I feel like you are misunderstanding or misrepresenting something here.
As an $11 an hour firefighter, you are making pretty shit pay. But shit pay seems to be the standard for entry level firefighters. (based on a few second googling). You probably get at least 40 hours. Full time also gets some benefits, (though I have no idea what those may be for firefighters.) Probably also have some guaranteed overtime too. Still, shit pay. I did a year at a carnival sitting in one place making change for $12 an hour, 12/hrs a day, 6 days a week. Had trouble paying rent because Seattle is insane.
But look at the fast food and retail folks for a sec. These cats are not full time. They may be lucky to even get 30 hours. No benefits. No overtime. Kinda need 2 of those jobs just to get close to what you're pulling down, and still no overtime even if they cross the 72 hour mark.
I don't suggest that flipping burgers should be home-buying pay, but if a person is working, they should at least be able to eat once a day and afford a cot out of the rain.
As for low firefighter pay, seems like you guys should be asking for more yourselves. No way should a guy that literally got bed sores from sitting on his ass all day at a carnival... no way should a slack ass like that be making better money than you.