General Information
WYIFC is located two miles north of the Yellowstone National
Park Gateway community of West Yellowstone, MT, 90 miles south of
During the summer the base is home to 21 smokejumpers, pilots for the jump plane and retardant tanker, an office manager and a tanker base manager. The base also supports visiting jumpers, tankers and other aerial resources during times of high fire activity.
Smokejumpers
The
Wildland fire fighting is rigorous work and jumpers have the additional stress of the actual jump and then packing out whatever gear is necessary to fight the fire when the job is done, sometimes packing as much as 115 or more pounds of gear many miles to get to a road. Jumpers are also used for a variety of other jobs depending on their individual skills including, tree climbing, blasting and prescribed fire. Most smokejumpers are temporary or seasonal employees that work the fire season from June through September. A few, mainly supervisors, have permanent full-time status and work year round on equipment, training, prescribed fire, and administration.
Smokejumper
Aircraft
Jump aircraft are all fixed wing aircraft such as Twin Otters,
Casas, Sherpas, DC-3s and Dorniers to quickly access areas up to hundreds
of miles from the base within a few hours.
Physical Requirements
Smokejumper duties can be extremely arduous and hazardous. Jumpers must be in excellent physical condition and possess a high degree of emotional stability and mental alertness. The job often involves prolonged periods when smoke, heat, and short supplies of food and water take their toll on your physical stamina. The safety and well being of each smokejumper on an assignment depends on the ability of each individual to pull his/her own weight.
Smokejumpers must pass the standard firefighter's Work Capacity Fitness Test (pack test) at the arduous level. All smokejumper candidates are required to pass the standard smokejumper physical training (PT) test on the first day of smokejumper training. Candidates must do 7 pull-ups/chin-ups, 45 sit-ups, 25 push-ups, and a 1.5 mile run in less than 11 minutes. The test is taken in one time frame with 5-minute breaks between specific exercises.
Remember, these are just the minimums. Much more is required during rookie training. For instance, one of the most demanding physical requirements of the job is the gear pack-out. Smokejumper gear and tools weigh up to 115 pounds per person. Smokejumpers must be able to carry this gear to the nearest trail, road, or helispot after suppressing the fire. This may be a distance of 10 miles or more in rough terrain. During training, smokejumper candidates are required to demonstrate their ability to pack 110 pounds of gear a distance of three miles in 90 minutes or less, over a level course.
In addition to passing the physical training test, prospective smokejumpers must meet the following requirements:
Age: Must be at least 18 years old.
Height: Must be not more than 77 inches or less than 60 inches tall without shoes.
Weight: Must weigh at least 120 pounds but no more than 200 pounds without clothes.
Hearing: Must not have acute or chronic disease of the external, middle, or inner ear. Using an audiometer for measurement, there should be no loss of 25 or more decibels in each ear at the speech frequency range. A hearing aid is not permitted.
Vision: Must be free from acute or chronic eye disease. Corrected distant vision must test at least 20/20 (Snellen) in one eye and at least 20/30 (Snellen) in the other. Individuals must be able to read printed material the size of standard typewritten characters. Glasses or contacts used for eye correction are permitted.
Training
Smokejumper trainees must demonstrate a high level of proficiency in the various aspects of parachute jumping and other smokejumper-related tasks, which are taught during the training period. These tasks include: Aircraft exiting procedures, Parachute maneuvering and emergency procedures, Parachute landing rolls, Timber let down procedures, Parachute and cargo retrieval and Tree Climbing.
Fifteen training jumps are conducted during the training period, beginning with jumps into the simplest terrain and progressing into more difficult terrain. Performance is continually evaluated during the training period and those persons unable to perform up to the standard of proficiency required will be terminated from the program and placed in another job, if available. These performance-based skills are essential for safely continuing in the program and three unsatisfactory performances will result in termination of the trainee. Upon successful completion of training, the recruits will be placed on the jump list and made available for fire assignments.
Employment Information
Hiring takes place annually, usually Oct. through Dec. All applicants must have specialized work experience
including at least 3 continuous months of wildland fire suppression experience
as a member of an organized fire suppression crew or comparable unit, in forest
and range fire suppression work under mountainous terrain and fuel conditions
such as those found in the western
Rookies are hired at the GS-5 level with a wage of about $12.00 per hour.
For more information log onto the USAJOBS - Job Search website (http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/) and enter keyword smokejumper. If applying for a job online BE SURE TO READ THE ENTIRE APPLICATION. A supplemental information form must be included that is referred to in the vacancy announcement.
Paracargo
After jumping the smokejumpers receive cargo including sleeping bags, water and firefighting tools via parachute from the jump plane. In addition supplying jumpers with cargo the jump ship is available to supply large fires or support other remote operations with paracargo.
Retardant Base
Air tanker
During the fire season a Lockheed Orion P-3 is based at
Contact Information
Address: West
Yellowstone Interagency
PO Box 610
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
Phone: 406-646-7691
FAX: 406-646-9598
Tours of the base are available in the summer, work load permitting, call us or stop by.
Links
Smokejumper Injury Information Form Click Here
West Yellowstone Smokejumper - User Guide Click Here
National Smokejumper Association http://www.smokejumpers.com/
BLM ID/AK Smokejumpers http://www.fire.blm.gov/smokejumper/
McCall ID Smokejumpers http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/people/smokejumpers/mccall/
Missoula MT Smokejumpers http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/people/smokejumpers/missoula/index.html
North Cascades WA Smokejumpers http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/oka/ncsb/
Redding CA Smokejumpers http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/people/smokejumpers/redding/index.html
Redmond OR Smokejumpers http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/centraloregon/fires/rac/smokejump.shtml