Employers

There are approximately 2,200 forest fire prevention specialists in the United States. Fifty-five percent of specialists work for state fire prevention and related agencies. The federal government (mainly the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management) employs 39 percent of specialists.

Starting Out

Many aspiring forest fire prevention specialists land their first jobs after working as wildland firefighters or in other firefighting positions (e.g., fire safety technician). Others work as traditional firefighters (i.e., for local fire departments) and learn about job openings by visiting the Web sites of local, state, and federal (U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, etc.) land management or fire protection agencies, professional associations, and career sites such as Linkedin.com.

Forest fire prevention specialists can advance to become managers of crews of specialists, or further advance to head fire prevention departments or entire agencies. Some specialists choose to pass along their knowledge of fire prevention to others by becoming trainers or college professors.

Read Fire Management Today (https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/fire/fire-management-today) and Wildfire and the International Journal of Wildland Fire (both are available at https://www.iawfonline.org/publications) to learn more about the field.

Visit the U.S. Forest Service’s Web site, https://www.fs.usda.gov/working-with-us/jobs, for job listings.

Get certified. It will give you the edge over other applicants.

Be willing to relocate. It may open more opportunities.