Who was on day 14 and decided to use an elk to pull their hoselay?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dcwlk6WyL2T/?igsi=NTBvc3Bod3YwanNu

Anyone in Fire Dispatch?
New to dispatch, but dang! Getting flustered when everyone tells me to do it a different way, then tells me I’m doing it wrong when I’m doing it the way someone else did the day prior.
It’s just a negative feedback loop of constant criticism.
Dispatch needs one trainer, and everyone needs to get on board.
I thought I would like it, but everyone talks shit behind everyone else back.
Is this every forest, or is it because I'm starting late?

Is anyone who worked on Zigzag hotshots over the last few years active on here? I’m looking for more info on what it has been like working there recently and what it might look like next year. I know everyone has read the recent posts on here blah blah blah but I am just interested to hear from anyone who would want to tell me how their season went.

I am moving to Portland for personal reasons so Zigzag is my number one choice for next year. Have 3 years fed handcrew experience and am currently a senior if that matters. I also dont mind the idea of potentially getting into a rebuild of a new crew culture so the recent turnover rate is not a deal breaker for me.

No need to comment on here, you can just send a PM.

Hey all, looking for some advice. I sustained an injury this season and won’t be recovered enough to return to the crew next year (surgery with long ass recovery). I’m an 18/8 squaddie with the FS. I’ve been looking at apps for secondary roles like fuels and prevention, but everything has gone PFT. That schedule doesn’t work for my family, in the winter I’m the primary caregiver for my daughter, I catch up on house maintenance, honey-do list projects etc. I don’t think I could continue to do fire and go on assignments all season without taking on that load in the off-season, it would be ridiculously unfair to my family. I have a couple non-arduous quals and am considering ADing for a season or two while I heal up. Anyone here left the agency for a temporary stint? How did it go? I can get health insurance through my wife’s work, but I’m concerned about missing out on TSP contributions and time towards retirement. Any advice/experiences appreciated ✌️

edit to clarify: not a work related injury

Hello everyone I'll try to keep this short. I'm currently in a transitional place in my career and plan on leaving my primary job in Mental Health in May of next year. I plan on transitioning to full-time fire/EMS or healthcare afterwards. I currently work part-time for a local fire department as well, I've been on about 6 months.

I've lately been very interested in wildland and would like to do at least one season, maybe more if I feel it's a good fit.

I have my Fire 1 & 2, Hazmat Operations and Awareness as well as my EMT-B.

I was posting to get advice on which agencies I should apply too and things that would help me going into the job. I've read good things about Washington DNR and Cal-Fire. I believe both start taking applications in November.

In a perfect world I would get picked up and trained by a solid agency/crew with good culture and firefighting practices on an engine or hand crew. I'd be able to stack some cash while getting some good work in and travel for a few months when the season is over before returning to the U.S. and pursuing a full-time/perm job.

I am also curious how housing or housing stipends work if at all on for wildfire and maybe the possibility about being an EMT on the fireline as well. I really do enjoy both the medical and fire side of the current department I work at.

Any advice or direction would be appreciated.

Just days prior, Missoula Smokejumpers brought to you by Lockheed Martin, had delivered two JTACs to the Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Taco Fire. They had been working diligently to enter GPS coordinates into their terminals, to support a multi day aerial bombing assault on the fire. While just a two acre fire, the cost was well into the billions, due to the aggressive aerial assault prescribed by Tim Sheehy. Myself and a small squad had been working a chunk of contained line, collecting remnants of Raytheon SKMJ-420 v. 69 remotely guided, heat seeking fire suppression missiles, and mopping up, when suddenly I could hear the scream of an incoming munition. I jumped on the radio and tried to exclaim that the line wasn’t clear, but to no avail. The last thing I remember is the missile detonating 10 feet above us, knocking us to the ground, as water showered all around us.

Anyways… rumor has it there is a live demonstration of a helicopter dropped, GPS guided, aluminum water bomb, happening in Colorado this week. Details are scarce, but it seems like a VIP demo event, likely intended as proof of concept, and to get politicians onboard, presumably to pressure the agencies to invest in this new technology. To my surprise, I haven’t heard of any company working on this product, or anything similar. The lack of hype and crowd source funding makes me think that whoever is working on the product is probably a defense contractor, trying to get their slice of WFS money. A quick google search returned a patent that is still pending approval, for a similar guided water bomb. Does anyone know about any companies trying to actual build and market these products? Anyone have any insights?

There’s no way that a guided aerial munition used to fight wildfires could go wrong, right?

Anyways, I’m gonna go into hiding now, before an MQ9 Reaper blows up my cubical! Can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

https://patents.google.com/patent/US20240216729A1/en

Hello this may seem redundant to ask, but is this possible? I currently work full time and it’s hella burning during the winter months, my forest currently also doesn’t have anything lined up for fuels work. This is just a curiosity since we are allowed some elective hours, will they be able to pay for this. We also don’t got any EMTs on my crew lol

Found a old thread that said they were solid, is that still the case or have things changed? I know there's two IHCs (Lakeview & Aravaipa) and a handful of T2IAs (Vegas Valley, Folsom Lake, Devils Canyon, etc). Anyone worked with them at all?

When will fire hire happen. Or seasonal positions. Was originally told they’d post in August and I’ve emailed the FMO too many times to ask again. I’m interested in apprenticeships/winter burn positions in FL/GA/SC/NC NWRs.

Hey guys, looking to get on an Utah shot crew next year, specifically Alta or lone peak. What’s the word on these crews? How are they?

HAPPENING NOW in the Extreme Weather Survivors Online Community for Survivors.

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Hey guys. Ive been interested in becoming a wildfire fighter for a few years now. I really admire the work you guys do. It is badass work and i salute you. Ive been thinking of doing a season. I train regularly and i know theres some conditioning that needs to be done to be able to handle the tracks and the physical work it takes which i am ready for. I live in europe but i have US citizenship so i dont know how hard it is to get into from here.
I have been having some doubts though regarding the labor and if i can handle it but also in regards of if its worth it? Ive seen a few posts in here with people saying they are leaving. I know its not a safe job by any means but are you still looked out for on the job? What i hope if i get to do it is to learn and get a bunch of experience and make some life long friends along the way.

This post was written without my adhd medicin so sorry if it seems abit all over the place!

I’ve been working out west for several years now but I’m originally from South Carolina. Hoping to get back there soon. Anyone know anything about the Sumter? More specifically the Enoree district?

"Most wildland firefighting crews work in strict hierarchical command structures. Smokejumpers, in contrast, are trained to be self-reliant and independent. Jim Veitch, a smokejumper who rookied in 1967, wrote that he once saw a “regimented hotshot crew” watching “in disgust as a milling mob of jumpers ambled off in seeming disorganization.” The smokejumpers’ strategy is to adopt whatever technique allows them to contain a fire as fast as possible. One jumper is famous for having smothered miles of flames with his jacket; in Alaska, jumpers have used spruce boughs and burlap bags filled with moss. “No one is telling you what to do or when to hike,” a second-year jumper—a “snookie”—said. “It’s like going from the military to a farm commune. The amount of structure is the opposite.”

I sent out a few applications a couple months ago, and I just got the email back that I wasn't referred to any of them. They're all jobs that I should be qualified for. I've taken a careful look at the USAJOBS resume requirements and followed them closely, so I'm wondering if it comes down to something small like this.

I was curious about this because I hadn’t seen it before. California joined the Northwest Compact in late 2025. CalFire was assigned to Oregon and Washington this year under it. CalFire was also assigned to Colorado last month through an NASF partnership.

I feel like one of the main reasons people in R5 have told me they stay FS is that they like going out of state. Is this the beginning of CalFire expanding its reach?

Camera links:

https://ops.alertcalifornia.org/cam-console/2322 (closest to the fire)

https://ops.alertcalifornia.org/cam-console/2448

https://ops.alertcalifornia.org/cam-console/2438

Could it surpass the Timber Fire?

Got some questions for the folks here about transitioning jobs. All my time has been spent on crews from WFMs to shots.

Worked my 7th season over 1000hrs and am beat, so I’ve started doing some digging into fuels jobs. I’ve got 6 seasons as a perm, 3 as a seasonal. Or maybe it’s 5 perm 4 seasonal.. who the hell knows.

Firefighter retirement transition from primary?

How’s y’all’s quality of life for those who have done this?

Ability to single resource? (Obviously contingent upon local workload and AFMO). I carry some aight quals and would like to put them to use when able.

How much of a pay cut are we talking? I’ve been a terminal GS5 for a while..

Does R6 still do PFT or are there options for 18/8-13/13?

Feels like I’m missing plenty of questions, but hopefully y’all can fill in the gaps as they present themselves.