Wildland Firefigher

Wildland Firefigher

Department: Department of Agriculture

Location(s): Salt Lake City, Utah, Seattle, Washington, Phoenix, Arizona, Los Angeles, California, San Francisco, California, Denver, Colorado, Washington, District of Columbia, Miami, Florida, Atlanta, Georgia, Chicago, Illinois, Indianapolis, Indiana, New Orleans, Louisiana, Boston, Massachusetts, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kansas City, Missouri, Albuquerque, New Mexico, New York, New York, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Portland, Oregon, Austin, Texas, Darby, Montana, Eureka, Montana, Huson, Montana, Libby, Montana, Missoula, Montana, Plains, Montana, Seeley Lake, Montana, Stevensville, Montana, Sula, Montana, Superior, Montana, Trout Creek, Montana, Troy, Montana

Salary Range: $25.12 - $25.12 Per Hour

Job Summary: This position is located within a National Forest. The position is located on a fire crew as a crewmember within the fire management organization. The purpose of the position is wildland fire suppression/management/control, as a firefighter on an engine, hotshot, helitack or hand crew.

Major Duties:

• Serves as a senior firefighter on a hand crew. May perform the duties of a qualified faller, saw repair technician, or certified in the use of long line. May on occasion serve as driver of crew carrier.
• All drivers of crew carriers are required to meet state Department of Transportation licensing requirements. This license must be obtained prior to being assigned driver duties.
• Driver is subject the requirements of the Department of Transportation drug and alcohol testing program.
• Serves as a senior firefighter on a Fire Engine. Serves as alternate to the Assistant Fire Engine Operator.
• May assist in performing work of starting pump engine, priming pump, adjusting engine speed and pump valves, laying hose, and using appropriate nozzles and nozzle adjustment in effective use of water and additives.
• Firefighter may have specialized duties such as water handling specialist, fully qualified faller, or responsible for maintenance of specialized equipment used to respond to wildland urban interface/intermix situations.
• Serves as a senior firefighter on a helitack crew. Loads helicopter cargo considering methods, weight distribution, necessity for securing, total weight, etc. Completes manifests of personnel/equipment being transported to a fire or other work site.
• May exit helicopter in remote areas to construct helispots, or to attack small fires, hot spots and spot fires.
• Specialized firefighter may serve as certified rappeler or specialist in the operation and maintenance of accessory equipment. May serve as part of a short haul crew.
• While on the fireline, employee will suppress the fire by moving dirt, chopping brush, felling trees, and build a fire line.
• While on the fireline, employee will suppress the fire by using hand tools such as axe, Pulaski, shovel and McLeod, and power saws, to control spreading wildland fire until relieved or fire is suppressed.
• May perform various aviation and ground support activities, such as servicing and operating batch mixers, tanks, and related components including pumps, valves, and hoses.
• Conducts operations in the urban interface and/or point protection in remote settings as directed.
• May fill-in for other work leaders on established crews who are absent. May lead a squad (3-5) firefighters on a module in performing suppression duties on small or large fires.
• As work leader is responsible for showing new employees how the work is performed, for implementing quantity and quality goals on-the-job, for assuring that equipment and tools are available, and that work is performed in a safe manner.
• May inventory fuel beds, prepare associated reports, monitor burning conditions, pile logging debris and act in assigned positions during fuel reduction efforts by prescribed fire.
• May perform project work and lead other workers in the same type of work which may include but is not limited to cleaning outdoor recreational facilities; mows grass and trims shrubs; performs trail maintenance and building maintenance duties.
• May perform project work and lead other workers in the same type of work which may include but is not limited to marking trees for timber harvesting in accordance with designated plan, checks seedling survival, and so forth.

Qualifications: In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards. Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary. In order to be considered for this position, copies of your Incident Qualification and Certification System (IQCS) Master Record (or equivalent training documents) which contain documented proof of the certification or attainment of the IFPM Selective Placement Factor for this position MUST be attached to your application. Red cards are not acceptable documentation. GW-05: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least GW-04 grade level in federal service or equivalent; OR successful completion of a 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university with major study in Fire Science, Fire Training, Fire Technology or other related fields of study; OR a combination of education and experience. Examples of specialized experience include: Patrolling areas of controlled fires to mop-up by searching out and extinguishing any remaining burning material. Serving on a specialty crew (hotshot, helitack, engines, etc.) to suppress the full range of difficult and complex fires. Operating specialized fire suppression equipment such as portable pumps or drip torches. Selective Placement Factors Successfully completed the Primary NWCG Core Requirement of Firefighter Type 1 (FFT1) -AND- Successfully completed the Secondary NWCG Core Requirement of Intermediate Wildland Fire Behavior (S-290). Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. WORK CAPACITY TEST (WCT) for Wildland Firefighters: This position participates in wildland firefighting activities. Based on the type of work performed, TAKING and PASSING the WCT at the ARDUOUS level is a condition of employment, which means you must maintain the required level of physical fitness in order to remain in the position. The Arduous fitness (Pack) Test requires completing a three (3) mile hike within forty-five (45) minutes, while carrying a forty-five (45) pound pack. You are strongly encouraged to consult with your physician and begin training immediately if applying for this position. This announcement constitutes the required 30 days advanced notice for testing requirements. In accordance with USDA Department Regulation 4430-792-2, this position is a Testing Designated Position (TDP) under the USDA Drug Free Workplace Program and subject to pre-employment drug testing. All applicants selected for this position will be required to submit to a urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Incumbents of this position will be required to submit to a urinalysis on an ongoing random basis, after appointment as directed. To receive consideration for this position, you must provide updated required documents and meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

How to Apply: Please view Tips for Applicants - a guide to the Forest Service application process. Please read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (7:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Mountain Time Zone, Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be complete and submitted no later than noon ET on the closing date of the announcement to be entered into the system prior to its closing. Resumes must not exceed two pages. This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact the Agency Contact to request this. To begin, click "Apply" and follow the instructions to complete the Assessment Questionnaire and attach your resume and all required documents. Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBs transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, TXT or Word (DOC or DOCX). Do not upload Adobe Portfolio documents because they are not viewable. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration. Please ensure your resume does not exceed two pages. Applicants who submit a resume that exceeds two pages will be removed from consideration. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, your system failure, etc.

Application Deadline: 2026-01-14