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Smokejumpers

Started by Ron Scott, November 13, 2009, 10:19:23 AM

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sawguy21

Are they using PT-6 engines? That is expensive dressing for the old girls and not always cost effective. The same was done to the Canadair CL-215, makes one heck of a fire bomber but is 80% of a new aircraft. I flew from Vancouver to Winnipeg via Edmonton in a Yukon (DC-4), I think my hearing was permanently damaged..
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

SwampDonkey

Around here they use six turbine engine Air Tractor AT-802Fs and a Fire Boss. It's a company financed by the forest companies and DNR. They fight fires and bugs. My grandmother's cousin was responsible for setting up a fire suppression program here in NB. He was the provincial chief forester.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

valley ranch

I've read all the posts in this thread, sad to hear of this old gentleman's passing, God love him.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sounds like you guys are or were right there doing it,

I never jumped, I did some cutting breaks and fire fighting. I sighed up because a friend did, and I had the feeling he would die or something if I wasn't there.

When the first call came in the early morning, a girl that trained with our group was here. She looked out across the valley and said " there's your fire!"  She decided not to go.

I drove in to Lake Tahoe, where our gear was stored and they drove up back and stopped a mile from the house, there were not many houses in Christmas Valley then.

I would rather have jumped, we climbed the mountain with pack and we had a few pith pots full of water, I carried one of them half way up.

We slept in the black next to a burning skagg in paper bags, to keep warm.

I was surprised when the first check in the mail, I thought we were volunteers.

I loved having done it, good memories.

Richard

beenthere

Valley
Is that a quote ??  Are you "Richard" ?  If not, who is "Richard" ?
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Ron Scott

Wildland firefighters are paid volunteers. ;)
~Ron

valley ranch

beenthere, Richard is me, from valley ranch.

Richard

coxy

how much do they pay for wild fires  hour or by the day  I did a lot of small  wild fire fighting with our fire co  maybe 1-20a would burn not like some you guys gals do could not imagine weeks on end fighting fire

Ron Scott

Some info for a USFS wildland firefighter. Contact the nearest USFS office near your location for the most current information specific for your locale.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5315016.pdf
~Ron

curdog

http://www.nwcg.gov/branches/pre/ibc/documents/personnel/doi_ad_payplan.pdf
edited: hopefully I got the right link this time.....
Here is the pay rates for administratively determined  (ad) firefighters from 2014. When I go out on fire dispatches this is the route I go. I'll take my vacation time at work and go out as a contracted employee with the usfs. It is an hour for hour rate, with no overtime pay. If you can get a full assignment  (14 days with up to 4 days of travel ), and get good hours ( up to 16 hours a day) then you can come home with a decent pay check. As a basic firefighter  (fft2) the 14 or so dollars an hour isn't huge, but as your fire line qualifications get higher you can make a good check. It just takes time and training.

Ron Scott

First smokejump was 75 years ago

The first smokejump occurred July 12, 1940 on the Nez Perce Clearwater National Forest; it was one of nine jumps that first year. Everyone is welcome to attend the Smokejumper Reunion, July 17-19, in Missoula, Montana. The Montana Legislature has passed a resolution to recognize the National Smokejumper Association and their first parachute jump to a forest fire.

The Chief's Newsletter
~Ron

WildlandFirefighter912

Quote from: coxy on March 13, 2015, 07:59:38 AM
how much do they pay for wild fires  hour or by the day  I did a lot of small  wild fire fighting with our fire co  maybe 1-20a would burn not like some you guys gals do could not imagine weeks on end fighting fire

I'm State. So i get paid salary and comp time unless on Federal incident..then its time and a half and my regular 8...so if i work over my 40 hour period in a week..all of that will go to overtime- yay. Feds and some state and contractors get hazard pay. I dont..

There are several places to get on with wildland firefighting- Contractors (Grayback, etc), State, and Federal.

First and foremost, you must love the job and have dedication to protect our land. You must have a strong willing to create a brotherhood.


Once you get the job..you will be trained in the NWCG and get red carded. You will work your way up to whatever you want to do...engine boss, heavy equipment boss, hand crew boss, etc.


Handcrews are broken up into Type 3, Type 2, Type 2 IA, and Type 1.



CJennings

If someone is interested in firefighting, my advice would be to try to get on with a federal agency (NPS, BLM, USFS, doesn't matter which) or one of the better state agencies (Cal Fire for example). Take a private sector job if all else fails but with the government agencies you'll generally get paid better and have better benefits while employed and you won't have to worry about supply issues at fire camp. Work will be a bit more steady and certain regardless of the severity or lack thereof of fire season. You'll make 40 hours even if you don't go on a fire, which is better than nothing.

The base wage is not going to be too impressive. Where you make your money is to get onto a fire and get the hazard pay if you're federal (25 percent of your base wage on a wildfire but not at a prescribed fire) and then put in long hours and get overtime. If federal, try to be on the crew that's on a fire on July 4 or any other federal holiday to get holiday pay tacked on. You better love the work though because considering all the dangers (my favorite joke on the fire line was about the "baked potato" bag, a.k.a., fire shelter, which you really never want to have to use...) the pay isn't worth it if you don't like the work.

You also don't have to be strictly fire if you work for some of the land management agencies like the USFS. If you take the classes and keep your red card active you can get in on firefighting even if your regular job is something else. That somewhat depends on your supervisor's willingness to let you go and whether or not the fire people want you. The odd thing about working fire in the federal government if you're not a regular fire employee is that qualifications may not be reflected in pay. For example, I made more than my squad boss on a fire because I was a higher GS level at my normal job (timber) even though it was my first season doing any fire.  :D

ppine

I have a close friend that jumped out of Redmond, OR. I have heard his stories for years. He did complain only about walking out with all of that equipment.  The Missoula smokejumpers had pack strings to haul out there gear. One day my friend decided to become a slurry bomber pilot.

One day they got a call for a jump and the "get down ropes" were really long, like 175 feet. He knew they were going to the West Side and going to be in old growth. After sometime on the ground, they realized that the faller on their crew reqlly had no experience with the really big Doug fir and WRC they were dealing with. They called in some local loggers, we used to call them fellers.  Two middle-aged guys with beer guts show up with their big saws ready to go to work. The smokejumpers were young and made out of steel.  The loggers loaded up their fuel, water, saws, tools and lunch and headed up the hill. None of the jump crew could keep up with them.  Never under estimate people that have had a life in the woods.
Forester

WildlandFirefighter912

Quote from: ppine on June 24, 2016, 03:38:41 PM
I have a close friend that jumped out of Redmond, OR. I have heard his stories for years. He did complain only about walking out with all of that equipment.  The Missoula smokejumpers had pack strings to haul out there gear. One day my friend decided to become a slurry bomber pilot.

One day they got a call for a jump and the "get down ropes" were really long, like 175 feet. He knew they were going to the West Side and going to be in old growth. After sometime on the ground, they realized that the faller on their crew reqlly had no experience with the really big Doug fir and WRC they were dealing with. They called in some local loggers, we used to call them fellers.  Two middle-aged guys with beer guts show up with their big saws ready to go to work. The smokejumpers were young and made out of steel.  The loggers loaded up their fuel, water, saws, tools and lunch and headed up the hill. None of the jump crew could keep up with them.  Never under estimate people that have had a life in the woods.

Yeah i saw a 70 yr old+ man felling trees on a wildfire i was on out west...i think we were in Oregon on the Res. He mustve been taking some good stuff, or exercising right.

Ron Scott

I once had a crew of Oregon loggers assigned to me on an Oregon fire back in 1974. The "fallers" were the best at falling burning snags on very steep slopes.
~Ron

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