"Hey big, burning West! Got room for one more?"

[blaze83]

hey Brandon,

a catagory 2 crew is the way to go...if you get on a good crew you will get to do some initial attack work also... I was stationed in Potlatch idaho in the 1980's on a cat 2 crew for 7 summers. we went out as a 40 man strike team with the St Joe hotshots which were based near us.  my best summer i had back to back weeks with 101.5  and 110 hours, that is 130.5 hours of overtime on one check.....made paying for school in the fall a lot easier. It was a great way to pass the summer, I loved every minute of it.....if you can fell on a fire, you can saw about anywhere I think. I hope you get on someplace, it will be a great experience for you...I think with as dry as california and new mexico are right now you will be very busy. in my 7 summers I was in Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona. I got to do everything from chase lightning strikes to going to huge fires like the blazes in Yellowstone in 1988. It's kind of like runing a sawmill....it gets in your blood 

good luck

Steve

[John Woodworth]

Check with DNR and the Forest service and put applications in with them in the states you would like to work.

[mad murdock]

Check with DNR and the Forest service and put applications in with them in the states you would like to work.
I would second that.  I have worked with fire crews for several seasons i the west, including Alaska, except I worked as a OAS carded Mechanic on Helicopters aind Airplans for the various Aviation Contractors.  Alska Fire Service is not a bad gig, the season in Alaska starts early and ends early, if you need to be back to school by fall.  Fire season in the Great Land starts in April and ends usually by the end of July, Moose season starts in August, and most of hte fires are out by then.  They have a big AFS base in Fairbanks, one in McGrath, and a decent sized contingent in the Matinuska-Susitna (Mat-Su) Valley, around Palmer/Wasilla area.  Just a thought.. Good luck as a Yellow Shirt.

[BrandonTN]

Yeah, Alaska sounds like ideal for my time frame as a student.


But the issue is settled for me for this season. Just found out today I got hired on seasonally with the Forest Service at Bridger-Teton National Park in Wyoming to do some timber inventorying, lynx habitat surveying, and hopefully a little bit of fire work. Woohoo.....I'm happy!!

Those fire people were just not hiring me quick enough. I got a feeling I'll receive an offer or two at the last minute, but I don't want to count on last minute calls for a summer job. This inventorying job is a for sure thing, so I took it! Plus, it has its upsides, anyways: doing forester-related work and near some beautiful areas, as far as I can tell. The man who hired me said Yellowstone is not too far away, and I've heard the Wind River Range is beautiful. The town it's near is actually Big Piney, WY. The man said it's a little town with not much people, so I'm out in the boonies....another plus! And hopefully I'll still manage to get out on a fire incident. This'll be my first time setting foot out near the Rockies, and pretty much for the West (except for one week spent in western Oregon and a few days around Lake Tahoe, CA). I'm gonna take so many pictures, it ain't even gonna be funny. 

[ErikC]

  Been through there a few times. Pretty country alright. Congratulations

[blaze83]

way to go brandon better save a few dollars and buy yourself some flyfishing gear...nothing like catching a 2 or 3 pound rainbow trout on a flyrod with 2 pound test leader....you may never want to go back home

steve

[WDH]

What an adventure that will be!  "You have come a long way, grasshopper".

[Ron Scott]

Well Done! A good move.