Live from USAJOBS
Right now there are 21 federal wildland fire jobs open, 3 of them entry level โ engine crews, hotshots, helitack, and forestry-tech roles. Here's what they pay and how to apply.
Last updated Sunday, October 25th at 4:00 p.m. CDT
Wondering what these pay? See how much wildland firefighters make. Base plus overtime, hazard, and incident pay, by grade.
Looking for a fire lookout job? See our fire lookout jobs page.
21 open postings (job codes 0456 + 0462). Each posting can hire several people across multiple locations.
No experience needed โ 3 openings open to rookies right now.
Multiple Locations · Office of the Secretary of the Interior
๐ฐ ~$73Kโ$123K a season with overtime & hazard pay (est.)
Multiple Locations · Office of the Secretary of the Interior
๐ฐ ~$40Kโ$85K a season with overtime & hazard pay (est.)
Multiple Locations · Office of the Secretary of the Interior
๐ฐ ~$71Kโ$118K a season with overtime & hazard pay (est.)
๐ฅ Get new wildland fire jobs by email
The government posts new fire jobs most Mondays. Every Tuesday morning we email you the new ones, so you can apply first. 21 jobs are open right now.
One email a week. No spam, never shared. Unsubscribe anytime.
18 openings that ask for prior fire experience or a higher grade.
Multiple Locations · Office of the Secretary of the Interior
๐ฐ ~$120Kโ$201K a season with overtime & hazard pay (est.)
Washington · Office of the Secretary of the Interior
๐ฐ ~$109Kโ$183K a season with overtime & hazard pay (est.)
Multiple Locations · Office of the Secretary of the Interior
๐ฐ ~$99Kโ$165K a season with overtime & hazard pay (est.)
Spokane Valley, Washington · Office of the Secretary of the Interior
๐ฐ ~$98Kโ$163K a season with overtime & hazard pay (est.)
Jackson, Mississippi · Forest Service
๐ฐ ~$120Kโ$200K a season with overtime & hazard pay (est.)
Fort Benning, Georgia · United States Army Installation Management Command
๐ฐ ~$94Kโ$157K a season with overtime & hazard pay (est.)
Multiple Locations · Office of the Secretary of the Interior
๐ฐ ~$44Kโ$94K a season with overtime & hazard pay (est.)
Multiple Locations · Office of the Secretary of the Interior
๐ฐ ~$37Kโ$78K a season with overtime & hazard pay (est.)
Multiple Locations · Office of the Secretary of the Interior
๐ฐ ~$162Kโ$272K a season with overtime & hazard pay (est.)
California · Office of the Secretary of the Interior
๐ฐ ~$102Kโ$170K a season with overtime & hazard pay (est.)
Multiple Locations · Office of the Secretary of the Interior
๐ฐ ~$87Kโ$146K a season with overtime & hazard pay (est.)
Gatlinburg, Tennessee · National Park Service
๐ฐ ~$35Kโ$74K a season with overtime & hazard pay (est.)
Washington · Office of the Secretary of the Interior
๐ฐ ~$109Kโ$183K a season with overtime & hazard pay (est.)
Multiple Locations · Office of the Secretary of the Interior
๐ฐ ~$120Kโ$201K a season with overtime & hazard pay (est.)
Multiple Locations · Office of the Secretary of the Interior
๐ฐ ~$97Kโ$162K a season with overtime & hazard pay (est.)
Placerville, California · Office of the Secretary of the Interior
๐ฐ ~$96Kโ$161K a season with overtime & hazard pay (est.)
Miles City, Montana · Office of the Secretary of the Interior
๐ฐ ~$84Kโ$141K a season with overtime & hazard pay (est.)
Washington · Office of the Secretary of the Interior
๐ฐ ~$109Kโ$183K a season with overtime & hazard pay (est.)
๐ฅ Get new wildland fire jobs by email
The government posts new fire jobs most Mondays. Every Tuesday morning we email you the new ones, so you can apply first. 21 jobs are open right now.
One email a week. No spam, never shared. Unsubscribe anytime.
Where federal wildland fire crews hire. Click a state to see which towns hire, what crews, how many entry-level spots a year, and when they post.
Want it by forest? See Forest Service firefighter jobs by national forest. Have a job ad in hand? Type the town it names.
| State | Jobs since 2016 | Entry-level | Open now | Entry-level open |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 3,362 | 817 | 5 | 1 |
| Idaho | 2,652 | 770 | 3 | 2 |
| Oregon | 2,481 | 633 | 5 | 2 |
| Arizona | 2,125 | 735 | 7 | 3 |
| Montana | 2,063 | 641 | 6 | 3 |
| Colorado | 2,058 | 628 | 3 | 2 |
| New Mexico | 1,840 | 586 | 6 | 3 |
| Wyoming | 1,824 | 631 | 3 | 1 |
| Washington | 1,768 | 474 | 8 | 1 |
| Utah | 1,724 | 478 | 3 | 2 |
| Nevada | 1,376 | 403 | 4 | 2 |
| South Dakota | 1,130 | 448 | โ | โ |
| Alaska | 904 | 184 | 4 | 2 |
| Minnesota | 720 | 254 | 2 | 1 |
| Florida | 675 | 206 | 1 | 1 |
| Virginia | 587 | 241 | 1 | 1 |
| Michigan | 566 | 212 | 1 | 1 |
| Georgia | 557 | 183 | 1 | โ |
| Tennessee | 554 | 184 | 1 | โ |
| Oklahoma | 553 | 239 | 1 | 1 |
| Illinois | 552 | 229 | 1 | 1 |
| North Carolina | 547 | 134 | โ | โ |
| Texas | 539 | 190 | 2 | 1 |
| Missouri | 532 | 181 | 2 | 1 |
| Mississippi | 486 | 150 | 5 | 2 |
| Arkansas | 458 | 192 | โ | โ |
| South Carolina | 453 | 136 | โ | โ |
| Louisiana | 445 | 141 | โ | โ |
| Kentucky | 428 | 110 | โ | โ |
| Wisconsin | 424 | 167 | 1 | 1 |
| North Dakota | 387 | 182 | 2 | 2 |
| West Virginia | 346 | 121 | 1 | โ |
| Indiana | 340 | 130 | 2 | 1 |
| Alabama | 297 | 104 | โ | โ |
| Nebraska | 293 | 130 | 1 | 1 |
| Pennsylvania | 283 | 134 | 2 | 1 |
| Ohio | 240 | 94 | โ | โ |
| New Hampshire | 240 | 99 | โ | โ |
| Vermont | 180 | 72 | โ | โ |
| New York | 165 | 60 | โ | โ |
| Kansas | 136 | 71 | โ | โ |
| Massachusetts | 105 | 38 | โ | โ |
Counts from a decade of federal USAJOBS announcements. States with little wildland-fire hiring aren't listed.
Federal job postings are full of codes and abbreviations. Here's the plain-English version so the table below makes sense.
Every federal fire-related series, how many jobs are open right now, and the pay range straight from today's postings. The top two rows (0456 and 0462) are the real wildland-firefighter jobs most rookies want.
| Job code & name | What it covers | Open now |
Hourly pay (seasonal) |
Yearly salary (permanent) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series 0456 Wildland Fire Management | The job code built just for wildland firefighters. Engine crews, hotshots, helitack, and fuels work all live here. | 16 | $21.14โ$31.24 | $44,112โ$146,671 |
| Series 0462 Forestry Technician | The older fire job code. For years this is where most first-year hand crew and hotshot jobs were posted. | 5 | $19.52โ$25.37 | $48,424โ$116,362 |
| Series 0401 Natural Resources & Biological Sciences | Science-leaning roles โ biologists and prescribed-burn (planned fire) specialists. Only some are fire jobs. | โ | โ | โ |
| Series 0025 Park Ranger | National Park Service rangers. A handful also pull wildland-fire duty. | โ | โ | โ |
| Series 0081 Fire Protection & Prevention | Mostly building/structure firefighters on military bases โ not the wildland fire line. | โ | โ | โ |
| Series 2151 Dispatching | The people who coordinate crews, engines, and aircraft by radio. Support role, not on the fire line. | โ | โ | โ |
"Open now" and pay are the wildland-fire jobs we track in series 0456 and 0462 (the other rows just explain the codes). Pay shown is base pay only from currently open postings; overtime and hazard pay during fire season are on top. Job data refreshes hourly from USAJOBS. See how much wildland firefighters make once overtime, hazard, and incident pay are added.
Each bar is one day over the last 12 months: how many federal wildland fire jobs were open. A bar going up means jobs posted. A bar going down means deadlines passed. If today (the dark green bar) looks quiet, that's normal. Most of next summer's jobs post between late summer and January, so that's the window to be ready for.
Seasonal means a temporary appointment for one fire season. That is most rookie crew jobs. Permanent means a permanent federal job.
Pick one grade or several. No pick means every grade. GW-3 and GS-3 both count as grade 3. Grades 3 and 4 are entry level.
The high was 132 jobs open at once in October 2025.
Counted from each announcement's posted open and close dates (job codes 0456 + 0462), so it can differ slightly from today's live count above.
Have questions?
Book a 30-minute call with Graham. He got a Forest Service fire job in Montana with zero experience and worked the summer of 2026. Ask anything: the application, the pack test, what the money really looks like, what to pack. Parents welcome.
“Talking with Graham was super helpful, he explained the hiring process and how to successfully reach out to fire crews. He is very knowledgeable on the different paths to becoming a Wildland firefighter and answered all my questions.”