AYDEN WILLIAMS, 17, AND MOSES TURNER LOOK ON AS PITTSBURGH BUREAU OF FIRE LIEUTENANT MATTHEW NOVOTNY GIVES SOME DETAILS ABOUT FIREFIGHTING. (PHOTO BY ROB TAYLOR JR.)
Recruitment event held, June 13
How does a salary of at least $53,000 sound?
That’s what the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire is paying its fire recruits these days. By the time a Pittsburgh firefighter is in their second year, they’re getting paid at least $62,000. By their fourth year, they’re making more than $81,000. And master firefighters are bringing in at least $85,000 per year.
Ayden Taylor, a 17-year-old African American male who just graduated from PA Cyber, was front-and-center at the City of Pittburgh’s Fire Career Showcase, Saturday, June 13, on Washington Boulevard in East Liberty. He loves the firefighting profession, ever since his father, Micah Taylor, took him on a ride to a non-serious fire call while Micah Taylor was a volunteer firefighter in Baldwin some seven years ago.
“I just remember going, ‘this is what I want to do,'” Ayden Taylor told the New Pittsburgh Courier at the June 13 event.
Ayden Taylor loved hearing about his father’s day as a firefighter.
“He would always tell me about what he had to do and what he learned,” Ayden Taylor, now 17, said.
Firefighting, for all of its blaring sirens, big trucks and tall ladders, doesn’t seem to attract as many African Americans to its profession as some would like. The National Fire Protection Association reports about eight percent of all firefighters in the U.S. are Black.
In the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire, even though the leader of the department, Darryl Jones, is Black, it’s estimated on any given year that there are between seven and 10 percent of the department’s firefighters who identify as Black.
That’s not deterring Ayden Taylor or his family.
“We (as African Americans) take it (firefighting) for granted but we don’t take advantage” of its salary, benefits, etc., expressed Ayden Taylor’s mother, Tia Spells-Turner.
She continued: “I have a lot of respect for what our first responders do, whether it’s firefighting, EMS, or police officers. They put their lives on the line. It’s very stressful, they encounter people at their worst. It’s incredibly noble what they do and they give so much of themselves, their time. More people need to be appreciative of it. We wouldn’t be here without them.”
City officials at the event said that those interested in becoming a Pittsburgh firefighter should visit the website pittsburghpa.gov/safety/fire or email:
ronda.sherrill@pittsburghpa.gov.
The city will be taking applications again for firefighter recruits in the spring of 2027.
“Monetarily, we are compensated very well for the dangers that we face,” expressed Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire Lieutenant Matthew Novotny, to the Courier. “We are also given an incredible pension, we have one of the best pensions in the state, and we have some of the best benefits in the city through our union contract.”
For Novotny, he said being a firefighter is a dream job.
“We also get to go to work every day and help our community, help everyone around us,” he said. “Wherever we go, people are happy to see us usually, and kids love us. It’s a great feeling going to work knowing you’re living every kid’s dream. What little kid didn’t grow up wanting to shoot water out of a fire engine?”
In closing, Novotny said: “We’re paid very well, my family’s taken care of, and I know that when I retire, I’m going to have a good pension to fall back on.”