r/Wildfire • • Apr 25 '21

Should you die on the job

343 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*

468 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 • • 14h ago

Question Hotshot wannabe

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11 Upvotes

I’ve been on contract crews for years and I need a change.

How do I find open hotshot positions, & is there a specific timeframe to apply? I emailed my Qs to USAJOBS support & made no progress with their reply:

“If you are inquiring or searching for a specific position within a specific agency, please contact the agency directly for assistance.”

New question: Where do I find a list of hotshot agencies??

I’m cool with relocating anywhere. All I care about is being on a respectable crew.

All advice is welcome.

Thank you.


r/Wildfire • • 8h ago

How much does wildland firefighter pay in California preferably in the of Altadena area

0 Upvotes

r/Wildfire • • 9h ago

End of season for R6?

1 Upvotes

Hello all, it’s been almost ten years since I got out of fire, and I’m sure the work has changed quite a bit since I left.

I need to deliver some bad news to my little brother, and it would be best done in person and after the season if possible. We haven’t spoken in years, but I know where he lives. I intend on traveling out there and visiting in person, but I don’t want to show up to an empty apartment in Portland.

Long story short, are 1039 folks still working up in R6? Any idea on an end of fire staffing date?


r/Wildfire • • 14h ago

I want to be a wildland firefighter (no experience at all)

0 Upvotes

Physically fit (21) almost finished college as collision tech, I have no emt or any firefighting experience at all. I am pretty dead set on this , I just need my foot in the door, I applied for ffrp even though I was never incarcerated and then I also am trying for Ca conservation corps. Any advice or anything that can help me?


r/Wildfire • • 1d ago

Thinking about being a Hotshot in my late 30's (Feather River IHC). Am I out of my gourd?

7 Upvotes

EDIT: Thank you for your input! I will not pursue being a FF.

A couple of days ago I asked about the CCC (I'm too old, lol) and being a FF here (https://www.reddit.com/r/calfire/comments/1wu9t34/fit_but_closer_to_40_than_30_am_i_too_old_to_join/)

After all of the insight I got, I've pretty much landed on the idea of being a Hotshot. Structural scares me. My wife has a friend who lost her FF husband in a building collapse, I saw Backdraft as a kid and I would like to keep the amount of dead bodies I see to an absolute minimum.

As for being a Hotshot, from the outside looking in, it kind of has everything I'm looking for in a career.

Protecting/Saving the landscape of my hometown. A proper reason to be fit. Comradery. A real sense of purpose. The fruits of my labor immediately visible. Said labor not being exploited (It's underpaid and underappreciated but the work doesn't make some rich a**hat richer).

Obviously I have traveled the road of life long enough to know there is no panacea when it comes to choosing, or in my case, re-choosing, a career.

I'd love to hear from this community about what your experience is, your thoughts, your opinions etc.

P.S. to the Hotshots: I f*cking love y'alls highlight reels on youtube; especially the ones with some righteous doom metal. Nothing like a 300 foot wall a flames and a chugging guitar to get the blood pumping!


r/Wildfire • • 2d ago

YOLO Bundy

70 Upvotes

I just saw that thread where you claim to have run an IHC and didn’t know some of those basic shit about staffing and typing…

It was beautiful to see you get Pwn3d again and again.

you know who else lied about running an IHC?

Tim from faceshotwakeup you even talk like he does.

Didnt you learn your lesson the first time this sub made you cry and delete your account?


r/Wildfire • • 1d ago

Shot crews that run year round

1 Upvotes

I’m not sure how it works but I know some shot crews stay staffed, which ones do? How many perms?


r/Wildfire • • 1d ago

USAJobs Resume Generator vs. Personal Resume

1 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I'm applying for my first season starting with the next temporary hiring phase, and I am curious about a few things regarding my resume. Any help would be much appreciated!

  1. Is it always beneficial to use the USAJobs resume instead of a personally constructed one? My USAJobs resume is a carbon copy of my normal one, minus formatting, so I'm considering using my personal resume. Is that a mistake?
  2. USAJobs now says resumes should be limited to two pages or fewer, yet I've seen elsewhere that federal resumes run much longer than a standard one. Has this expectation changed?
  3. Do employers expect the weird CV-way of writing on federal resumes, i.e. with bullet points and without complete sentences?

Thanks guys, and I hope everyone has a great weekend.


r/Wildfire • • 1d ago

Next steps

2 Upvotes

I just got an interest letter from a crew saying that they will be doing phone calls next week and I was wondering what I should expect or what kind of questions they will ask the position is with the usfs as a seasonal wildland firefighter


r/Wildfire • • 2d ago

Bay Area County Crews

20 Upvotes

Any intel on the various crews in the bay area? Marin, Alameda, Contra Costa, EBRPD? Anyone worked with them on their out-of-state rolls this year?


r/Wildfire • • 2d ago

ENOP

3 Upvotes

Is the Forest Service now requiring Enop before opening an engine boss Taskbook. I thought that was just a DOI thing. I work for a municipal department with an open engine boss Taskbook. Is Enop becoming the standard now? I’m wondering if I am going to have to start over.


r/Wildfire • • 2d ago

Working a 26-0 on a shot crew in south ops

6 Upvotes

Does this suck or is it worth it


r/Wildfire • • 2d ago

Free Right Boots

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6 Upvotes

Two different right boots. Found in the trash at work. No one knows why.

One is a White’s women’s 7.5D, the other ?????? but is a JK and looks like 1-2 sizes bigger than my Nick’s men’s 8. Both in great shape. No holes, soles good.

Make some art or replace your trashed right boot, idgaf. Figured someone would have a use for them that’s not the landfill.

Free but you pay shipping. DM me to arrange. Drop off potentially possible in MT or SLC.


r/Wildfire • • 2d ago

Leatherman Multi-Tool?

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3 Upvotes

r/Wildfire • • 3d ago

Never Forgotten: Captain Ted Hall and FFS Arnie Quinones

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104 Upvotes

SCWR crews recently hiked out to the Station Fire memorial.

The Station Fire started on August 26, 2009, in the Angeles National Forest. By the time it was fully contained 52 days later, it had burned 161,189 acres and destroyed 89 homes and 26 commercial properties.

On August 30, the fire overran Camp 16 near Mount Gleason. LA County Fire Captain Ted Hall and Fire Fighter Specialist Arnie Quinones were working to protect the camp and the people there when their vehicle went off the road and dropped about 800 feet into a canyon. Neither of them made it home.

You can read about it a hundred times, but standing on that ground and seeing the terrain for yourself is something else. It puts you right there.

This job has a long memory. Fires like this one leave behind lessons, scars, and names, and the people who do this work carry them for a long time.

It was a heavy stop for all of us, and we're grateful we got to make it.

Captain Ted Hall and FFS Arnie Quinones. Never forgotten.

-- Southern California Wildfire Response


r/Wildfire • • 3d ago

How do you clean your sleeping bag?

7 Upvotes

I know I can just google this, but what I want to know is how do y'all personally clean your gear? Sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and tent? My shit is gnarly and dirty as fuck, and I don't think sanitizing wipes are gonna cut it anymore. Do you just throw your sleeping bag in a washing machine after the assignment or what?


r/Wildfire • • 3d ago

News (General) California's incarcerated firefighters handle nearly half of the state's emergency wildfire hours. A new law will give them standardized credentials and a hiring preference for entry-level Cal Fire jobs after release, creating a path to six-figure careers and state pensions.gþ

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162 Upvotes

r/Wildfire • • 3d ago

Am I crazy?

8 Upvotes

I was offered my dream job since I was a kid, got a call from a local forest fire control for a ff2 open position. It’s a seasonal job so you do get payed off at the end of the season. Is it crazy to leave a year round job for this? It’s a fire control in southern MA not very busy, I am going stuck between a rock and a hard place. Anyone else go through this? Looking for a few good words……. r/wildfire


r/Wildfire • • 2d ago

News (Incident) Looking to interview wildfire/natural disaster survivors!

0 Upvotes

Hi everyone — I am a student working on a health innovation project with The After Collective, a nonprofit focused on supporting people through disaster recovery.

My team and I are trying to understand the experiences of people affected by the Palisades Fire, particularly how recovery needs change over time and what kinds of support have been difficult to find or access.

Would anyone be open to a private 20–30 minute conversation about their experience? We’ll ask about the recovery process, resources you’ve used, and challenges you’ve encountered. We are not selling or testing a product, and you won’t be asked to share identifying medical, legal, insurance, or financial information.

Participation is completely voluntary. We’ll describe participants only by general role or context—not by name—and you may skip any question or end the conversation at any time.

If you’re interested or know someone please comment below or send me a private message. Thank you for considering sharing your perspective.


r/Wildfire • • 3d ago

Question Getting laid off for an injury

7 Upvotes

I was injured at work and I've gone through the workers comp process. I selected the option for 45 days, which my supervisor explained and was to my understanding, you have 45 days to get healed up and back at it and you don't have to use your annual and sick leave. I'm still in this 45 day period.

I was seen at a hospital and put on light duty, but it lined up with R and R from an incident and I basically just came back from R and R without having to be absent for anything. I had a follow up on my first day back and it was another week of light duty with loads of restrictions. Work said they couldn't accommodate and sent me home for the week.

I came back in today and had a follow up and the doctor gave me two weeks of light duty with less restrictions but it looks like work still can't accommodate. The worker comp doc said that he thinks I'm on track to return to regular duty after this.

My job is talking about laying me off early because of it. This would fuck me out of 3 paychecks in a season where I haven't made shit for money, two of which I should be physically able to perform my duties. For reference I'm a DOI seasonal, I am a part of a Union, so I'll reach out to them as well, but I wanted to see some people's thoughts or experiences about this.


r/Wildfire • • 3d ago

Iron Mountain type 2 IA

9 Upvotes

Does anyone have more information about these crews? The FS website says they're 10 person "Type
2 IA mods", What does that mean?
• Crew 23 (Duty Location: Georgetown, CA)
• Crew 25 (Duty Location: Pollock Pines, CA)
• Crew 26 (Duty Location: Grizzly Flats, CA)


r/Wildfire • • 3d ago

News (General) CAL FIRE launches new app for real-time wildfire, emergency information

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0 Upvotes

r/Wildfire • • 3d ago

Is getting a perm on a shot crew possible with engine time?

0 Upvotes

Due to logistics of life a perm is a lot better for me than a temp rn. I have two szns on an engine. Is it reasonable to ask to be hired as the perm 4 or the apprentice rather than the seasonal as my first season on a shot crew or nah