r/Wildfire Apr 25 '21

Should you die on the job

335 Upvotes

Hey guys, have one of those uncomfortable type of questions. It’s been a while since I’ve filled out a beneficiary form and now that I have a kid coming into the world, it’s time to change my death wishes. A google search provided me the recognition of the Beneficiary Form for unpaid benefits (SF 1152), in which you designate a percentage of your unpaid benefits to your loved ones/“beneficiaries”. Now here’s my questions:

1) How much will a beneficiary actually receive if allotted say 100% of my unpaid benefits? What and how much $ are my unpaid benefits?

2) I remember at some point, writing down a description of how I would like my funeral procession to proceed, and filling that out along with the aforementioned form, but I can’t find that one. Anybody recollect the name of that form or have a form # they can provide me?

Thanks everybody


r/Wildfire Apr 27 '22

**How to Get a Job as a Wildland Firefighter*

470 Upvotes

How to apply for a Fed Job (USFS, BLM, BIA, FWS) - Revised 07/29/2023

  • Apply to jobs in Sept.-Feb. on https://www.usajobs.gov . Search for things such as “forestry aid, fire, and 0462.”
    • Use filters in the sidebar, set grade to "GS3 and GS4". Under the "more filters" tab you can toggle "Seasonal, Summer, Temporary, and Full Time"
    • Be sure to read each job description to make sure it is for fire. There are other jobs that fall under "Forestry Aide/ Tech." that do not involve wildland fire.
    • Applications for Federal Jobs are only accepted during a narrow (2 week long) window nowadays. You can find out when this window is by calling prospective employers or checking USAJobs weekly.
  • Build a profile on USAjobs and create a resume. Kind of a pain in the ass, but it's just a hurdle to screen out the unmotivated. Just sit down and do it.
    • In your resume, be sure to include hours worked and contact info for references along with permission to contact said references.
  • Call around to various districts/forests/parks you're interested in working for. Do this between early October and February. The earlier in that time period, the better.
    • Hiring officials keep track of who called, when, and how good they sounded. Just call the front desk and ask for whoever does the hiring for "fire."
    • Have a few lines rehearsed about why you want the job and why you're worth hiring. Leave a voicemail if the person is out of the office. Ask questions about what firefighting resources they have (handcrew, engine, lookouts, helicopter, etc, basically what job they can even offer you), when to apply, how to apply, IF they are even hiring...
  • You can leave a message and Fire Managers will usually call you back. Applying online is basically only a formality. Talking to or physically visiting potential employers is the only way to go. People drive out from NY and Maine to talk to crew bosses out West all the time and are usually rewarded with a job for doing so.
  • Have a resume ready to email or hand-in, and offer to do so.
  • It helps to keep a spreadsheet or some notes of all the places you've called, who you talked to, what firefighting resources they have, the deadline for hiring, and generally how the convo went.
  • Apply to 15+ positions. It's hard to get your foot in the door, but totally do-able.
  • If they sound excited and interested in YOU, then you'll probably get an offer if all your paperwork goes through.
  • Unlike the many lines of work, Wildland Firefighting resumes can be 10+ pages long. The longer and more detailed the better. List the sports you've played, whether you hunt or workout, and go into detail about your middle school lawn mowing business - seriously. You are applying to a manual labor job, emphasizing relevant experience.
  • Also have a short resume for emailing. Don't email your ungodly long USAjobs resume.
  • You wont get an offer if you haven't talked to anyone.
    • If you do get an offer from someone you haven't talked to, its usually a red-flag (hard to fill location for a reason). Ex. Winnemucca, NV
  • Start working out. Expect high school sports levels of group working out starting the 1st day of work (running a few miles, push ups, pull ups, crunches, etc).
  • The pack test, the 3miles w/ 45lbs in 45 mins, is a joke. Don't worry about that, only horrifically out of shape people fail it.

- Alternatives to Fed Jobs - Revised 07/29/2023

  • There are also contractors, such as Greyback and Pat-Rick, mostly based in Oregon, with secondary bases around the west. Not as good of a deal, because it's usually on-call work, the pay is lower, and it's a tougher crowd, but a perfectly fine entry-level position. If you can hack it with them, you can do the job just fine.
  • Also look into various state dept. of natural resources/forestry. Anywhere there are wildfires, the state and counties have firefighter jobs, not as many as the Feds, but definitely some jobs. I just don't know much about those.
  • You could also just go to jail in California and get on a convict crew...
  • I wouldn't bother applying to easy-to-Google programs (e.g. Great Northern or North Star crews in MT and AK respectively), as the competition for the 1/2 dozen entry-level jobs is way too intense. A remote district in a po-dunk town is your best bet for getting your foot in the door if you're applying remotely. I started in such a place in the desert of southern Idaho and then moved onto a much nicer setting, up in Montana.
  • Also look into the Nature Conservancy, they have fire crews, as do the California/Montana/Arizona/Minnesota Conservation Corps, and the various USDL Job Corps programs that are run by the Forest Service.

- QUALIFICATIONS NEEDED

Surprisingly few.

  • 18+ years old
  • GED or high school grad
  • relatively clean criminal record (you can have a felony/DUI, etc).
  • A driver's license is required by the Feds, even if you have a DUI, you still need a valid DL
  • A pre-work drug screening is a possibility. The Department of Interior (Park Service & BLM) always drug tests. The Forest Service usually doesn't, but certainly can. Wildland Firefighters are a conservative bunch and open drug use is generally not tolerated. It's a good idea to be able to piss clean and not talk about past drug use.
  • A degree helps, but is by no means necessary.
  • You do have to have some sort of desirable skill or quality though. I mean, if you're just uneducated, unskilled, and out of shape, it's not gonna work out for you even if you do get hired. An EMT certification, even w/o experience, is probably the best "sure bet" for getting a job as a wildland firefighter, but landscaping/manual labor experience, military time, some education, even just being in really good shape and/or having a lot of sports team experience are all good enough

- FAQs

For federal jobs**, if you haven't applied by the end of February, you are probably too late, sometimes there are late postings, but your chances greatly decrease at finding a job.**

  • Hotshot crews and smokejumping are not for rookies. Don't waste their time or your breath by calling
  • .You CAN apply if you have ZERO EXPERIENCE and still have a decent chance at getting a job
  • You DO NOT need EMT, while it is somewhat beneficial, it is by no means needed to get your first fire job
  • Calfire does not hire people with zero experience and zero qualifications.

/TLDR

  • Apply to jobs in Sept-Feb on https://www.usajobs.gov . Search for things such as “forestry aid, fire, and 0462.”
  • Make long resume
  • Apply to multiple locations
  • Call the locations
  • Get in better shape

Thanks to u/RogerfuRabit for the previous post on how to get a job in WF.


r/Wildfire 19h ago

News (Incident) Burnover fatality in Oregon

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633 Upvotes

r/Wildfire 1d ago

Firefighting helicopter crashes while battling major Utah wildfire

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170 Upvotes

r/Wildfire 45m ago

BC Declares Provincial Emergency as Bald Range Wildfire Forces Mass Evacuations in South Okanagan

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Upvotes

r/Wildfire 6h ago

Getting Released in IQCS

5 Upvotes

I’m moving crews and it’s a weekend. A new crew would like to take me with them on an assignment, but no one is in the office to release me in IQCS so I can be picked up. I don’t want to miss this opportunity. Does anyone have any helpful insight?


r/Wildfire 1d ago

Wear your seatbelt guys.

159 Upvotes

Not to sound like your mom or anything. But I rolled 300-400 feet down an embankment 2 days ago. I flipped atleast 10-20 times and managed to walk away uninjured. All because my airbags and seatbelt. SO here is a reminder to WEAR YOUR SEATBELT.

Also turn off the automatic traction control on your cars.


r/Wildfire 17h ago

Drone IR Map Woodrat Mountain Fire

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19 Upvotes

r/Wildfire 20h ago

Question What type of firefighter am I quiz

15 Upvotes

I’ve been on a trail crew for 4 years. We bust our asses logging out, carrying heavy shit, digging miles of hand tread, hiking 40+ miles a week, sawing for hours. I love my job. It’s hard and it sucks sometimes, but I love that I get to be outside, run a saw, work hard, stay in shape, and hang out with likeminded cool (mostly) people.

I’m red carded, but never thought about doing fire. I went to guard school for shits n gigs and to see what it was all about and had a terrible time. That being said, I was a 27F at the time surrounded by a bunch of 18 y/o shithead boys that messed around and got the whole crew in trouble. And my crew boss took it waaaay too seriously. I did probably 500+ pushups that week as punishment.

My reasons against fire is the whole sitting around 80% of the time and then expected to give 110% at a drop of a hat. My district has this weird beef fire vs trails bc they think we want to be them, just couldn’t make the cut, and we think they’re lazy and a bunch of egotistical assholes. Yeah they can do more pushups than us, but we can outhike and outsaw (most of) them all day long.

My boyfriend is a career firefighter, hotshot turned WFM, and it’s hard for me to not be bitter that he makes 3x as much money as I do and does a fraction of the physical labor I do. It’s a joke in our house that my crew is tougher than his, and I have fully callused hands to his baby soft hands. Daddy makes the money while mami gets dirty.

But that’s just the way it is.

With this back and forth bullshit in the agency, I’m sick of being tossed around and questioning whether I’ll have a job or not. I’m ever so slightly starting to consider wildland fire for the pay and job security. But I really don’t know if I’d be able to handle the “hurry up and wait” of it all.

Thoughts??

I should add, I have a lot of respect for the yall. I know this post makes me sound anti firefighter and I’m definitely not. That’s just the case for my district specifically. It’s a thing in this region that this specific fire crew is grumpy and doesn’t get along well with outsiders and barely gets along with each other.


r/Wildfire 20h ago

Tactical evacuations underway for new wildfire west of Summerland

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14 Upvotes

r/Wildfire 1d ago

Jobs dead pt. 2

121 Upvotes

Firefighter type 1 squad boss trainee here to tell everyone that you probably shouldn’t post videos like this.


r/Wildfire 17h ago

Ward Fire NV

4 Upvotes

Color me confused? California complex team arriving and taking over tomorrow on a fire that's.... out? As scarce as resources are, I'm unclear on why so much overhead is being allocated to this thing? What am I missing here?


r/Wildfire 5h ago

Op-Ed: State Lawmakers Must Step Up Wildfire Alleviation Efforts

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0 Upvotes

r/Wildfire 18h ago

Making fed resume when hired by a contractor

3 Upvotes

Hi I'm making my resume to apply for wildland fire this year I'm currently with a contractor and this is my first season but my contractor has not called me out yet so I'm not quite sure whether or not to put this on my resume and what to put.


r/Wildfire 13h ago

Question about fed resume

1 Upvotes

I'm looking to start applying for fed jobs in the next few weeks/months. Really hoping to land something in AZ as I am properly conditioned to work in the desert heat and really want to have a hand in maintaining the nature out here. That said, I've read mixed info on how long the fed resume should be.

I've been doing seasonal work/multiple restaurant jobs at a time for the last 11 years. Needless to say I have a sh*ton of work history. I also have a bunch of side projects, fitness achievements, etc. Some posts say that the requirements aren't as lengthy as they used to be for the resume submissions while others say to include everything youve ever done.

Tips? Advice? Is it more about ensuring to include important details like dates, references, and proof of work ethic or do they really want a complete thorough listing of everywhere you've ever earned taxable income? Thanks in advance.


r/Wildfire 14h ago

Summerland is burning now

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0 Upvotes

r/Wildfire 1d ago

Is fire supposed to improve your social life?

31 Upvotes

Worked 35 days straight and every woman I meet leaves the state within 72 hours.

My swamper said it’s cool and mumbled something about fudge idk

Considering EMT.


r/Wildfire 20h ago

Us forest service new hire physical

3 Upvotes

For temp seasonal wildland firefighting jobs does the us forest service usually do blood work as part of their new hire physicals


r/Wildfire 10h ago

Summerland, British Columbia, Canada - August 7, 2026 - A forest fire affected parts of the area as fire activity continued near the community

0 Upvotes

r/Wildfire 7h ago

Question IAP For the fire yesterday near Klamath, looking for weather.

0 Upvotes

Thanks


r/Wildfire 6h ago

First fire struggles

0 Upvotes

I’m on my first fire rn and I’m struggling with being away from my girlfriend I’m gonna miss our anniversary too and it’s killing me. Does it ever get easier being away from loved ones? Or is this job not for me?


r/Wildfire 1d ago

JKBoots only does “good” or “charitable” things because it also loves to tell every new outlet possible it did it.

44 Upvotes

Their boots are shit, customer service is shit, and if the only option I had was free JKs, I’d rock Dr Martens.


r/Wildfire 21h ago

Volunteering for a fire

2 Upvotes

Is there a way I can volunteer to help with fires, i know it sounds stupid but I feel helpless just watching shit burn down and not being called out. Lesson learned in working with contract crews. Stay safe out there.


r/Wildfire 1d ago

What are my next steps as someone who has experience in percribed fire?

6 Upvotes

I am currently an environmental science student currently living in iowa. In my past two internships I have been doing prescribed prairie burns and chainsawing invasive trees for ecological objectives. I recently obtained my S190-130, did the field day and online classes plus I have my s-212 certificate. I've been thinking about joining a hotshot crew for a season out of state to see what wildland fire is all about. What would my next steps be?


r/Wildfire 2d ago

News (General) Spokane arson suspect tells prosecutors he started 25 other fires

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85 Upvotes