.204smokechaser
WKR
From a forestry technicians perspective as a bunch of us are still yet to see Wildland Firefighter title in the federal sector even though the BIL Law was passed years ago.
A person who works their butt off with USFS will see the positives and on many districts will have their NWCG FFT1/ICT5 task book opened their 2nd or 3rd season. There’s so many permanent seasonal and permanent full time vacancies across the country it is easy to get a job with benefits and federal retirement once you have FFT1. 800 to 1000 hour overtime seasons are starting to catch up with me…. Working 6-12 days a week, 11-16 hour days at the work center during fire season when not on an off district assignment is sometimes a lot to handle. I’ve grossed around/over 100k the last few years. Middle of the Pay scale.
That being said a good district makes or breaks people. On mine we find the seasonals who excel and if there’s some interested in filling on hotshot crews we make that happen. Have one leaving in the next few days to do just that. I’ve hopped around to where I finally decided to settle, but have worked in 26 different states on fires or prescribed burns so far in my career. I have a forestry degree and use that in the off-peak fire season to do some timber work on the side. It is a fun time watching sunsets and sleeping in the dirt, but you’ll earn your money. I don’t know what a summer is as I haven’t had one for a while, trade off is I found just about all my hunting and fishing spots on the clock.
As there’s two different sides to fire- Wildland and Structure, I’ve been looking towards structure more and more due to the work life balance. There’s federal structure departments and those city and county departments that send engines out on wildland fires in the summer and those jobs look appealing to break up the daily ritual of running medical calls. Those departments usually pay pretty well.
Depending where you are, about every volunteer department and every small county ambulance company needs people. They will put you through training if you’re willing to commit. I know a lot of folks that started volunteering, going Wildland for a season or two, and then getting a good paying structure fire gig.
For the contractor side of Wildland, depends on the company as some owners don’t pay their employees what they should and some don’t take pride in their equipment.
Majority of the fireline medics I’ve ran into in my career have other jobs whether it would be ski patrol in the winter, working in the oil fields, or on an ambulance/structure company. It’s a boring gig on a fire for the most part but if you have patience or can pass time it is good paying and not back breaking work.
A person who works their butt off with USFS will see the positives and on many districts will have their NWCG FFT1/ICT5 task book opened their 2nd or 3rd season. There’s so many permanent seasonal and permanent full time vacancies across the country it is easy to get a job with benefits and federal retirement once you have FFT1. 800 to 1000 hour overtime seasons are starting to catch up with me…. Working 6-12 days a week, 11-16 hour days at the work center during fire season when not on an off district assignment is sometimes a lot to handle. I’ve grossed around/over 100k the last few years. Middle of the Pay scale.
That being said a good district makes or breaks people. On mine we find the seasonals who excel and if there’s some interested in filling on hotshot crews we make that happen. Have one leaving in the next few days to do just that. I’ve hopped around to where I finally decided to settle, but have worked in 26 different states on fires or prescribed burns so far in my career. I have a forestry degree and use that in the off-peak fire season to do some timber work on the side. It is a fun time watching sunsets and sleeping in the dirt, but you’ll earn your money. I don’t know what a summer is as I haven’t had one for a while, trade off is I found just about all my hunting and fishing spots on the clock.
As there’s two different sides to fire- Wildland and Structure, I’ve been looking towards structure more and more due to the work life balance. There’s federal structure departments and those city and county departments that send engines out on wildland fires in the summer and those jobs look appealing to break up the daily ritual of running medical calls. Those departments usually pay pretty well.
Depending where you are, about every volunteer department and every small county ambulance company needs people. They will put you through training if you’re willing to commit. I know a lot of folks that started volunteering, going Wildland for a season or two, and then getting a good paying structure fire gig.
For the contractor side of Wildland, depends on the company as some owners don’t pay their employees what they should and some don’t take pride in their equipment.
Majority of the fireline medics I’ve ran into in my career have other jobs whether it would be ski patrol in the winter, working in the oil fields, or on an ambulance/structure company. It’s a boring gig on a fire for the most part but if you have patience or can pass time it is good paying and not back breaking work.
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