Transition from Structural to Wildland

Hey folks I'm currently a career firefighter at a smallish city department, I got hired when I was 21 and have been here for a little over a year. I am greatly interested in wildland firefighting in Oregon/California. I moved across the country to work where I am now, and would like to move back closer to home and explore different opportunities within the fire service.

I currently have ff1 and Hazmat ops. all ifsac. I am 1 class away from my fire science degree which I am taking right now. I'm not currently red carded as my department doesn't do forestry firefighting.

I noticed Calfires deadline is Jan31 for seasonal, how would I go about obtaining a permanent job with cal fire or any other agency be it BLM, USFS, NPS? I would love to do forestry work during the off season permanent employment is the end goal.

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Originally Posted by Fieronfire

Hey folks I'm currently a career firefighter at a smallish city department, I got hired when I was 21 and have been here for a little over a year. I am greatly interested in wildland firefighting in Oregon/California. I moved across the country to work where I am now, and would like to move back closer to home and explore different opportunities within the fire service.

I currently have ff1 and Hazmat ops. all ifsac. I am 1 class away from my fire science degree which I am taking right now. I'm not currently red carded as my department doesn't do forestry firefighting.

I noticed Calfires deadline is Jan31 for seasonal, how would I go about obtaining a permanent job with cal fire or any other agency be it BLM, USFS, NPS? I would love to do forestry work during the off season permanent employment is the end goal.

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There is a big list of guys going for Cal Fire, at best you would get a seasonal. I know Idaho Panhandle national Forest is looking for people, gives them a shot.

To get hired permanent with CAL FIRE can be a long process depending on how motivated you are. Most people start off a seasonal Firefighter 1 during the summer months. Every couple of years CAL FIRE will hold a test to establish a hiring list for firefighter 2 (year-around) and Fire Apparatus Engineer. People with time in rank as a firefighter 1 as well as veterans are given preference points over others.

Both positions FF2 and FAE have two appointment types, limited term (LT) and permanent, limited term assignments can last up to two years. Once you take the test you are given a rank usually 1-12, although sometimes there is more then 12 ranks depends on number of applicants. Then usually sometime around the beginning of fire season individual units will contact candidates in reachable ranks (top 3 ranks) and invite then to participate in and interview process, resume review process or both. Once hired as an FAE you attend the CAL FIRE company officer academy in Ione, CA. This is how the last two rounds of hiring have been done, I hope you found this helpfully. I know it is a lot of information and it can be a confusing process.