The mentality of wildland firefighters

Wildland firefighters are getting ready for another potentially busy fire season across the western U.S.

[@justinkrichbaum832]

People don’t realize how especially badass smoke jumpers are. Once they jump into fires they often have to hike out. Many times they are utilized when there is a fire like a lightning fire way out in BFE and they jump in and then hike out. Most insane part is how low they get paid. Major respect to smoke jumpers!

[@brrrt7623]

Also whenever jumpers are utilized they basically become IC

[@daveyjoseph6058]

@@brrrt7623 instantly cool?

[@brrrt7623]

@@daveyjoseph6058 incident command.

[@brrrt7623]

@@daveyjoseph6058 meaning they take lead of the incident.

[@clydefrog6959]

The best part of smoke jumpers is that everyone in the forest service claims to be as cool as them, when they’re really just a bunch of lazy SJW’s that work 4 months out of the year with a month of “disability leave” Got bless the BLM.

[@pauliedoskoez]

You gotta understand that these people don’t go home to a comfortable bed and safe place to live like Normal Firefighters, They are laying their beds on the same ground that they are there to Protect. Give all Emergency Services/Military The Respect they deserve, PLEASE.

[@clydefrog6959]

They are home 3/4 of the year ❤

[@C_baldwin]

@@clydefrog6959not true fire season is longer every year

[@SableTwoSeven]

Even if certain people consider this "unskilled labor" I would like to do this.

[@tobbleboii5988]

even if some people consider it "unskilled labor", I would never be tough enough to do it

[@lifeafterthesqueeze3861]

DO IT!!! It has been the funnest job. great friends Unforgettable memories. lots of fun lots of close calls wouldn't trade it for anything!

[@annettethiessen533]

Go ahead... Then come back afterwards and tell us your experience.

[@jimthejam6668]

People that cal it unskilled labor haven't done it for a season.

[@TatoAV]

@@jimthejam6668 they're usually people without much analytical thinking, the kinds of people who watch the news and hate the police and firefighters because they're instructed to hate 'em

[@gailmckay5551]

I have nothing but respect for these people. I started the training during forestry aid tech but it was far to much for me. These folks are easy as tough as our military folks. Thank you

[@doloresdelano9784]

Wildland firefighters in general need higher pay they are hard workers and not everyone can do the job much respect ✊🏻

[@harrisonwade8381]

My fav part is finding a new off season job every 6 months! Nothing like saying "Im only going to be here for 6 months" to get ahead with the boss!

[@paulhuddlestunjr9048]

Feel the pain my friend

[@robert9595]

Oh right, and yet the firefighting budget could very easily fund you for that 6 months, along with your brothers/sisters that fight beside you. Demand action.

[@brrrt7623]

The company I work for offers year round work.

[@jefferygeorge690]

I feel that story of my life.

[@bryce9719]

Is your company hiring?

[@rfd615]

Thank you for what you do.From a former interior firefighter.

[@robertborchert932]

What! Pulling hose? That's for drinking. Former monkey and Captain. Our agency used us on all structure responses, second alarm. Spent my share of years "sucking rubber". Just had to jibe. It's a brother firefighter thing. Be safe out there, brother. Why say that? Simple, a fireman never really quits, you understand. Had fun making hydrant connections and gave the arriving chief my report on conditions...all while walking my Saint Bernard. Training all comes back.

[@brentnicol1586]

My season starts in 6 days! I work on a handcrew in Southern California, there's a big mental portion to fighting fire like this and I had to learn that real quick

[@nativefreek5194]

Good luck out there brother ✊🏽 stay safe, and “HOLD THE LINE!” 🔥🔥🔥🔥 🌲 🌲🌲🌲

[@docwil2541]

We do it for the great food in fire camp and the t shirts. lol Those Con made sack lunches are bank.

[@PHAToregon]

And it’s admittedly really fun doing burn ops

[@docwil2541]

@@PHAToregon especiall at night. And I enjoyed being a Sawyer. Although the year as a Swamper sucked.

[@cyberbully4474]

@@docwil2541 we do it for the uncrustables

[@CuttinChris]

@@docwil2541 Sawyer in training swamping and gotta say I love burn ops gives me a break from moving mass amounts of timber by hand behind the sawyers lol.

[@docwil2541]

@@CuttinChris Swamping is definitely a form of hazing to see how bad you want it. lol

[@aaronbritt2025]

Did it for 4 years in the 90's. Was with the BLM, based in Vegas. I traveled all over the West. I would have kept doing it, but at the time, my district was only hiring one or two new full time firefighters per year. Very hard to get hired. I left when the Operating Engineers Local 12 apprenticeship opened up. I'm now retired from Local 12.

[@robertborchert932]

Miss it to this day, former Crew Boss, brush monkey, helitack. Been 20 years. Have the knees to prove it. Would I do it again? No real brush monkey ever quits, it's in the blood. I miss those days dearly, but I'm 56 today, greying and grizzled. The heart still races every time I hear a Huey / 205 thump overhead.

[@yepp1730]

Jump on a tender may not be as exciting but at least you would still be on fire

[@ineedanewname.8169]

Robert I don't know where you worked, I doubt we're even from the same country, but thank you for your service.

[@itsyaboimat2393]

Brother get on an engine as a driver/pump operator we can use your knowledge on the line

[@iddddaduncan]

Thank you so much for what you do!

[@rmbgtango7563]

It sucks some idiots consider wildland firefights weak. Yes I know tik tok is dumb

[@Naughtowll01]

Bruh California just passed a bill that’s laying off 670 wildland firefighters bc “They all make over 20$ an hour and we need to save water”

[@Pwander208]

Thank you for running this story!

[@elrobo3568]

"When forests burn pigs die" that's what we wildland firefighters say because it seems that a lot of the canteens that provide food serve a lot of pork second is white plastic pails of chicken. This is much better than cold MRE'S that I have had to eat on some fires I was on. I'm retired now but still miss the job and those I worked with! I really never thought much about the pay until I retired. My Kudos to those following behind me, stay safe and listen to your lookout!

[@deanfirnatine7814]

I was a wildland firefighter in the 80's and the season lasted from June into October in my region, pretty much the same as it is now, so I think that "70 days longer" is manipulated statistics.

[@24whatabeast]

Right. Because your region is the only region that matters. Do you see how silly you sound? You old heads are ridiculous. Nationally fire season is getting longer. Maybe not in your region but most others are. Do your research oldhead.

[@ericrader5120]

Best job I ever had!

[@tonyfourpaws4511]

Best job i still have!

[@TheFastestSrbin]

Great work...stay safe, greetings from Serbia, Europe!

[@tonyfourpaws4511]

Great question: Why do WE do this.... I ask myself this question every year...

[@justsomebodyontheinternet9089]

Keep in mind that these guys make less than minimum wage

[@robertborchert932]

Back in the day, I made even less than that. Why did I do it? Because it needed to be done. And I wasn't afraid of the challenge. Protecting those in harm's way.

[@yepp1730]

Not all. What you wanna do is work for a contractor not the feds. With the company I'm with my base pay is 18.75 then you can add $4 hazard pay. Once I hit overtime I'm making a lil over $27

[@melvincochran7965]

@@yepp1730 what company do you work for

[@arifchowdhury881]

@@yepp1730 Yeah I wanna know too. I'm thinking of moving to the US for to find work and being a fireman has always been a dream of mine.

[@yepp1730]

@@arifchowdhury881 ill send yall a private message. Just so you know we are in southern Oregon

[@twindexxx]

in Germany over 1 percent of the population is a firefighter because we have volunterr firestations everywhere. so whenever a big fire happens we have enough manpower and the fire is usually kept unmder controll

[@seeker296]

Germany is nothing like western America...

[@mickeldeluca2305]

Hats off to you did this for many years retired now

[@walkthru3774]

I like how that hotshot crew would rather drive through recently burnt black with their tires rather than the unburnt area hahaha

[@That_Guy_Miggy]

As short and lightweight 21 year old like myself, I don’t think I’d make it past training 😔 as much as I go hiking with weights on, my physique and the weather conditions wouldn’t make me last.

[@yeznez]

I’m a petite female I started fire at 21 I’m now 24 if you have the mentality there’s a place for you

[@clouds5912]

I’m 5’6 122lb 19yo female. You got it man, I had that mindset too until I told myself even the smaller can get in.

[@owensweetland342]

Got the "bug". Lol. Yup. Got it too in high school.

[@Darkx698]

Gonna be doing this after school wish me luck

[@mrgreen...9643]

Well done 6 people the ultimate rebels

[@l_w6041]

uNsKiLlEd LaBoR -

[@gmansk53]

You just go into machine mode.

[@robertbriel7851]

How do I get a burn permit.

[@claykalmar8131]

I joined my local VFD here in Western PA last year, and I love it. Props to these guys, they are on another level. Someone has to step up, why not me? Why not you?

[@nicevideomancanada]

No Drone Water Bombers yet, the world's burning down and still no Robots to our rescue

[@1RadicalDreamer]

How do you even apply for this job?

[@MrRAGE-md5rj]

Online or on Paper. I went on Indeed.

[@thehillbillyhilton3557]

Id love to do it but my knees wouldn't allow it. I could do the equipment work thou for sure.

[@lailadelmundo9848]

I wanna join that work

[@complexteo-iwnl3321]

1:30 nathan wiener the ultimate sigma male

[@hoboeyjobi7020]

MREs are like 1,250 calories

[@bfgbfg6515]

They need those robot donkey thingy the military is creating more now than ever .

[@n00n1n]

That guy with the beard seems like he's intentionally lowering his voice

[@froilanfranco8617]

Nice

[@ostapbendervan7874]

Hard hard work Be sAfe

[@nicevideomancanada]

DARPA Robots would be a lot of help, but they are just for war, but isn't this war.

[@GiantJanus]

DARPA likes drones because if it gets shot down you do not lose personnel normally the planes that do fire fighting do not get shot down, not because drones are more effective.

[@jritter1]

I’ve never seen smokejumpers use The ram air parachutes. For many years I thought they should just because you can steer and flare.

[@jacobm1639]

Nathan WHO?

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

They do this job because they care.

[@xxuncexx]

Hiking out with 135lbs of gear each? Are you suuuure?

[@irishale8703]

I do it to pound ground...

[@infitada]

my favorite part of this is having some ‘forestry degree’ douche interrupt a very seasoned hotshot crew boss from putting out the execution info for a burnout because… ‘he always lights from the road first’ SMH

[@tonyfourpaws4511]

Yuppies.... Most of the USFS is full of them now. We hate them.. lol

[@wannabetowasabe]

Some of us "forestry degree douches" worked our way through college with summer and weekend jobs with the USFS. I spent 4 years in fire management before I took a forester job, knowing the experience would prove useful in my career. I was on more fires once I left fire management than I was on during those 4 years. I was crew boss for a military crew in Yellowstone for a month and was assigned to the North Fork Fire the day it burned into Old Faithful Village. The last crew I supervised was an assortment of regulars and blue card people and they were mistaken for a hotshot crew as that is what they looked like in camp on on the fire. I am and never was a "douche" and your statement is an overgeneralization.

[@bigliltop2884]

Bru im in it for the money🤣

[@IsaacTui]

The pay sucks

[@ultra9678]

Nathan wiener

[@ultra9678]

Wiener

[@pronounshismajesty3542]

@@ultra9678penis

[@itchntohitch4143]

Over and over fire managers are drunk with the massive manpower, machinery, and air assets at their disposal. Rather than develop instant response planforms to extinguish fires immediately, a lethargic response often permits fires to jump classifications to allow larger force requirements to combat. We all have watched small immediately manageable fires become major conflagrations due to a largely inadequate initial "lets watch it and see what it is going to do" mentality. The result is that our firefighters with boots on the ground are very often deployed into dangerous conditions when an initial aerial drop or two could have extinguished the fire within 1/2 hour of its onset.... Economics 101....

[@tempestfm5810]

Doesn’t really work like that but ok

[@ThinBlueLineGuardian]

Thats not correct, most of the time it is because these fires are on wildlands which means that you can't use machinery and sometimes even aircraft on the fire until it is outside of the wildland areas. these politics make it very hard for my team and I work on these fires.

[@Etomidate]

We want things to burn, our current society has prevent natural wildfires to be much larger due to the buildup of fuels. We have one thing in mind, PROTECT STRUCTURES. That is all that matters. Widlfire is healthy for the land around us. Trees survive and the burn causes fertile soil. Air resources are more expensive than you think, we don't just have them at our disposal all of the time. Also do you think that one lightning strike in the middle of nowhere with some killer winds that we will catch it? No we will not catch that, it will turn into easily a 100 acre fire which at that point, depending on the weather gets out of control. We still stop a lot of fires before they are huge. But sometimes they are impossible to stop unless you want firewatch on every 30 acres of land around the U.S.

[@scamminjanet9145]

This is not correct

[@chatzmagutz7285]

Uh no , wrong reasoning .

[@mrthomasfritz]

most are slaves, from the local prison. They are paid $10 for the whole day of slave labor whereas the inmates slaves in prison, who toil for 10 cents per hour. When the court puts on 1000 in fines and fees, they have to pay it or never get out. That is 100,000 hours of hard labor, 2,500 days of labor, or 500 days just to pay it off. You have some jerk judges who put on 1 million dollars! Slavery is evil, refusing to allow unconvinced people out of jail before trial is evil.

[@tommythompsonsurfer]

GROUND CREWS.......MY TEAM CUT THE FIRE EASLY........CUTTING HOTLINE......SO CALIF BURNS ARE BOZO EASY........BIG FUEL NOT SO. NEVER SAW A WATER AIRDROP UNTIL BIG FUEL

[@alfonsojuarez2469]

They're Range Tech or Forest Tech not wildland firefighter just to let you know

[@Etomidate]

Let them earn the title of firefighters. I know that they are known as techs, but I've been at the front of a wildfire digging out and around hot fires about to spread to a community of homes in the North Complex fire in Northern California. I now a "real" firefighter have been protecting homes around the past 10 months. Guess what I have equal respect if not more for the wildland firefighters than my co-workers. Yes we have long hours, but they have longer. 16 hour days up to 21 days straight. They are firefighters and you should give them the title of that. I get to sleep in a real bed, they get to change camps every other day, or return to the disgusting sleeping bag they have been sleeping in for 14 days straight. Some "forest techs" never get to see the flaming front but they still do some of the hardest work out there, surrounded in snags ready to fall upon them. In my eyes as a firefighter they are more than me coming back to structure. I respect them more than anything.

[@AppalachianPatriot]

Not completely true. It depends on if it is a state or federal agency. Florida Wildland firefighters are firefighters.

[@Carterthielftw_]

I can't tell if your making a joke about our politicians disrespecting the very people who save our lives, or if your dead serious...

[@skydiverclassc2031]

@@Carterthielftw_ Forestry Technician and Range Technician are the actual job titles of firefighters in the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. There is some movement to reclassify them as firefighters but it hasn't happened yet.

[@Carterthielftw_]

@@skydiverclassc2031 that NEEDS to happen. Hopefully when they receive the actual recognition and title of "firefighter" they will have SOME kind of extra compensation, even knowing how little it will be...

[@tonyrowland9216]

Put the loggers back to work.

[@nokk__]

lol nathan wiener