How many reading and recall questions are on the Firefighter written test?

There is no national firefighter written test, so there is no single publisher to ask. Cal-JAC’s FCTC test is 100 questions in 2.5 hours and its free study guide prints the split: 20 video recall, 25 mechanical reasoning, 20 maths, 35 recall from written material. I/O Solutions’ NFSI is 155 questions in 2.5 hours, 105 cognitive and 50 personality. FPSI publishes neither a count nor a clock for the NFST. Ergometrics’ FireTEAM is video-based. Which of them you sit is decided by the department you applied to, and its job announcement is the only document that says which. The 30-question run on this site is its own practice length and deals the types evenly.

Is this section timed?

Not on this page. These sets are for learning the type — each answer comes with an explanation straight away. When you want the clock, the full-length run is 30 questions in 25 minutes, which is 50 seconds a question.

Are these real questions from the test?

No. Every question here is original, written to the published format. The real item banks are confidential and nobody outside the publisher has them.

Firefighter written test reading and recall questions

A passage of department material, then what it said — from memory on the day.

50 questions in this set Untimed — explanation after each answer

Firefighter written test reading and recall 1 of 10

Apparatus daily check procedure. At the start of each shift the assigned operator completes the daily apparatus check and records it in the station log before any other duty except an active response. The check has four parts, completed in order: fluid levels, tyres and brakes, equipment inventory, and radio and warning devices. Fluid levels are checked with the engine cold; if the engine has been run within the previous thirty minutes, the operator records the reading as provisional and repeats the check at the end of the shift. A tyre found below the pressure marked on the door plate is reported to the shift supervisor and the apparatus is placed out of service until the tyre is corrected. Equipment inventory is checked against the compartment card fixed inside each compartment door, and any item missing is recorded on the log with the time noticed, not the time last seen. Radio and warning devices are tested last because the test is audible in the dormitory. A check that cannot be completed for any reason is still logged, with the reason and the name of the person notified.

According to the procedure, in what order are the four parts of the daily check completed?

What this type asks

This is the biggest section of the FCTC test — 35 of its 100 questions — and it is unlike a normal reading test in one way that decides how to practise it. Some of the essays are handed out for a 30-minute reading period, then collected: the questions come afterwards and you answer from memory, with the guide stating that answers must be based on recall of the essays and not on prior knowledge or training. Others sit in the booklet where you can look back at them. Every one of the four firefighter tests has a reading component of some kind, and the material is always the sort a firefighter actually reads: policy, procedure, equipment instructions, incident reports.

A stated detail, exactly as statedProcedure and policy languageWhat follows from the passage and what does notOrder of steps in a procedureDefinitions the passage itself supplies

Now do it with the clock running.

30 questions in 25 minutes — 50 seconds each. That clock is this site's rather than any publisher's, because more than one publisher sells a test under this name and they are not the same length. Working under a clock is still the part untimed practice cannot teach.

Take the full Firefighter written test test

The other question types

Mechanical reasoning Maths Full timed test

Frequently asked

How many reading and recall questions are on the Firefighter written test?: There is no national firefighter written test, so there is no single publisher to ask. Cal-JAC’s FCTC test is 100 questions in 2.5 hours and its free study guide prints the split: 20 video recall, 25 mechanical reasoning, 20 maths, 35 recall from written material. I/O Solutions’ NFSI is 155 questions in 2.5 hours, 105 cognitive and 50 personality. FPSI publishes neither a count nor a clock for the NFST. Ergometrics’ FireTEAM is video-based. Which of them you sit is decided by the department you applied to, and its job announcement is the only document that says which. The 30-question run on this site is its own practice length and deals the types evenly.
Is this section timed?: Not on this page. These sets are for learning the type — each answer comes with an explanation straight away. When you want the clock, the full-length run is 30 questions in 25 minutes, which is 50 seconds a question.
Are these real questions from the test?: No. Every question here is original, written to the published format. The real item banks are confidential and nobody outside the publisher has them.

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from one of the documents below, with the date it was read. Requirements change; if a source has moved on since that date, the source is right and this page is out of date.

Firefighter Candidate Testing Center (Cal-JAC) — FCTC Written Test, test details for candidates Read September 3, 2026
Firefighter Candidate Testing Center (Cal-JAC) — FCTC Written Test Study Guide (free candidate guide, 25 pages) Read September 3, 2026
Firefighter Candidate Testing Center (Cal-JAC) — Test Prep (what FCTC gives and sells) Read September 3, 2026
Fire and Police Selection, Inc. — National Fire Select Test (NFST) candidate orientation guide Read September 3, 2026
I/O Solutions — National Firefighter Selection Inventory (NFSI), assessment information sheet as published by a testing college Read September 3, 2026
Firefighter Candidate Testing Center (Cal-JAC) — Candidate Physical Ability Test (CPAT) Read September 3, 2026

Hiring Test Practice is independent practice material and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized by Criteria Corp, Wonderlic, Inc., National Testing Network, the electrical training ALLIANCE, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, NECA, Biddle Consulting Group, Inc., Pearson Education, Inc. or its TalentLens business, the California Firefighter Joint Apprenticeship Committee or the Firefighter Candidate Testing Center, Fire and Police Selection, Inc., I/O Solutions, Inc., Ergometrics & Applied Personnel Research, Inc., the International Association of Fire Fighters or the International Association of Fire Chiefs. CCAT® is a registered trademark of Criteria Corp; Wonderlic® is a registered trademark of Wonderlic, Inc.; CritiCall is a trademark of Biddle Consulting Group, Inc.; Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test is a trademark of Pearson Education, Inc.; FCTC and CPAT are used to name tests administered by others. Test names are used only to describe what this material prepares you for. Every question here is original and none is taken from any actual assessment. Cal-JAC and FCTC publish that materials supplied directly by them are the only authorized FCTC Written Test materials; this site is one of the outside sources that warning refers to, and it links their free study guide rather than reproducing it.