How To Become A Forest Firefighter: What It Is and Career Path

What is a forest firefighter and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a forest firefighter. For example, did you know that they make an average of $19.67 an hour? That's $40,913 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 13,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreForest FirefighterUS Average

Salary

3.2

Avg. Salary $40,913

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.95%

Asian 1.85%

Black or African American 7.73%

Hispanic or Latino 15.75%

Unknown 4.78%

White 68.94%

Gender

female 11.82%

male 88.18%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

0.8

Work life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a forest firefighter

Explore forest firefighter education requirements

Most common forest firefighter degrees

Bachelor's

42.9 %

High School Diploma

30.6 %

Associate

20.4 %

Start to develop specific forest firefighter skills

Skills	Percentages
Patrol	35.76%
Fire Prevention	17.31%
Natural Resources	14.32%
Firefighting	13.21%
Public Lands	8.34%

Complete relevant forest firefighter training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New forest firefighters learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a forest firefighter based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real forest firefighter resumes.

Research forest firefighter duties and responsibilities

Survey back-country old-growth timber, fight forest fires, manage brush, and replant forests after harvest.
Assist and coordinate with federal and local external agencies in firefighting duties as assigned.
Investigate safety-related accidents to ensure compliance with OSHA and USDA regulations.
Contain, suppress, and extinguish wildland fires.

Prepare your forest firefighter resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your forest firefighter resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a forest firefighter resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable forest firefighter resume templates

Build a professional forest firefighter resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your forest firefighter resume.