How to become a wildland firefighter

Who hires wildland firefighters

• Federal agenciesThe U.S. Forest Service and the Department of the Interior's fire programs hire the most firefighters, seasonal and permanent, through USAJOBS.
• State agenciesState forestry and fire agencies staff engines and crews for state and private land, and hire on their own state sites.
• Private contractorsCompanies with engines, water tenders, crews and fallers on agency agreements, dispatched from dispatch priority lists. Find them by dispatch center in Fireline Lookup.
• Local and volunteer departmentsMany city, county and volunteer departments run wildland engines and send members on assignments across the country.

The kinds of crews

• Engine crews work from a wildland fire engine: initial attack, hose lays, structure protection and mop-up.
• Hand crews of around 20 build fireline with hand tools and saws. Most new firefighters start on an engine or a hand crew.
• Hotshot crews (Interagency Hotshot Crews) are the most experienced hand crews, sent to the hardest assignments.
• Helitack crews fly to fires by helicopter for initial attack and support aviation operations.
• Smokejumpers parachute into remote fires. It takes experience on the line before you can apply.
• Fallers and sawyers cut hazard trees and run chainsaws, with their own training and qualifications.

Step by step

1. Start getting fit nowThe pack test is 3 miles with a 45-pound pack in 45 minutes, and the job is harder than the test. Training plan here.
2. Take the free online coursesICS-100 and IS-700 are free from FEMA and take a few hours each. Having them done shows an employer you are serious.
3. Choose where to applyFederal seasonal jobs usually post on USAJOBS in fall and winter for the next season. States, contractors and departments hire on their own schedules, often in late winter and spring.
4. Finish the Red Card coursesS-130, S-190 and L-180, on your own or through the employer that hires you. The full list, in order.
5. Pass the pack test and get your Red CardYour employer gives the test, certifies you as a Firefighter Type 2 and issues the card.
6. Work your season, then move upExperience on the line plus the FFT1 task book and S-131 lead to squad boss, and from there to engine, crew and incident command roles.

What the job is like

Expect long shifts in steep, hot, smoky country, two-week assignments far from home, nights in fire camp and hard physical work from the first day to the last. Going in fit, with your training done and your paperwork in order, makes the first season a lot easier.