I love the outdoors and physical labor and have no problem working long days. However, I've heard that while fighting large fires wildland firefighters do essentially nothing but work and sleep, literally. My friend who worked as one said during this time there was no time for running whatsoever, which is kind of a killer for me. I was wondering if anyone else knows the nature of the work and can comment. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.
They have an "Arduous Pack Test" they give to firefighters who want to fight fires in the forests and mountains of the west. It consists of wearing a 40 LB vest and then walking (no running allowed) 3 miles in 45 minutes.
It is surprisingly tough to walk that pace and there are usually a couple of heart attacks every year.
You will bust your hump dusk to dawn and then fall into a comatose sleep. There will be no time or energy for training (while you are actually fighting fires).
Down time is another matter. You will have time to train, but it will be interrupted constantly.
I worked 5 seasons as a wildland firefighter - 4 on a hotshot crew, then 1 as a smokejumper.
A wildland firefighter's summer will depend on a bunch of different things: what kind of crew you are on (handcrew, hotshot, engine crew, etc), what your forests' needs are, and of course, the amount of fires.
You could be anywhere from extremely busy to not busy at all. If you're busy - throw training out the window. One summer I was out West for 101 days and 91 of them I was working, 12-16 hours a day.
Also, forget about being in shape for xc season. Wildland fire beats your body up - it is brutal on the knees and the back. Even if your summer is relatively mild from the fire standpoint, the physical labor alone will put a hurt on your body.
That said, it's the best job I ever had, it made me mentally tough (so much more so than running ever did), and I still dream about doing it...almost every day.
BTW, if you're thinking about doing it this year, you're pretty late. The first certs were pulled 1/27/12.
How did you get into smokejumping?
Mr. Obvious wrote:
How did you get into smokejumping?
Paid my dues on a hotshot crew.
There's no other way. You have to work your *ss off for a couple years in tough environments to get a chance.
so how much money did you make in 101 days?
GAC Rulz wrote:
I worked 5 seasons as a wildland firefighter - 4 on a hotshot crew, then 1 as a smokejumper.
A wildland firefighter's summer will depend on a bunch of different things: what kind of crew you are on (handcrew, hotshot, engine crew, etc), what your forests' needs are, and of course, the amount of fires.
You could be anywhere from extremely busy to not busy at all. If you're busy - throw training out the window. One summer I was out West for 101 days and 91 of them I was working, 12-16 hours a day.
Also, forget about being in shape for xc season. Wildland fire beats your body up - it is brutal on the knees and the back. Even if your summer is relatively mild from the fire standpoint, the physical labor alone will put a hurt on your body.
That said, it's the best job I ever had, it made me mentally tough (so much more so than running ever did), and I still dream about doing it...almost every day.
BTW, if you're thinking about doing it this year, you're pretty late. The first certs were pulled 1/27/12.
I have some friends that are wildland firefighters. This dude is correct.
I would recommend working on a trail crew if you still want to get in regular labor. You can still be out in nature and get in physical labor. Days aren't as long, schedule is more predictable, and you'll still have a good time. Look up some conservation corps.
Forgot to mention that you won't make nearly as much money working on a trail crew as compared to wildland firefighting. You'll get paid barely about subsidence wages. Still fun and memorable though.
how much do wildland firefighters make per year?
GAC Rulz wrote:
I worked 5 seasons as a wildland firefighter - 4 on a hotshot crew, then 1 as a smokejumper.
A wildland firefighter's summer will depend on a bunch of different things: what kind of crew you are on (handcrew, hotshot, engine crew, etc), what your forests' needs are, and of course, the amount of fires.
You could be anywhere from extremely busy to not busy at all. If you're busy - throw training out the window. One summer I was out West for 101 days and 91 of them I was working, 12-16 hours a day.
Also, forget about being in shape for xc season. Wildland fire beats your body up - it is brutal on the knees and the back. Even if your summer is relatively mild from the fire standpoint, the physical labor alone will put a hurt on your body.
That said, it's the best job I ever had, it made me mentally tough (so much more so than running ever did), and I still dream about doing it...almost every day.
BTW, if you're thinking about doing it this year, you're pretty late. The first certs were pulled 1/27/12.
Spot on here. GAC mentioned how brutal the work is; it can be so intense (even if you don't get injured) that if you did it more than a couple of seasons you might end up with some lingering problems. Most of the old fire guys I know have knee, back, and hip problems and are pretty much restricted to office work. They wouldn't trade their experiences for the world--it's intense work that gets paid pretty well, you get really close with your crew, and it keeps you physically and mentally engaged all the time!
If you haven't been previously red-carded, see if you can get on an engine crew; they usually get sent on 2-3 rolls per season (depending on where you're stationed) and then do lots of spot cleanup (getting small fires in their local area) the rest of the time, which would probably provide a good mixture between excitement and the ability to get in fairly regular training. Doubtful that you could get onto a shot crew your first season. When you're not fighting fire (i.e. just regular workday), though, 1 hour per day of physical activity is built into the schedule, which is awesome... some crew bosses let you design your own plan, but you have to do some serious strength work. The rest of those days might be patrolling, community outreach, drills, chainsaw work, etc...
Someone above mentioned getting onto a trail crew instead. That has been my experience; I've been red-carded for a couple of years and been sent on several fires for my own forest and a couple out-of-region. You don't make as much money (when you're on a fire, you usually get 8 hours of OT per day and hazard pay when you're on duty), but it's a less stressful schedule while still leaving open the possibility of being a single resource or helping on an engine if part of a crew gets sent out.
judge holden wrote:
so how much money did you make in 101 days?
Right around $30,000
Might start as a GS-3 (~13.00/hr), working 40 hrs/week for a maximum of 6 months of the year, but usually more like 5 months. For USFS, every hour over 8 in a day is 1.5 pay, and hazard pay is 1.25 pay. Holidays are 1.5 pay. Not much for base pay, but when you get sent on a fire it could be more like:
2 days travel @ 16 hrs/day = 40 hrs of pay
14 days @ 16 hrs/day = 280 hrs of pay
14 days @ 16 hrs hazard pay/day = 56 hrs of pay
It's no cakewalk, but there's nearly 5000 in just over 2 weeks if you do the maximum schedule.
Where do you live, Topic Starter? I've been in fire for a bit and might be able to point you in the right direction.
I've been in wildland fire for 6 years now, 5 years on an IHC (or "Hotshot" crew). I'm now a squad leader on a crew for the Forest Service in Arizona. I've fought fire from Florida to Texas to Alaska, canoed across the border to fight fire in Canada, and worked in just about every Western state.
To answer your question, that depends what job you take, as the Grangeville Jumper said. With a job on an engine, fuels crew, or district crew you MAY have time to train, but not consistently. If you take a job on a Hotshot crew, you will have very little time to train. You will train during your 2-weeks of critical training at the beginning of the season; and you will have a couple days off to do as you please every 14-22 days or so (depending on travel). You will most likely be too tired to run, however.
Let me ask, what do you hope to get out of your experience? How much are you willing to sacrifice? If you want a paycheck and need to continue to train, I would advise that you pursue something else. Fighting fires, especially at a high level, is not for you. However, if you want the greatest physical and mental challenge of your life, then this might be for you. It could very well be the most rewarding and enriching experience of your life. You will get to work with some amazing folks, in amazing places, and you will see and do some incredible things.
I can't encourage you enough to try to get on a Hotshot crew if you do decide to follow this path. There is absolutely no substitute for seasons of experience on a Type-1 crew. They get the most time on assignment, and are given the most physically challenging, specialized assignments. You might be awake for 30-40 hours straight, putting in handline and pulling off a massive burn-out operation to save hundreds or thousands of homes. After many/most shifts, you will be an aching mess. But you will develop very tight bonds with your crewmembers. After a season you will be closer to some on your crew than you are with your lifelong friends. Something about sharing a mission-oriented purpose and living and working in a very stressful environment will do that. Pretty amazing.
It is a job, still, no doubt. And you can make a good amount of money. GAC Jumper's number might be from seasons past. A season with 1,000 hours of Overtime (pretty standard for a Hotshot crew anymore) works out to be about $40,000. Pretty good, yeah? Take into account that you won't be buying food during this time, no need to pay for rent, etc. The Forest Service or BLM takes pretty good care of you. Most of your money you won't have time to spend. At the end of the season, you should have a good chunk saved up. And now you have 6 months off to do as you please. Not a bad deal. Now, you might make less than this, or you might make more. My buddy made 1400 hours of OT during a season on a Hotshot crew. He went to Oklahoma in March and got 200 hours of OT more and grossed $84,000 that year. Or, you could get on a crew in the Northwest or Montana and be getting snow in June and not make squat...It depends.
I don't want to type anymore. Hope that clears somethings up. In short, if running fast is the most important thing to you right now, don't bother applying. If you are interested we can talk further. I can help you in your pursuit of a job, but it may be a little late for this season, but people ARE still hiring, but you need to get your ass moving. Give us some more information about "you." Here is a link you may find helpful:
Two words:
Smoke inhalation.
mr xxx wrote:
Two words:
Smoke inhalation.
You probably inhale more smoke sitting around the campfire or barbequeing than you do fighting wildland fires.
God, after reading this thread, I'm thinking of getting back out west. The "chained to a desk" life in the midwest is not for me. But neither is the full-time manual labor, as I discovered the hard way...
Oh, what a dilemma!
I've put myself through college the last 4 summers by working on a helitack crew in Colorado. Literally the best time of my life.Skipping this summer to focus on my senior season but I'll be back after that.
It's important to note that running shape and firefighting shape aren't quite the same. stick thin and 138 lbs from running constantly isn't ideal for hiking saws and bladder bags up mountains but I made it work. The real problem is finding time for consistent mileage if its a busy season. Still the best job in the world.
last year on helitack I made 13-14k before taxes in 2 months 3 weeks with around 280 hours of overtime. Helitack usually gets less overtime than a hotshot crew would.
If you are located on a coast, costal forest agencies have elite sea-land firefighters aka SEALS Teams for hot spots helo attack and para air drops. Very exciting and great to pickup women at bars.
I was surfing through wildland fire threads online and this one caught my interest because I am a runner and fire fighter. I was on a 3 time state championship cross country team in high school and had an incredible bond with my teammates.I decided to pursue fire because I had heard fire fighters develop an incredible comradery with their crews. I now have 3 years experience as a fire fighter (1 year as a volunteer with a structural dept., a summer working on an oil field as a fire fighter and I am currently going into my 2nd season on a 20 person contract hand crew). I aggree it is very challenging to train and fight fire at the same time, however fire keeps you in great aerobic shape, just not running shape. If you want to seriously train and be fast, fire is not the right profession. I have come back from fire assignments so exhausted that I literally don't do anything for a week or so after. I was wondering if there is anyone on here that could point me in the right direction for next fire season. I currently live in Oregon and have been trying to get on with a federal crew but have not had any luck. The Pacific Northwest has been incredibly wet the past few seasons and I have not been getting much fire time with my contract crew. I know getting a federal wildland job is all about who you know so I was hoping someone on here could give me some contacts or tips on getting hired. I would be content working on an engine but would really prefer to land a job on a type 1 or 2 handcrew. Honestly I am not picky though, any federal fire job would be awesome. I am willing to relocate anywhere in the country next season. Wildland fire is my passion and I would love to get the opportunity to work on a federal crew. I am a nationally registered EMT-B and have 110 college credits. I am planning on continuing school and eventually earning a BS in Forestry or Wildland Fire Science. Thank you for your time, I really appreciate it!! -Preston Carlisle, Prestospeedo@yahoo.com
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