Who is ready to carry the JBLs in?

I’ve been dealing with the sinking feeling that this was probably my last season for the past few months. How did you know it was time to stop? What did you do next?

Hi y'all. I am seeking advice on starting a career in wildland firefighting at the young age of 39 years old. Comments and DMs would be greatly appreciated. Here is my situation.

[BACKGROUND] I have been working in another field (climate emergency campaigning) for the last 15 years and plan on changing careers. I intend on applying to be a wildland firefighter in Quebec, Canada where I live when they start taking applications in December. A lab mate of mine at Concordia University, where I am currently finishing a Master's in geography, suggested the idea of wildland firefighting as a career and I've come around to it. Her and her husband were wildland firefighters, and she seemed convinced after knowing me for a while that I would love the job. I have since then read a couple of books and many articles on wildland fires and firefighting, watched a good amount of youtube videos, and it has become my top career choice for after I graduate.

[MY FITNESS LEVEL] That said, I will be 40 years old in a few months and though I am more fit than the average person my age, and currently doing a training programme to prep for doing the WFX-Fit test and build as much strength and endurance as I can, I am concerned that the demanding physical nature of the work might take serious toll on my body, possibly preventing me from doing multiple seasons in the field. I know there are many older individuals doing the job, but I've only been able to find testimonies about the realities the job imposes on your body as an older individual from people who have been doing the job for years and I assume they have built solid strength and stamina on the job over that time. I've been mostly behind a desk the last decade and have only been running and going to the gym sporadically over that period, though for the last year I've been going pretty consistently with a focus on functional training and strength. From the little research I have done, and after consulting my physiotherapist, multiple seasons at my current fitness level should be doable with proper prep and a heavy focus on recovery.

[RECRUITMENT PROCESS] Furthermore, I heard in an interview with a senior rep from SOPFEU, the wildland firefighting agency here in Quebec, and he said the application process is competitive with I believe he said only something like 60 new candidates get recruited out of a pool of about 250 new candidates. Regardless of the accuracy of those numbers, I am assuming it is a competitive process for new candidates.

What can I do the increase my chances of getting recruited? They say a degree in geography or other fields related to the job is a requirement in case you are not coming with experience and I will be done my geography master's by the time the 2027 season starts so that should help. I speak three languages and perfectly bilingual in English and French. What else could I put forward to increase my chances? Is experience with QGIS looked for? Leadership experiences?

If you got this far, thank you for taking the time to read. Looking to hearing your thoughts.

Hey guys,

I’m currently transitioning out of the Army and want to try out a season doing wildland fire work. Is there any other vets, or I guess any wildland firefighters in general that can answer some questions for me about getting on a crew.

https://jobs.smartrecruiters.com/TheEmberAlliance/744000157229091-2027-uwharrie-prescribed-fire-fuels-module-lead

Hourly wage isn’t the best, but retirement and health insurance benefits are top notch.

The org itself is a really solid place to work. Good people doing good work for the right reasons.

FFT1/FAL2 is the minimum requirement.

The position is high autonomy, a solid opportunity for real leadership skill development. You’d be in charge, determining work assignments and priorities.

If the gov fire suppression status quo is losing it’s appeal, but you still want to pull cord and put fire on the ground, this is worth considering.

Has anyone heard any rumors about early layoffs?

With it being PL1 nationally and all the weather we are getting out west seems like a smart financial decision for the agencies.

Looking for someone to help me out with some data collection this winter taking tree measurements in western Washington. We’ll likely have work through the end of December at least, but if the winter is mild there’s potential to work all winter. $22/hr, housing provided, overtime encouraged. Must have a degree in forestry and be capable of working in wet cold conditions. DM me for more details.

thinking of jumping ship from FS, anyone got any insight to how this crew works? Applying to their fire control worker position.
Wondering about their work schedules, culture, and anything else anyone might have some thoughts on.

Hey everyone, I am going to be applying to work on a seasonal engine crew for WA DNR as soon as apps open and I plan on applying to as many slots as I reasonably can. I have one year of wildland expierence working for a private company on a fireline ambulance and also have experience volunteering with a dept that does wildland, structural and WUI. I have expierence operating everything from UTVs on the med side up to tenders on the fire side, including pumping and draft ops. I've been state mobilized on type 5 brush trucks with my dept but mostly structural protection, besides our local grass/wildland fires. The majority of my experience isn't working on dedicated seasonal crews. I do have my EMT in 4 states including WA, my red card and am FFT2 qualified, my last pack test was a 39:59. I am a woman so I am trying to hammer PT to become physically competitive. What should I be focusing on to make myself more competitive? Is my background going to make me competitive? Is it better to apply to as many crews as possible or spend my energy on a few? Any and all advice is appreciated, I am trying to work a full season and potentially delay my next fall semester of college for this as I am looking at making this a career.

Hi guys I accepted a verbal offer a couple days ago for a position in Montana from the feds the problem is I leave for Asia at the end of October and still haven't got the email to take my fingerprints and drug test the fmo said I should be able to complete it by the time I leave but I'm just getting increasingly worried from the radio silence on HR's end I just wanted to know your guys experience and how long it usually takes to get that email

Hello everyone,

I'm just finishing my first summer as a temp backcountry ranger for the FS. I am hoping to get on a type 2 or shot crew for next summer, as it fits well into my skill of hiking places and doing manual labor. The only experience I have is one two week fire detail and a small fire on my home forest.

Which crews do you guys think I have a shot of getting on? Or is this a fools hope and I should look for an engine role first or something.

Mostly just looking for a scoop on which handcrews might have trouble getting people because of bad location or whatever, I figure those are my best bet.

I'm also a WEMT if that would help land something.

Thanks!

Anyone been on the crew who could answer some questions?

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Just received this notification from my application for suppression. Apprentice applications are still being reviewed. Any advice on the next -steps I should take? Between the have my L180, S190, and the online portion of S130. I appreciate any help I can get!

Hello all,

Interested in helitack, specifically SH (come from a military aviation and medical background, previous ski patroller and current WEMT). Internet sleuthing has failed to yield any way to reach out, so hoping someone in this community can help me connect with someone from YOSE, SEKI, or GRCA, or anywhere else you’d suggest for someone interested in SH. TIA.

Looking for some guidance or advice. I’m 26 years old, I’ve been on a T2IA crew since the age of 19. With the exception of my first season, I’ve had 100+ days on incident every year. I love this job, and I go hard at it. Unfortunately as it turns out, too hard. I’ve done massive damage to my knees. This off season I’ll be looking at having surgery on a partially torn ACL in one knee and a pretty bad meniscus tear in the other. Both injuries occurred on fire and both were worked through. I’ve come a long ways in my career. I’m signed off as a CRWB. I’m working on many other certs. I absolutely love this job. But I can’t shake the feeling that this might be the end of the road for me. If it’s not, maybe it SHOULD be before I can’t walk at the age of 40. Any words of wisdom or thoughts are appreciated. Hopefully you all had a productive and profitable season. Keep em safe out there

Currently back in school after 4 fire seasons (Montana and Virginia) with the fed and thinking about the next phase. I want to work on fire policy like community resilience/preparation in the WUI and changing our strategies to be more proactive than reactive.

Are there any spots, forest, districts, or non-fed agencies that do an especially good job of working with local communities? Places that have a mix of WUI firefighting and prescribed fire/managed fire rather just full suppression in the middle of nowhere? Agencies/districts that use fire fighters in more creative/proactive ways and let ecologist in on the planning?

So far thinking about trying to get on a WFM or a fire effects module but that seems like it could be really hit-or-miss.

I'm thinking about applying to be a fire ranger in Ontario

My two concerns are the cancer risk and having a small amount of internet access

I know the cancer risk is super high, but can it be mitigated to any degree by wearing a respirator, clothes under the nomex, etc ?

Also, can anyone speak to the reliability of satellite internet services for phones? I see rogers offers such a service, has anyone used it in the super remote bush?

Thanks

This is a contract crew based out of Texas. Is there anyone that knows anything about them, seen them, or worked there or anything? I’m a college students and may be able to fight fire in the summer while I am away from school and want to learn more about them specially as I have some personal connections.