I’m 20, from NY, and currently in the Army National Guard (infantry). I’m really interested in getting into wildland firefighting and I’m willing to relocate for the right opportunity. I feel like my Guard training and fitness background would help, but I’m not sure how realistic it is to balance fire season with drills and annual training. Has anyone here done both? How do you handle conflicts when Guard duties overlap with an assignment, and what certs or steps should I start working on now to improve my chances of getting hired? Any advice would be huge.

If you have, are currently , or have had subordinates go unpaid and/or underpaid with the USFS in FY25; please respond to the poll above and if you are willing, please send me a direct message as I am conducting a survey for data collection purposes for a potential OIG complaint. Your information can remain confidential and anonymous if you so choose. This is for the greater good and accountability needs to occur. There is strength in numbers. And statistics move mountains. Please respond to this with an open mind and open heart. One team, one mission. Thank you in advance for your time and attention.

Yea kinda just a frustrated rant but can someone explain the back door deals captains/overhead make when picking people for their mods with the upcoming season?

During the interview, I straight up mentioned I was way more interested in one mod vs. another. Fast forward I’m offered the job on the engine(or so I thought), but now I go to do onboarding, says I’ve been selected for the helitack spot. Somewhat annoyed but still tryna keep a positive outlook since it’s not the end of the world really

I'm transitioning out of the Air Force in a couple months and I've been looking at potential jobs. Wildfire has always interested me but I don't think it's something I'd want to do long term due to the strain on your body. I was thinking of doing a season or 2 of wildfire then getting into dispatch. My only problem: Are permanent full time dispatch jobs common? I don't want to only have a job in the summer and then have to fnd something else the remainder of the year. I found this listing on USA Jobs that's labeled as full time/permanent but I'm wondering is it rare to find one with this appointment schedule? Just looking for a permanent career that makes me feel like I'm contributing something to the place I love. I'll be living in Northern California.

This place was absolutely beautiful, and the silence at the fatality sign was deafening. Long live the Yarnell 19

I was wondering y’all’s thoughts on square ground chain in a wild fire setting. I personally don’t have any experience with it, but we’ve all seen the videos of it being objectively faster cutting through wood. All the resources I’ve worked with use round, myself included. My main concern would be field sharpening and hitting rocks or metal. Does square need more work to get back into order once the corner gets knocked off? Is field maintenance even viable without vices? Could you keep a square grinding sharpener back at station and then run round filed chain once you ran out of square? I currently run round filed chain, but in the pursuit of cutting faster and spending less time under the tree I’d like y’all’s input

If I go into a ranger station and ask for the emails of the hiring managers or like the hiring officers for the fire hiring well the front desk give it to me? Because I can’t find any of their emails posted online.

Hey! If you're around Southwest Montana and need a new pair of boots, I've got a pair of 10.5 wide that are nearly brand new that I'm listing for $300 on local pages, but would sell for $250 straight to one of y'all. They are $450 new, so save yourself a couple hundred bucks. They're great, but were way too big for me (I ordered too big of a size, plus they seem to run a little large on top of that, so they were like clown boots on me haha). I wore them for one assignment, but I was a driver, so they weren't abused by any means.

I'm in Dillon but will be up in Helena today.