40 towns in 21 states. You pick. · Forest Service
This job needs fire experience. New to fire? See the entry-level jobs →
Pulled from this posting's official requirements — full text below.
This role is further up the ladder. If you're starting out, you'd begin as a rookie crewmember and work up to it. Here's the path:
Crewmember (Firefighter Type 2)
Senior firefighter · squad · engine operator
Squad boss → engine captain · crew boss
Superintendent · module leader · fire management officer
Specialist track: smokejumper, hotshot, and helitack crews are a parallel path you can jump to after a season on the ground.
Federal fire career structure (NWCG / DOI). Time to advance varies by experience, openings, and qualifications.
A short summary of the official job ad below. Check the official wording before you apply.
$19.52–$19.52/hr
base pay per hour · GS-5
GS is the federal General Schedule pay scale. The number is the grade — higher means more pay and responsibility.
That hourly rate is just the floor. Here's how your season stacks up once overtime (1.5×) and hazard pay (+25% on the fireline) are added:
Slow season — few, short fires — little deployment
Typical busy season — regular fires, steady overtime
Big fire year — heavy deployment all summer
Estimate, based on the midpoint of this posting's pay range (for salaried roles, overtime is figured at the hourly-equivalent rate). The overtime hours — roughly 300 / 700 / 1,300 in a full 6-month season, scaled to the months you pick — are modeled on reported earnings.
Want the full pay picture? See how much wildland firefighters make by grade: base, overtime, hazard, incident pay, and per diem.
The big money is for fire work — not desk time.
These rules are the same for everyone, rookie to supervisor. Base pay comes from real job postings; the rules below come straight from federal law:
Overtime — time-and-a-half
For hours over 40 spent fighting fire. On a fire, even supervisors earn full overtime — regular office hours don't count.
✓ Federal law: Firefighter Pay Reform Act · 5 U.S.C. 5542 →Hazard pay — +25%
An extra quarter on top of your pay — but only for hours actually on the fire line. Not for office or standby time.
✓ Federal law: Federal hazard-pay rules · 5 CFR 550 →Incident pay — up to $9,000 a year
A daily bonus when you're sent to a multi-day fire away from your home base.
✓ Federal law: Incident Response Premium Pay · 5 U.S.C. 5545c →After you apply, call these numbers. A personal call is a great way to stand out from other applicants and improve your chances of getting hired.
When you apply on USAJOBS, you pick the towns you'd work in. Call the stations in those towns. Call the "Start here" number in each town first. Try the others only if that goes nowhere.
Get the 34 phone numbers for this job.
The guide gives you every station's phone number on this site, the call script, and a tracker for your calls. $79.
NOTE: These numbers are public. You can find each one yourself on government websites. The guide just makes it easy: every number for this job, in one place.
The towns on this job that hire the most entry-level firefighters
White Sulphur Springs, Montana
What to say when you call
Get my exact phone scripts, the words I used when I got my job: what to say to the front desk, to the crew boss, and on a voicemail.
Get the guide🔥 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. 125 jobs are open right now.
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You pick the towns when you apply. This one job ad covers 40 towns in 21 states. Open a state to see its towns, grouped by national forest. Pick a town to see its fire stations and offices, a phone number, and the fires nearby.
Map: each dot is a town. Click a dot to open that town's page.
Tonto National Forest
Angeles National Forest
Other towns
Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests
Towns
Towns
Towns
Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest
Towns
Towns
Towns
Towns
Towns
Towns
Bitterroot National Forest
Flathead National Forest
Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest
Kootenai National Forest
Lolo National Forest
Cibola National Forest
Towns
Towns
Mt. Hood National Forest
Towns
Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest
Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
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. GS-05: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least GS-4 grade level; OR a bachelor's degree or 4 years of successfully completed education above high school (120 semester/180 quarter hours) with major study in forestry, range management, agriculture, or a subject-matter field directly related to the position, or that included at least 24 semester hours in any combination of courses such as forestry, agriculture, crop or plant science, range management or conservation, wildlife management, watershed management, soil science, natural resources, outdoor recreation management, civil or forest engineering, or wildland fire science (no more than 6 semester hours in mathematics is creditable); OR combinations of successfully completed post-high school education (in excess of the first 60 semester/90 quarter hours) and specialized experience. The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. Examples of specialized experience include: Maintaining records, log books and lookout equipment. Maintaining lookout station and grounds in a neat and orderly condition. Receiving and relaying a variety of fire and administrative data and keeping dispatcher/fire officials informed of current conditions. Promoting the fire prevention program by explaining State and Federal laws, policies, and regulations to visitors. 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. To receive consideration for this position, you must provide updated required documents and meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
Uses standard fire finders, compass, binoculars, protractors, and geographic maps to locate observed smoke. Estimates distance to smokes and probable size and characteristics of fires.
Plots location of fires using specialized equipment. Reports azimuth, distance, location, volume, color, behavior of smoke, and other pertinent information by radio.
Continues to observe the area and reports significant changes such as increased smoke, wind conditions, changes in color or volume of smoke, etc to dispatch.
Evaluates changing conditions with the use of weather instruments to interpret fire weather data, then advises Fire Suppression personnel of those changes.
Uses radio communications to warn personnel involved in the response to fires of changes that may affect them.
Observes ground lightning strikes, reports resultant fires, and records storm path to assist in the observation for hold over fires.
Records and reports daily weather observations and records. Maintains photo records and log books identifying the source and duration of smoke plumes. Makes minor adjustments to and maintains lookout equipment.
Maintains station and grounds in a neat and orderly condition. Operates a radio communications center which connects to other lookout stations, lookouts, agencies, and two interagency dispatch centers.
Receives and relays messages and information received relating to weather forecasts, fire hazard conditions, fire emergencies, accidents, and location of work crews and personnel.
Communicates the location of known down strikes and fires to aircraft during recon activities.
Serves as key contact at a lookout station visited by large numbers of people during the fire season.
Promotes the fire prevention program by explaining State and Federal laws, policies, and regulations, as well as fire prevention methods and procedures and fire hazard conditions.
Patrols district one day per week; maintains prevention signs; changes out prevention signs as needed; issues campfire permits; explains state and federal laws to visitors during patrol.
Reviews documents and reports for completeness and enters pertinent information into an automated tracking system; independently conducts the full range of database searches;
Reviews and processes documents and reports in accordance with established procedures.
This position is located within a National Forest. The purpose of the position is to provide fire detection services to district fire suppression personnel.
You must be a US Citizen or US National. Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt. Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check. Direct Deposit Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of your choosing. Must be 18 years of age. Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit E-Verify.gov. Willing to live/work in remote locations (volatile/unpredictable).
A Direct-Hire Authority under the USDA Demonstration Project will be used to fill this position. All applicants who meet the minimum qualifications, including any applicable selective placement factor(s), will be referred to the selecting official. Before a certificate is issued to the selecting official, the application documents are reviewed to ensure that you meet all the qualification requirements. A rating will not be used; veteran's preference does not apply due to the existence of the Direct Hire authority for this position. Applicants who meet the minimum qualification requirements established for the position will be referred to the selecting official. Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, you may be found ineligible. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect whether you are considered. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to including removal from the Federal service.
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.
The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration. Resume that includes: Personal Information: name, address, contact information; Education; Work Experience related to this position as described in the major duties including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment; title, series, grade (if applicable); other qualifications. Resume cannot exceed 2 pages. If education is required or you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts. An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application if it includes your name and the necessary course information; however, if you are selected, you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to entering on duty. Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college or university. If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards. There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation and a fee is normally associated with this service. For a list of private organizations that evaluate education, visit the NACES website. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation. Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP priority must provide: proof of eligibility (RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal for declining a transfer of function or directed reassignment to another commuting area, notice of disability annuity termination), SF-50 documenting separation (as applicable), current performance appraisal with rating of at least "Fully Successful" or equivalent, and your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with your application per 5 CFR 330.
Your application will be reviewed to verify that you meet the eligibility and qualification requirements for the position prior to issuing referral lists to the selecting official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted. Log in to your USAJOBS account to check your application status. You must choose to turn on email notifications in your USAJOBS profile if you want to receive important email notifications that may impact your applicant experience (e.g. If you start an application and do not submit it prior to the closing date, USAJOBS will send an email reminder that the closing date is approaching and your application is in an incomplete status). Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement. Under the Fair Chance Act, agencies are not allowed to request information about an applicant's criminal history until a conditional offer of employment has been made, except as allowed for access to classified information; assignment to national security duties or positions; acceptance or retention in the armed forces; or recruitment of a Federal law enforcement officer. An applicant may submit a complaint, or any other information related to an organization's alleged noncompliance with the Fair Chance Act. The complaint must be submitted within 30 calendar days of the date of the alleged noncompliance. To make a Fair Chance Act inquiry or complaint, send an email with the appropriate information to sm.fs.hrm_elr@usda.gov, subject line: Fair Chance Act.
PLEASE NOTE: This vacancy is being used to fill positions for FY2027 Temporary Employment Hiring season. The expected start date for this position will be between April 18, 2027 to June 13, 2027. By selecting the "Location Negotiable" option during the application process, implies your willingness to be considered for any official duty location listed on this announcement and/or those duty locations not listed for this Regional announcement. Pay rates vary depending on location. The salary shown is for the Rest of the U.S. See OPM.gov for additional information on pay rates. This position is temporary, has a Not-to-Exceed date and will be filled for up to 6 months or as a not to exceed (NTE) 1 year, however an extension of the appointment may be possible without further competition. The appointment may also end early due to lack of work or lack of funds. Applicants who apply under this job opportunity announcement agree to have their application, associated documents and applicable personal information shared with other groups within the Region who have vacancies within the same occupational series, grade, full performance level and in any of the geographic location(s) listed on the announcement. Applying to this announcement does not replace the need to apply to other job opportunity announcements for which you wish to receive consideration. The duty station for this position will be at one of the duty locations listed in this announcement. Salary range as shown is the locality pay Rest of U.S. (RUS). Pay rates vary by location. Please visit the Office of Personnel Management's website for additional information on pay rates. The USDA Forest Service has legislative authority to recruit and fill Permanent (Career/Career-Conditional), Temporary, and Term Appointments under the USDA Demonstration Project. Under this authority, any U.S. citizen may apply. Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP eligible must meet the agency's definition for a quality candidate as provided in the How You Will Be Evaluated section of this announcement to be considered. If you are retired from the Federal Government and are selected for this vacancy, your retirement annuity may be offset from your pay. This position is not eligible for telework. Availability of government housing and federal day care facilities will vary by location. Positions filled from this announcement may be a bargaining or a non-bargaining unit position represented by either NFFE, AFGE or NAGE.
A career with the Forest Service will challenge you to manage and care for more than 193 million acres of our nation's most magnificent lands, conduct research through a network of forest and range experiment stations and the Forest Products Laboratory, and provide assistance to State and private forestry agencies. It's an awesome responsibility - but the rewards are as limitless as the views.
HRM_Contact_Center@usda.gov
1-877-372-7248 X2
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.”
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