Who here is or is interested in becoming a wilderness firefighter?

>>857386
I'm considering doing it if I can't get into my industry after college. If it turns out I got beat out by H-1B faggots I'm gonna go for it. My dad used to be a wilderness firefighter in college and he made it sound fun

Not having to deal with very many people is a plus too

>>857392
Yeah I had a similar job in a conservation corps where we camped outside and chainsawed trees down all day. I previously didn't think that I was cut out for that level of physical work but I saw myself getting stronger over the weeks and it was incredibly fun.
Also i'm a history major so I don't have much choice.

>>857399
I'd love to get into the California conservation corps but the deadlines mean I'll have to skip some uni

Plus the application process seems competitive as hell and I have no real experience with wilderness labor or scouting or whatever they want to see

If Biotechnology doesn't work out for me then sawing trees doesn't seem too bad. I don't need a luxurious lifestyle

>>857403
other states have conservation corps with varying timelines of service and don't require you to be a resident of that state. I did Nevada conservation corps and they don't require any specific experience, you just have to be enthusiastic.

Dont you dare even try if youre a pussy

Heres a list of what will happen
*youll breathe thick smoke in the middle of a forest all day, youll be 100 metres deep in smoke and die, not to mention random air bursts and wind shifts can provide for air temps so hot your air ways become badly damaged and you die from suffcation
*your lips will chap within 2 hours of being around the vastly large amount of ash, dont use carmex or anything else with menthol
*your ears will get blister
*if you step on something hot, gess what.. the rubber of your boot hold heat for a loooong time
*the root systems will burn out of trees and youll take one poor step and fall 2-4 maybe even more feet deep into embers and you cant get a grip to escape because all the ground around you is deprived of oxygen and/or is ash
*youll walk 10-20 miles per day, with 50lbs on your back, not including a bladder bag which could weigh up to 45lbs and is just a sack of water. Have fun.
*youll also carry a tool, fuel, maybe a chainsaw
*be prepared to give fuck shit all about anything, you wont bathe for 2 weeks straight, will get 4 hours of sleep each day if youre lucky, and will listen to the people on your fire camp grown all night from full body cramps and exhaustion
*you could have to not be a pussy
*you could have to be able to obey orders and maybe even give directions
*you may die
*tree limbs far as the eye can see are dead, and brittle from flames and ready to fall and break your neck
*you might burn to death inside of your fire shelter, which basically makes you a human burrito
*the wildlife could murder you
*methheads hiding their meth durinf a forest fire could murder you
*you will work with convict crews(prisoners)

On the upside
*you get mad pussy
*a shitload of money
*respect from most people
*good job prospects
*a set of nuts between you legs

>>857435
Having a brush with death sounds exciting. I feel like I haven't lived yet because everything I've done is so low effort and safe

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EMS guy, former city firefag here.

Wildland fire guys are the most based of firefighters. City firemen actually thrive on lying to the public through their imagery...actual fires are about 10% of their job. They spend most of their time shutting off alarms and half-assing EMS care to have an excuse to ride Big Red and make way more money than they ought to. You can blame the IAFF for this. Most firemen are self absorbed cunts to boot with literally no justification because their job is cushy and one of the least dangerous of the 'dangerous' jobs.

I got out a while back and am now a Paramedic at a service that actually values patient care and it's quite refreshing.

Anyway, we have a guy who works part time (seasonally) as a wildland fire line medic and he makes bank doing it. Wildland fire can be a career but you have to be smart about it. If you just remain a line Hotshot digging line you will wind up with chronic bronchitis and potentially back problems. I knew a guy who was a Lead Hotshot for a number of years...badass guys, but he had to get out because of the bronchitis.

So try it a few seasons and then consider either going in to the medical side of it, starting a contracting company for tenders or other support items, or pursue a move up the chain of command. In other words, becoming something in the command structure itself...research the Incident Command System and you will see any any number of command positions. You can become certified in these positions and join whats called an Incident Management Team which will let you help run the show.

If you decide you prefer field ops and want to stay on the line, try to get on the Shot Crew for a while for the experience, but eventually you will want to get on a nice comfy engine team. You will eat a bit less smoke that way and save your back more.

Good luck OP and anyone else pursuing this. They really are the only firefighters who deserve even a modicum of respect in this country.

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> develop bonds

Go for it, pic related.

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>>857498
Last year.

Can anyone speak to the how to actually get an entry level position in wildland fire?

AFAIK you need the Firefighter II / "Red Card" certification, which is two classes and doesn't sound like a big deal. Then you just apply for the forest service positions. However, I've also heard people say you need to be sponsored or get into an apprenticeship-type thing. Can anyone clear this up for me?

>>857435
I know you covered it but; snags snags and more snags.

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Ontario Fire checking in.
Op: Wildland fire is a fuckin blast, if youre goin yankee fire (which I think you are) we admire the hell out of those guys. Ground and pounding for days on end, you gotta be a hard motherfucker to do well.
That said, ill stick with helitack

>>857918
If you want to get on with a fed module (which I recommend over a private crew) just go on usajobs.gov in December - February and apply to different locations for GS3 positions. If you get hired somewhere they'll pay for you to go to guard school where you'll get red card certified in a week-long course.

I did interior firefighting for about 5 years but I'd love to get into wildland firefighting. Rugged bunch of dudes. Don't get me wrong, interior firefighting is a pretty dangerous animal as well, but like another guy said it's only about 10-20% of our actual job. Wildland guys go out and get it, and that's the entire show for them. No deaf grannies unwittingly setting off fire alarms, no bullshit EMS calls for druggies ODing- just fire. Considering signing up for it once I'm done traveling around.

>>857918
So I am on a Forest Service seasonal job right now (nothing to do with fire) and am seeing first hand how most people do it. What they do is get a job, any job pretty much, with the Forest Service like >>859193
said and ask during the hiring process about getting your Red Card. Then once you have that, if a decent fire breaks out on your forest, they will probably send you to help. This summer, everyone from trails, timber, recreation, wildlife and hydrology on my forest had an opportunity to work fire, so long as they had that card. Then the ones who are interested talk to the fire supervisors about applying for actual fire positions.

This process lets you get all the certification and training for free to get a foot in the door.

>>860166
Oh yeah and the red card doesn't require any special skills or high ability. Basically a bunch of training seminars and stuff, and a physical test which is run-walking a mile in 15 minutes or less with all your gear on. Mind you this just qualifies you to assist with fire-fighting operations, but it's a start.

>get paid

Cali fag here. All wildfire firefighters I've ever met in my lifetime are volunteers. Usually retired cops and firefighters, military, etc.

https://youtu.be/RJ9zhe5Gb7I?t=8m40s

>>857435
Do you ever eat the roasted animals you find?

>>857435

How does autism sound? None of this is true, at least here in Oregon.

>>857435
>>860189

To elaborate,

There are different crews.

Half of the shit you said is bullshit. The ground crew is responsible to creating a fire line around the forest fire. They create a ring around the forest fire free of any flammables so the fire cannot spread. This could be cutting/burning trees, tall dry grass, brush piles, etc. The only time a guy on the ground would ever go in the thick of the forest fire would be to evacuate anybody in the zone. If the fire comes within miles of any houses or other construction, they would bring in the fire engines and safety gear to deal with the smoke and ash. They don't carry a shit ton of weight and stay out there for weeks at a time either. They work 12 hour shifts every day. They may carry 25lb of gear at most to do their job. Most are on duty firefighters from local areas, as well as trained forest firefighters with the US Forest Service.

Then you have the air crew, dumping water on the forest fire with helicopters, I don't know too much about those guys because I don't do it.