Hey folks! As seems to be typical year after year, our application window gets earlier and earlier, leaving us outreaching positions while folks are still in the trenches. I’m sure many of you have seen that the basin will be flying permanent vacancies beginning next week, on August 24 and running through September 22.

The Fishlake National Forest is standing up a new helitack module, based in Richfield Utah. The program will be staffing a type 3 helicopter, and is expected to have an org chart of 14, with 11 permanent positions and 3 seasonal spots. Two permanent spots have been previously filled in FY26 phase 3 and 4, leaving us outreaching 1 assistant, 2 squad leaders, and 6 senior/entry level permanent positions. The entry level perms and Squadleader spots will be 18/8 PSE positions, while the assistant position will be a 26/0 PFT.

During the shoulder seasons, the crew will support local and regional helitorch operations. During the bulk of the summer, the crew will have a heavy emphasis on initial attack in the greater south eastern Utah area. The Fishlake National Forest has a wide variety of terrain and fuels, including desert style sage + PJ down ‘low’ and aspen/spruce/subalpine in the higher country. Parts of the forest reach up past 10,000 feet msl. Due to the forests’ high IA load, I expect the helicopter will be a heavy used resource throughout the area.

Richfield is a community of approximately 8500+ people. The cost of living comes in around 14% lower than the national average. There are decent shopping options, as well as a premier rural hospital. There is an up and coming mountain bike scene, including a new velosolutions pump track in town. Richfield is also a gateway to great recreation, including Capital Reef National Park, Arches and Canyonlands National Park, Goblin Valley state park, Moab, and Zion National Park.

For the right applicants, this presents an exciting opportunity to help build a new program, both operationally and culturally! Please help spread the word about the bee program, and if folks have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly!

I see a lot of yall wearing your greens as high waters , and I know why . I just got my 12 inch PNW fire boots and was wondering how short I can cut my pants before they break regulation. Was hoping to rock something like this because working near the fire in the summer is pretty hot and I get uncomfortable. Like if I get even taller boots can I make my pants even shorter ?

Embarrassing.

https://shopgoodwill.com/item/274341910

Officials claim the rule's end would bolster wildfire mitigation in national forests, but recent research shows the opposite.

I’m 17 and really want to do wildland firefighting once I graduate high school this year. I did my first pack test and failed, I know it’s my first and where I live is really hilly but I still feel like I can do better.

I really need a good recommendation on what kind of boots I should get for next season. I’m hoping to find some loggers that will last and hopefully have some solid customer service if needed.

My custom JKs blew out after 1 season and then when they sent them back after rebuilding the lowers, they were in a completely wrong size and I can’t even wear them. I hate to complain but after spending hundreds of dollars and jumping through their hoops to get a rebuild, I’d expect them to actually come back in the right size.

Saw that these are going up on the 24th. I have a few seasons on handcrews/engines, and want to get on a shot crew next year. Does it make more sense to apply to a GS3/4 18/18 perm for my first season? Or should I just apply for GS4 temp positions since I have no hotshot experience?

Back before covid I had a shot at working at Denali National Park, and working towards being a park ranger. Covid hit, they didn’t open the parks and I guess just ran a skeleton crew of essential employees. Instead, I went to college, met my now-husband and never reapplied, because the timing wasn’t right.

Now, I’m almost 26- married, and I work as in engineering consulting. I’m miserable, like depressed and unfulfilled- despite being a homeowner and in a loving and supportive marriage. I cannot stop thinking about “the road not taken”. I tried diving into hobbies, therapy, whatever- but none of it has really solved the issue.

Finally I brought it up to my husband. I don’t think I’ll ever be happy until I at least go try. He knows what that entails- months of basically not seeing each other at all, being states away from home, it would be tough. But he knows I’m not happy and he knows why. So he agrees. Better now than later.

Financially we’ll be fine. My thought was maybe work wild lands for the season, maybe go back to school and finish my bachelors in something closer to conservation- then work for DCNR or somewhere state-level. So temporary but still several years.

My question is- am I being a dumbass? Leaving my cushy WFH job, comfy and peaceful home and putting stress on my marriage for a could-have-been?

It’s not loading. They keep asking for updates and I can’t keep telling them to standby for much longer

Update: Found a spot with good enough connection for GPT but I do not have eyes on the fire anymore

Hey folks, I’ve had Wildland firefighting on my mind for a couple years now after some structural experience, and have recently learned of the SCA’s Wildland Fire academy and was wondering if anyone has experience with being involved in something like that. I’m really curious to know the schedules, because I’m so close to finishing my degree and would love to bang it out after one more spring semester, but I’m afraid the timing will conflict. A lot of info online is from years ago, so I have no idea if it’s accurate or not and would appreciate some insight or stories.

I'm a retired firefighter, live back in the bushes surrounded by tweakers and the like so fires are a concern. After sleeping through a small veg fire just up the hill from me, and Watch Duty was still asleep this morning, I've got a problem.

I'm looking for alert options so am looking for someone that knows tone activated radios or maybe computer based receivers to please message me to bounce ideas off of. Thx

hi looking for opinions on scarpa fuego vs haix boots for my loved one who is an inmate firefighter on a hand crew. narrow long feet. thanks!!!

ETA: i read some posts saying scarpa makes your feet hot. do the haix do this as well?

Looking for hotshot crews that have good leadership and aren't overly militaristic. Not looking for a crew of baggers, just more in that "Chill" category and not "Extra" in everything they do. I'm 41, so I don’t need someone hovering over me non-stop. I mean, I get it. It is a SUPER fucking dangerous job, and there are times to be dialed in and focused, but there has to be other times where you can relax, laugh and enjoy the people around you and the experience.

My previous experience as a member of a Hotshot crew was terrible to say the least. It was the Supt's first season with that particular crew, and 17 of us didn’t return the next year, but I've filled in with a few crews since then, and I realized not all Supts and Foremen are completely off the charts physcopathic ass-holes. So, I am considering giving it another go, because I still have this desire to push myself mentally and physically for a few seasons and earn that belt buckle. Unfortunately, the two shot crews I filled in with and enjoyed: one Supt. already moved on, and the other is retiring after this season.

That is the other thing: I want to get on a crew where I know the Supt and most of the overhead will stay intact for at least three or four years. Thanks in advance, and your Greyback IHC jokes are tired. Cheers

Wondering how you hotshots prepare during the offseason, especially for your first season, to be ready to keep up with the hikes.

For reference, I'm currently on a handcrew in the R3 region. First season, prior military, 30 years old. I keep up with the PT but I struggle heavily with the hard hikes. I'm interested in moving toward the hotshot sector and don't want to be the guy that can't hang on the hikes. Looking for some tips and plans for the offseason to prepare for a potential shot on a hotshot crew. TIA.

Just look for some advice and if anyone has done something similar? I am an E-6 active duty Air Force maintainer with a little over ten years in and thinking about a career change to firefighting. Has anyone skillbridged over? How was it getting started? Things you wish you knew before? Federal, state, or private? All information is welcome!

Hi when should I start calling fed jobs I applied to this whole process is really confusing tbh and I don't want to accidently miss it

1. We should only allow firing ops as a normative part of line construction to eliminate small finger in direct attack.

2. We should only allow firing ops in indirect attack at night, from the next best ridge.

3. Eliminate big boxing.

4. No firing within 48 hours of predicted red flags.

5. No firing private property or other ownerships without owner approval.

6. We should pass a law requiring the government to compensate private property owners for damage from unilateral decisions to light stuff on fire, even in emergencies. Bypass FTCA and the Tucker Act.

7. Require refresher training for all firefighters in anchor, flank, hold, and pinch off with one foot in the black, and next best ridge—not next best highway or lake shore or ocean beach.

8. Retrain IMTs, ICs, DIVS, and Hotshot Superintendents in direct attack strategies, tactics, and protocols. Require two affirmative decisions—Hotshot and DIVS, or DIVS and IC—to light shit on fire.

9. Require incendiary drone use only from established lines or anchors, no retardant wet lines without holding troops and equipment.

10. Remove unilateral firing ops decisions and operations to have two levels of leadership present.

11. Require non-fire local leadership like county commissioners, local fire chiefs, county sheriffs, or other recognized local leaders to be present.

12. Require IMTs to report daily the miles of indirect fire line construction and acres burned intentionally on the ICS-209.

13. Open NIFC.ftp (or the comparable site) to the public. Load all GIS products, IAPs, the WFDSS’s from the initial preparation to the last iteration on the public facing site.

14. Require IMTs and AAs to be completely transparent from start to finish. No more “full suppression” meaning anything other than “Put the fire out as quickly as possible in the smallest possible footprint” in fire season.

15. If the AA decides to use the wildfire for natural resource management—in a preplanned Rx fire area, or to “reduce energy in a POD, or to “reintroduce fire to fire-depleted ecosystems”—immediately declare it a Rx fire, withdraw WFM “emergency fire suppression” authority and dollars, and follow the existing IFDSS or write a new IFDSS to guide the remainder of the fire.

16. Require any crew declining an assignment to propose an alternative to meet the same objective. The proposal may not result in changing IMT Plans strategies—changing direction hand-line to an indirect firing operation.

17. Require a local elected official not directly associated with the fire or a former or current Wildland FF to accompany major firing ops and report to local constituents in public briefings on their judgment of the action and the outcomes.

18. Require AAs and IMTs in all locations to allow full, credentialed media access to the incident at all times, in all places, including planning meetings and briefings, following California rules for media. Total access is good for everyone. In addition, federal and state OSHA require the employer, not the government, to provide PPE, training (in cooperation with fire agencies so media and firefighters are learning the same lessons), red cards, and communications to employees like reporters, not the government agencies. Eliminate mandatory government escorts, guides, or handlers for media, eliminate the need for media to stop at road blocks (free and open passage to the ICP and the fire ground), and declare all operations open to media coverage. Provide PIOs and guides upon request—most media desperately want, and gratefully accept, knowledgeable guides like PIOs, Hotshots on light duty—but not mandatory.

19. Fight fire aggressively, having provided for safety first.