>>2626676Fire is fun and cool as fuck. That's all there is to it. The pay is just a perk. It's worth doing if you're single, have low living expenses and are in your 20s but you definitely need to have an exit strategy. I wouldn't do it any more than a few years.
Despite what people tell you, fire is dangerous and unskilled work. Not like you'll get killed or maimed, but more like you'll get an overuse or smoke inhalation injury either on the job or a few years down the line that the Government will absolutely fuck you on treating. Fire also doesn't provide you with any marketable skills. You get time in grade for government jobs, but unless you get out of crew and into management or research, you won't go far.
If you love fire, the best thing you can do is find a position in state or national parks/forests and keep your red card up to date. That way you can get on the list to deploy as-needed and not have to spend your whole summer on the fire line. If you deploy you'll also get paid at your current grade, so you could be getting way more than a GS-05 for the same job (more likely you'll sit in the truck or do mop up).
