FDNY Firefighter study guide
FDNY Firefighter · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The FDNY Firefighter exam is the written entry route to a career as a New York City firefighter, administered through the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) hiring process. It is intended for candidates seeking an entry-level Firefighter position with the Fire Department of the City of New York. The FDNY Firefighter study guide has 5 sections and about 1,508 words.
01Written Comprehension
Written Comprehension on the FDNY firefighter exam measures how well you extract meaning from fire-service prose: standard operating procedures, equipment manuals, building-code excerpts, and after-action reports. The exam tests main idea, supporting detail, sequence, cause and effect, inference, and vocabulary in context-not prior fire knowledge.
304 words, about 2 min02Written Expression
Written Expression tests whether you can produce clear, correct standard English in fire-service writing: incident narratives, memos, orders, and report entries. Questions ask you to choose the best sentence, fix grammar or punctuation, combine sentences, and arrange ideas logically.
293 words, about 1 min03Memorization
Memorization on the FDNY firefighter exam tests your ability to study a passage, diagram, or list for a short timed period and then recall specific details: unit designations, floor locations, order of events, names, numbers, and spatial relationships. The challenge is not just storage; it is retrieving the right detail under pressure.
302 words, about 2 min04Problem Sensitivity
Problem Sensitivity measures whether you notice that a situation is abnormal or likely to become a problem. It is a recognition task, not a repair task: you identify the discrepancy, trend, or hazard cue before being asked how to fix it.
314 words, about 2 min05Spatial Orientation
Spatial Orientation tests your ability to work with maps, floor plans, directions, and relative positions. You may follow a route, identify which side of a building a room falls on, determine facing direction after turns, or relate a plan view to a firefighter's actual left and right.
295 words, about 1 min