Be Prepared

WHAT IS Candidate Physical Ability Test?

During the test, candidates wear a helmet, gloves and 50-lb weighted vests, designed to simulate the weight of firefighter personal protective equipment. For the stair climb – the first event – candidates will don an additional 25-lb weight, to simulate the carrying of a hose pack into a high-rise fire.

Candidates will be accompanied by a test proctor, who will call out directions for the test events and score the candidate’s success in real time.

Each event must be completed exactly as prescribed – if a candidate fails any component of the test, they will fail the entire test. Candidates also fail if they do not complete the eight events within the 10-minute, 20-second time limit.

Breakdown of Tests

These eight tests make up the Candidate Physical Abilities Test (CPAT)

The purchase of a CPAT test includes a mandatory CPAT Orientation and CPAT Practice sessions. CPAT Orientation sessions last approximately one hour.

Participants in the CPAT must navigate eight separate events on a closed course within a span of 10 minutes and 20 seconds. Each event simulates a physical skill or function that firefighters experience on the job.

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Event 1: Stair Climb

This event uses a StepMill stair-climbing machine. The machine is positioned with one side up against a wall and an elevated proctor platform on the side opposite the wall. A single handrail on the wall side is available for you to grasp while mounting and dismounting the StepMill. Additional steps are placed at the base of the StepMill to assist you in mounting the StepMill.
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Event 2: Hose Drag

This event uses an uncharged fire hose with a hoseline nozzle. The hoseline is marked at 8 feet (2.24 m) past the coupling at the nozzle to indicate the maximum amount of hose you are permitted to drape across your shoulder or chest. The hoseline is also marked at 50 feet (15.24 Fm) past the coupling at the nozzle to indicate the amount of hoseline that you must pull into a marked boundary box before completing the test.
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Event 3: Equipment Carry

This event uses two saws and a tool cabinet replicating a storage cabinet on a fire truck. This event is designed to simulate the critical tasks of removing power tools from a fire apparatus, carrying them to the emergency scene, and returning the equipment to the fire apparatus. This event challenges your aerobic capacity, upper body muscular strength and endurance, lower body muscular endurance, grip endurance, and balance.
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Event 4: Ladder Raise and Extension

This event uses two 24-foot (7.32-m) fire department ladders. For your safety, a retractable lanyard is attached to the ladder that you raise. This event is designed to simulate the critical tasks of placing a ground ladder at a fire structure and extending the ladder to the roof or window.
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Event 5: Forcible Entry

This event uses a mechanized device located 39 inches (1 m) off the ground that measures cumulative force from a 10-pound (4.54-kg) sledgehammer. This event is designed to simulate the critical tasks of using force to open a locked door or to breach a wall. This event challenges your aerobic capacity, upper body muscular strength and endurance, lower body muscular strength and endurance, balance, grip strength and endurance, and anaerobic endurance.
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Event 6: Search

This event uses an enclosed search maze that has obstacles and narrowed spaces. his event is designed to simulate the critical task of searching for a fire victim with limited visibility in an unpredictable area. This event challenges your aerobic capacity, upper body muscular strength and endurance, agility, balance, anaerobic endurance, and kinesthetic awareness.
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Event 7: Rescue

This event uses a weighted mannequin equipped with a harness with shoulder handles. This event is designed to simulate the critical task of removing a victim or injured partner from a fire scene. This event challenges your aerobic capacity, upper and lower body muscular strength and endurance, grip strength and endurance, and anaerobic endurance.
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Event 8: Ceiling Breach and Pull

This event uses a pike pole and a mechanized device that measures overhead push and pull. The pike pole is a commonly used piece of equipment that consists of a six-foot long pole with a hook and point attached to one end. This event is designed to simulate the critical task of breaching and pulling down a ceiling to check for fire extension.