from, and study from that book.
Skills
The practical exam is scored step by step on the state's skill sheets. The skills column of the state table shows how each state picks stations; the full rules add detail the table has no room for:
Texas:Four Firefighter I skills drawn at random, one from each subject category; two tries per skill, a third after remedial training.
California:7 required and 3 random skills; all steps must be passed.
North Carolina:Skill books scored 100% pass or fail; critical items fail the skill outright.
Ohio:Pass or fail per skill; up to three attempts per skill, no more than two on the same day.
Ten topics, each with its own practice set
No state publishes how many written questions each topic gets. As a rough guide to weight, the list shows how many hours the Texas Firefighter I course spends on it (294 hours in all); treat those hours as course time, not as a share of the exam.
Each bar: hours in the TCFP curriculum, one scale (full bar = 60 h). Training hours, not a share of exam questions. 6
A warm-up set across five topics
Tried 0/5, right 0
Communications
While a firefighter holds down the push-to-talk button, the radio:
Show the key and a note on all 4 options
Range depends on power, terrain and repeaters, not on how long the button is held.
This is the cellphone assumption; a keyed portable radio blocks reception until the button is released.
Fireground portables are half-duplex: while the button is held the radio only transmits, so the user misses any message, even an urgent one.
Any recording happens at the dispatch center; holding the button stores nothing on the radio.
Hose and water supply
Mildew forming on a cotton-jacket hose that was stored wet is which type of hose damage?
Show the key and a note on all 4 options
Mildew and mold are living growths that feed on natural-fiber jackets left damp, which is organic damage.
Chemical damage comes from contact with substances such as acids, fuels or oils, not from fungus on wet hose.
Mechanical damage means cuts, abrasion or crushing, such as a vehicle running over a line.
Thermal damage is caused by heat or freezing; hose stored wet is exposed to neither.
PPE and SCBA
An SCBA that vents the wearer's exhaled air to the outside atmosphere is classified as:
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A supplied-air respirator gets air through a hose from a remote source, not from a cylinder on the back.
Closed-circuit units scrub carbon dioxide and reuse exhaled gas; they are long-duration rebreathers, not standard structural SCBA.
An air-purifying respirator only filters surrounding air and cannot be used in an oxygen-deficient or IDLH atmosphere.
Fireground SCBA sends cylinder air through the regulator and lets each exhaled breath escape through an exhalation valve, so it is open-circuit.
Fire streams and fire attack
When attacking a ground cover fire, where should firefighters establish the anchor point?
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An anchor point is a secure start, such as burned ground, a road or a stream, so the fire cannot get around the crew as it works the flank.
Unburned fuel in the fire's path is exactly where a crew can be overrun.
Fire runs uphill quickly, so a spot above it is one of the most dangerous positions on a ground cover fire.
The head is the fastest, hottest part of the fire, the last place to tie a line into.
Safety and health
Right after removing the SCBA facepiece at a fire, which step quickly reduces contaminants on the face and neck?
Show the key and a note on all 4 options
Putting the hood back on presses the soot it already holds against the neck.
Wiping the face, neck, throat and hands with cleansing wipes right after the facepiece comes off removes soot before more of it is absorbed.
Brushing soot off by hand just moves it onto the hands and rubs it into the skin.
Rinsing with the booster line is gross decon for turnout gear; hosing bare skin is not part of field cleaning.
Firefighter I or Firefighter II?
Firefighter II is the next level, NFPA 1010 ch. 7 in the new standard. It adds incident command duties, vehicle extrication, fire cause and public education. Older study guides also miss one addition, because NFPA 1010 added a Firefighter II requirement to operate a thermal imager (7.3.3). The Texas Firefighter II section is the shorter one, with 75 scored questions against 100 for Firefighter I.
Whether you can stop at Firefighter I depends on the state. Texas and Florida issue their firefighter certificate only after both levels; California and Pennsylvania certify Firefighter I on its own. The Firefighter II page is planned next in the queue.
120 minutes in Texas, California and Pennsylvania, for about 100 questions. Texas also mixes a few unscored pilot questions into its section. Other states set their own count and time, so check your state's handbook.
What is the Firefighter I passing mark?
70% in each of the six states we checked. Texas and North Carolina apply that mark to every section or unit separately, not to an average across them.
Is NFPA 1001 still used for Firefighter I?
In some states, until they switch. Each agency moves to NFPA 1010 on its own date: California already tests to it, and Texas has the latest announced date of the states we checked (1001 → 1010 on Jan 1, 2027); the New York and Virginia pages still name NFPA 1001.
Does an IFSAC or Pro Board seal let me skip another state's exam?
Only where the receiving state allows it. Texas and North Carolina do, on the conditions listed under the state table above; ask the state you are moving to before you count on it.
Do states publish Firefighter I pass rates?
None of the six we checked do, so this site shows no pass rate for Firefighter I.