I was a wildland firefighter in college on an on-call hand crew for the USFS. Training started in March with a lot of PT...mostly running up and down stair and strength training. There was some safety training and basic fire theory, then came one day of practical training (how to use the tools and "cut line.")
Unless you are a smokejumper or part of a hot shot crew (elite wildland firefighters) or heli-shot crew, you will not be dropped in the middle of a fire. Most of your time will be spent hiking around putting out spot fires and mopping up. It is hot, difficult, dirty work. During the day you will experience 100 degree temps, at night you will sleep out. The closest I ever came to freezing to death was during my time as a firefighter. You will get the worst, most unbelievable blisters on your feet. They will looked like chopped steak by the end of the summer. One day, it went from 90 degrees, then it started raining, then thunder, then hail, then 90 degrees again all in half-an hour.
The pay is pretty decent compared to other summer jobs. In 1997, pay was $11. It is probably more now. On-call crews generally don't get benefits; however, while you are on a fire, all your food is comped.
Even though it was a miserable experience at the time, I'm glad I did it. At the very least, you will get some good life experience and some cool stories.
Unless you are a smokejumper or part of a hot shot crew (elite wildland firefighters) or heli-shot crew, you will not be dropped in the middle of a fire. Most of your time will be spent hiking around putting out spot fires and mopping up. It is hot, difficult, dirty work. During the day you will experience 100 degree temps, at night you will sleep out. The closest I ever came to freezing to death was during my time as a firefighter. You will get the worst, most unbelievable blisters on your feet. They will looked like chopped steak by the end of the summer. One day, it went from 90 degrees, then it started raining, then thunder, then hail, then 90 degrees again all in half-an hour.
The pay is pretty decent compared to other summer jobs. In 1997, pay was $11. It is probably more now. On-call crews generally don't get benefits; however, while you are on a fire, all your food is comped.
Even though it was a miserable experience at the time, I'm glad I did it. At the very least, you will get some good life experience and some cool stories.