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What They Do

Firefighters Career Video

Insider Info

Forest firefighters, also known as wildland firefighters, work in crews to fight blazes in remote parts of the country. They try to catch fires when they're small, but sometimes the weather works against them. If the weather is hot, dry and windy, even small fires can flare up into infernos.

Firefighters work with heavy equipment, like hand tools, chainsaws, pumps and hoses. Sometimes the work stretches over long periods of time. Both weather and the local terrain play an important role in how fires are fought. Heavy winds can turn a small fire into a towering blaze in a flash. Steep terrain means a lot of legwork and it can be challenging to put the fires out.

There are specialties within the field of fire suppression: aviation, smoke jumping and rappelling, incident management, and the hot-shot crews -- tightly organized teams of 20 who deal with large-scale fires.

The risk of death or injury is very real. Strong winds and falling trees and branches are always a hazard. Wearing protective gear is part of the job and physical fitness is a priority.

Forest firefighters must pass a physical fitness test in order to work. Requirements vary from place to place. Depending on where you live, the fitness requirements may involve tests of aerobic fitness, muscular strength and endurance. For example, a shuttle run, weightlifting and running with a pump-hose without stopping or placing the pump on the ground.

"You've got to be motivated to keep in good shape," says Debra Owen, a fire boss. Owen had a rude awakening one year when she nearly failed a new fitness test. Says the dedicated weightlifter and soccer player: "I'm never going to get into that position again."

Along with the need for physical fitness, you should also be able to work well in a team environment. "You learn to handle pressure and you learn to deal with people and accept the different quirks that they have," says Kole Berriochoa, a 20-year veteran of the hot-shot crews that fight the big fires in the United States. In other words, there's little room on a fire line for petty backbiting: get the job done.

Those interested in this career should have a strong interest in the outdoors, says Brian Eldredge, a training specialist at the Great Basin Training Center in Boise (covering southern Idaho, Utah and Nevada).

"Most people who end up in the Forest Service do so out of an interest in what goes on in a fire, and in wildlife in particular," he says. That could mean anything from a background in farming to experience camping and hiking in the wilderness.

Most of the work is done during the fire season, which typically stretches from late April to early October. Some forest firefighters may have other jobs during the rest of the year.

"The payback is the adventure," says Eldredge. "We can last a long time operating on adrenaline, or the memory of it."

Those with more education and good skills may get a full-time job with government forest agencies. There's work to do in the winter too, such as management plans, conducting prescribed burns, equipment maintenance and paperwork.

Right now, the future of wildland firefighting is going through a shift. The field is now turning away from the old Smokey the Bear approach where every fire is viewed as the villain. Instead, fire is being viewed from an ecological standpoint. That is, sometimes wildfire is an agent that keeps forests healthy.

"Smokey the Bear has done such a good job that we're in danger of building up too much fuel. The ecosystem depends on fire," Eldredge explains. "These large destructive fires we've been seeing in recent years are partially due to keeping fire out of places where fire was a natural part of the ecosystem."

Berriochoa agrees. "You need fire to come in and clean up the undergrowth and dead limbs. It's more like a forest bath and it gets rid of the weak trees."

At a Glance

Fight fires that happen in the wilderness

  • Fire is now considered part of the natural ecosystem
  • You'll work with heavy equipment like hand tools, chainsaws, pumps and hoses
  • On-the-job training is most common

Contact

  • Email Support
  • 1-800-GO-TO-XAP (1-800-468-6927)
    From outside the U.S., please call +1 (424) 750-3900
  • North Dakota Career Resource Network
    ndcrn@nd.gov | (701) 328-9733

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