Quoted By:
EMS guy, former city firefag here.
Wildland fire guys are the most based of firefighters. City firemen actually thrive on lying to the public through their imagery...actual fires are about 10% of their job. They spend most of their time shutting off alarms and half-assing EMS care to have an excuse to ride Big Red and make way more money than they ought to. You can blame the IAFF for this. Most firemen are self absorbed cunts to boot with literally no justification because their job is cushy and one of the least dangerous of the 'dangerous' jobs.
I got out a while back and am now a Paramedic at a service that actually values patient care and it's quite refreshing.
Anyway, we have a guy who works part time (seasonally) as a wildland fire line medic and he makes bank doing it. Wildland fire can be a career but you have to be smart about it. If you just remain a line Hotshot digging line you will wind up with chronic bronchitis and potentially back problems. I knew a guy who was a Lead Hotshot for a number of years...badass guys, but he had to get out because of the bronchitis.
So try it a few seasons and then consider either going in to the medical side of it, starting a contracting company for tenders or other support items, or pursue a move up the chain of command. In other words, becoming something in the command structure itself...research the Incident Command System and you will see any any number of command positions. You can become certified in these positions and join whats called an Incident Management Team which will let you help run the show.
If you decide you prefer field ops and want to stay on the line, try to get on the Shot Crew for a while for the experience, but eventually you will want to get on a nice comfy engine team. You will eat a bit less smoke that way and save your back more.
Good luck OP and anyone else pursuing this. They really are the only firefighters who deserve even a modicum of respect in this country.
