Home and Away: Schedule and Housing Realities for Wildland Firefighters
Cutting out the roads and hauling in supplies to fire lookouts every spring is always a highlight of the season when we got the chance to go. Some are beautiful hikes and/or drives up and an even better view from the top. You never know what you’ll do for work when you’re not fighting fire.
How far away and how often do wildland firefighters travel? What do wildland firefighters do for housing?
These types of questions are all tied together and probably the ones that cause the most confusion. Housing and where and how often wildland firefighters work varies wildly depending on the type of crew and if you’re employed by a federal agency or a private contractor.
Here are groups of similar reader questions and my replies. I hope thIs explains what the schedule is like during a fire season, where firefighters can live, and what housing is like.
When you're not on an active fire, where do you work in regards to where you live? (easy daily commute or do you travel somewhere new every day?) Do I have to live near where I work? Would I be able to apply somewhere in a rural part of the state and then travel to every fire that I am assigned?
During our normal 40 hour work weeks, we work five days a week usually 8:00-4:30 pm or 9:30-6:00 pm with two consecutive days off. Unless we are on a local fire or an extended fire assignment we always start our day based out of the same place, called a duty station.
A duty station is where you report to work every day and it is determined by where you are hired and offered a job before the season starts. So it’s best to live relatively close to where you work. The farthest most people live is usually a 45 minute drive one way.
My commute right now is a 15 min drive, and I carpool with another friend/coworker. My commutes in the past have ranged from a 10 second walk across the street to a 45 minute drive one way. So it can be all over the place.
Only in extreme fire conditions would you be traveling to a new fire everyday, otherwise you have a pretty set schedule when things are slow. When fire conditions are more active we sometimes work extended hours, called extensions.
You could go to work expecting to be off at the normal time and then go to a fire and not come home or get extended an hour or more. You never know what your day will be like once fires start happening.
During peak fire season we will do planned extensions (sometimes called severity) and work 10-12 hour days. This can be nice because you know you are going to be working early and late, instead of finding out the day of, but 12 hour days for a few weeks can become very Groundhog Day-like.
If you only wanted to be on call for fire assignments you should reach out to fire contract crews. Some of those have lists and when you come up on the list they will call and see if you are available.
The biggest ones are:
When working on an active fire, what's a normal distance range you will be sent? (in the same state or across the country?) How far do you travel for fires?
When working active fires on your home forest or area you can still be gone overnight or for multiple days, but if your crew is available to travel away from your home forest you are "available nationally" and you can be sent anywhere in the country.
Working in Colorado I've been sent to Oregon and working in Idaho I've been sent to Arizona and as far away as Pennsylvania. It’s common for fire crews to travel to Alaska every season.
The California handcrew I worked on was sent to help with a volcano eruption in Hawaii once. In 2020 when the bushfires were really bad my forest in Idaho sent a team to Australia. So you can really cover some miles in a fire season depending on what’s happening.
In West Virginia fighting fire with a leaf blower, a tactic we would never use at home in Idaho. We travel to wherever we are needed even if it’s on the other side of the country
What do you do when you’re not fighting fires?
We do a giant mix of things. Anything from prescribed burns, pile burns, preparedness, training, drills, classes, project work (like trail or road clearing, thinning projects on the forest, putting up signs, etc), fuel sampling, bringing supplies to lookouts, checking dispersed camping, building fences, chainsaw and hand tool sharpening, wildfire prevention work with the public, parades, vehicle maintenance, cleaning (lots of cleaning), the list goes on. There’s always lots to do to in a 40-hour work week when there are no fires.
Sharpening hand tools with hand files after a fire shift
Where do firefighters live? Does the government provide housing? How can I find housing if I get a job and there’s no housing available? Can I live in a motel? Can I camp out of my car if I’m expecting to be gone all summer? Do I need a vehicle if I live in government housing?
It’s always good to ask about what’s available. I’ve lived in government housing that was dorms and trailers. Some I had to share a room and others I had my own. It’s good to ask how far away it is from where you’ll be showing up for work.
One place I worked the only government housing available was at another duty station on the forest 45 minutes away. I started there and then once I got to know people I was able to find a room in a house with a bunch of other government employees that was a 10 minute drive away. So don’t think that the first place you live has to be your only option.
If you have to find housing on your own check out Craigslist or local Facebook groups or ask to get in touch with your new coworkers. I’ve even posted wanted ads on these types of places that I need housing and I got some good leads and found places to live that way.
Most hiring officials are also very willing to help people get housing and know what to expect at their new job/town. Just ask questions when you are being interviewed.
I suppose you could stay at a motel until you found lodging, but it's much less stressful to have something lined up before you arrive. I’ve worked with people who camped out of their vehicles for a whole season and it’s totally doable. This is very common for hotshot crews because they are gone so much of the season.
Some government housing areas have dedicated hook ups for campers and places to park that has access to laundry and/or a small kitchen. One of my friends lived out of her van on public land within a mile of one of the busiest and most amazing national parks in the country. Again, just ask when you get hired to see what’s possible.
Depending on the situation you may or may not need a personal vehicle. Most government housing is within walking or biking distance from your duty station, but as I've said I’ve experienced everything from a 10 second walk to a 45 minute commute one way so it can vary wildly.
One last note about moving to a new place for a fire job: Brand new hires generally don't get their first paycheck until two weeks to a month after they start working because the government is pretty slow on hiring paperwork and getting things rolling with so many new seasonals starting at the same time each year. I recommend that people have some savings to get moved, set up and be prepared to not see any pay for their first month of work.
Continue Reading