How To Become A Wildland Fire Fighter: What It Is and Career Path

What is a wildland fire fighter 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 wildland fire fighter. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.93 an hour? That's $51,848 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 13,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreWildland Fire FighterUS Average

Salary

4.1

Avg. Salary $51,848

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.1

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.95%

Asian 1.88%

Black or African American 6.72%

Hispanic or Latino 16.38%

Unknown 4.79%

White 69.28%

Gender

female 20.66%

male 79.34%

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

8.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.0

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.2

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a wildland fire fighter

Explore wildland fire fighter education requirements

Most common wildland fire fighter degrees

High School Diploma

35.8 %

Bachelor's

26.4 %

Associate

20.8 %

Start to develop specific wildland fire fighter skills

Skills	Percentages
Fire Safety	33.08%
Hand Tools	20.09%
DIG	12.40%
Shovels	11.14%
Water Pumps	8.57%

Complete relevant wildland fire fighter training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New wildland fire fighters 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 wildland fire fighter based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real wildland fire fighter resumes.

Research wildland fire fighter duties and responsibilities

Lead and document the crew on six minutes for safety, tailgate safety sessions and JHA's.
Complete reorganization of all job relate JHA's.
Remove hazardous trees and other materials to provide safer conditions for other firefighting teams
Maintain knowledge of current firefighting and medical practices by participating in drills and attending require training.

Prepare your wildland fire fighter resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your wildland fire fighter 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 wildland fire fighter resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable wildland fire fighter resume templates

Build a professional wildland fire fighter 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 wildland fire fighter resume.