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Forest Firefighters

Also called: Firefighter, Fire Fighter, Engine Boss, Forest Fire Warden

What they do:
Control and suppress fires in forests or vacant public land.
On the job, you would:
  • Collaborate with other firefighters as a member of a firefighting crew.
  • Extinguish flames and embers to suppress fires, using shovels, or engine- or hand-driven water or chemical pumps.
  • Test and maintain tools, equipment, jump gear and parachutes to ensure readiness for fire suppression activities.

Knowledge

Business
  • management
  • customer service
Safety and Government
  • public safety and security
  • law and government
Math and Science
  • geography
Education and Training
  • teaching and course design

Skills

Basic Skills
  • listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
  • talking to others
Problem Solving
  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it
Social
  • changing what is done based on other people's actions
  • looking for ways to help people

Abilities

Endurance
  • exercise for a long time without getting out of breath
Verbal
  • communicate by speaking
  • listen and understand what people say
Controlled Movement
  • quickly change the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat
  • use your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down
Hand and Finger Use
  • hold or move items with your hands

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include
practical, hands-on problems and solutions.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Dependability
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Cooperation
  • Leadership
  • Integrity
  • Self Control

Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Word processing software
  • Corel WordPerfect software
  • Microsoft Word
Data base user interface and query software
  • Fire incident reporting systems
  • Microsoft Access
Spreadsheet software
  • Microsoft Excel

Education

Education: (rated 2 of 5)
high school diploma or
bachelor's degree
usually needed

Get started on your career:

Find Training Find Certifications Registered Apprenticeship

Job Outlook

Bright Outlook
New job opportunities are very likely in the future.
Salary
$45,420
per year, on average
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See more details at O*NET OnLine about forest firefighters.