Wildland Firefighting

Alternative Job Titles for Firefighters

• Fire Engineer
• Fire Equipment Operator
• Fire Fighter
• Fire Management Specialist
• Fire Technician (Fire Tech)
• Firefighter
• Forest Fire Suppression Specialist
• Forestry Fire Technician (Forestry Fire Tech)
• Hot Shot
• Wildland Firefighter

Job Tasks and Activities for Firefighters

• Assess characteristics of fires.
• Assess fires and situations and report conditions to superiors to receive instructions, using two-way radios.
• Attend training to learn new skills or update knowledge.
• Clean and maintain fire stations and fire fighting equipment and apparatus.
• Collaborate with law enforcement or security agencies to respond to incidents.
• Collaborate with other firefighters as a member of a firefighting crew.
• Collaborate with police to respond to accidents, disasters, and arson investigation calls.
• Communicate with other workers to coordinate activities.
• Create openings in buildings for ventilation or entrance, using axes, chisels, crowbars, electric saws, or core cutters.
• Demonstrate activity techniques or equipment use.
• Dress with equipment such as fire-resistant clothing and breathing apparatus.
• Drive and operate fire fighting vehicles and equipment.
• Educate the public about fire safety or prevention.
• Examine debris to obtain information about causes of fires.
• Extinguish flames and embers to suppress fires, using shovels or engine- or hand-driven water or chemical pumps.
• Inform and educate the public on fire prevention.
• Inspect buildings for fire hazards and compliance with fire prevention ordinances, testing and checking smoke alarms and fire suppression equipment as necessary.
• Inspect equipment to ensure safety or proper functioning.
• Inspect facilities to ensure compliance with fire regulations.
• Inspect fire sites after flames have been extinguished to ensure that there is no further danger.
• Locate fires or fire danger areas.
• Maintain contact with fire dispatchers at all times to notify them of the need for additional firefighters and supplies, or to detail any difficulties encountered.
• Maintain fire fighting tools or equipment.
• Maintain knowledge of current firefighting practices by participating in drills and by attending seminars, conventions, and conferences.
• Maintain professional knowledge or certifications.
• Move toward the source of a fire, using knowledge of types of fires, construction design, building materials, and physical layout of properties.
• Operate firefighting equipment.
• Operate pumps connected to high-pressure hoses.
• Orient self in relation to fire, using compass and map, and collect supplies and equipment dropped by parachute.
• Participate in fire drills and demonstrations of fire fighting techniques.
• Participate in physical training activities to maintain a high level of physical fitness.
• Participate in physical training to maintain fitness.
• Patrol burned areas after fires to locate and eliminate hot spots that may restart fires.
• Patrol natural areas to ensure safety or enforce regulations.
• Position and climb ladders to gain access to upper levels of buildings, or to rescue individuals from burning structures.
• Prepare hoses or water supplies to fight fires.
• Prepare investigation or incident reports.
• Prepare written reports that detail specifics of fire incidents.
• Protect property from fire or water damage.
• Protect property from water and smoke, using waterproof salvage covers, smoke ejectors, and deodorants.
• Relay information about incidents or emergencies to personnel using phones or two-way radios.
• Request emergency personnel.
• Rescue people from hazardous situations.
• Rescue survivors from burning buildings, accident sites, and water hazards.
• Respond to emergencies to provide assistance.
• Respond to fire alarms and other calls for assistance, such as automobile and industrial accidents.
• Salvage property by removing broken glass, pumping out water, and ventilating buildings to remove smoke.
• Select and attach hose nozzles, depending on fire type, and direct streams of water or chemicals onto fires.
• Select tools, equipment, or technologies for use in operations or projects.
• Take action to contain any hazardous chemicals that could catch fire, leak, or spill.

Interests for Firefighters

• Realistic
  Designing, building, or repairing equipment, materials, or structures, engaging in physical activity, or working outdoors.

Skills for Firefighters

In order of importance

• Critical Thinking
  Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
  Importance: 72/100
• Service Orientation
  Looking for ways to help people.
  Importance: 66/100
• Judgment and Decision Making
  Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
  Importance: 66/100
• Coordination
  Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
  Importance: 66/100
• Monitoring
  Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
  Importance: 63/100
• Active Listening
  Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
  Importance: 63/100
• Speaking
  Talking to others.
  Importance: 63/100
• Active Learning
  Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
  Importance: 63/100
• Social Perceptiveness
  Understanding people's reactions.
  Importance: 60/100
• Operations Monitoring
  Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
  Importance: 56/100
• Complex Problem Solving
  Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
  Importance: 56/100
• Operation and Control
  Using equipment or systems.
  Importance: 56/100
• Time Management
  Managing your time and the time of other people.
  Importance: 53/100
• Reading Comprehension
  Reading work-related information.
  Importance: 53/100
• Instructing
  Teaching people how to do something.
  Importance: 50/100
• Equipment Selection
  Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
  Importance: 47/100
• Learning Strategies
  Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
  Importance: 47/100
• Quality Control Analysis
  Testing how well a product or service works.
  Importance: 47/100
• Writing
  Writing things for co-workers or customers.
  Importance: 47/100
• Systems Analysis
  Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
  Importance: 47/100
• Persuasion
  Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
  Importance: 47/100
• Equipment Maintenance
  Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
  Importance: 47/100
• Systems Evaluation
  Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
  Importance: 47/100
• Negotiation
  Bringing people together to solve differences.
  Importance: 41/100
• Mathematics
  Using math to solve problems.
  Importance: 41/100
• Troubleshooting
  Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
  Importance: 41/100
• Management of Personnel Resources
  Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
  Importance: 35/100
• Repairing
  Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
  Importance: 31/100
• Management of Material Resources
  Managing equipment and materials.
  Importance: 28/100
• Science
  Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
  Importance: 25/100
• Management of Financial Resources
  Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
  Importance: 19/100
• Technology Design
  Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
  Importance: 19/100
• Programming
  Writing computer programs.
  Importance: 13/100
• Operations Analysis
  Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
  Importance: 10/100
• Installation
  Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
  Importance: 10/100

Knowledge for Firefighters

In order of importance

• Public Safety and Security
  Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
  Importance: 88/100
• Customer and Personal Service
  Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  Importance: 80/100
• Education and Training
  Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
  Importance: 78/100
• Building and Construction
  Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
  Importance: 76/100
• English Language
  Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  Importance: 73/100
• Mechanical
  Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
  Importance: 70/100
• Medicine and Dentistry
  Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
  Importance: 66/100
• Telecommunications
  Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
  Importance: 65/100
• Administration and Management
  Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
  Importance: 61/100
• Transportation
  Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
  Importance: 61/100
• Law and Government
  Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
  Importance: 60/100
• Chemistry
  Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
  Importance: 58/100
• Psychology
  Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
  Importance: 56/100
• Mathematics
  Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
  Importance: 54/100
• Personnel and Human Resources
  Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
  Importance: 48/100
• Physics
  Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
  Importance: 47/100
• Administrative
  Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
  Importance: 46/100
• Computers and Electronics
  Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
  Importance: 46/100
• Geography
  Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
  Importance: 46/100
• Communications and Media
  Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
  Importance: 44/100
• Therapy and Counseling
  Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
  Importance: 42/100
• Engineering and Technology
  Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
  Importance: 39/100
• Biology
  Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
  Importance: 37/100
• Design
  Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
  Importance: 35/100
• Sociology and Anthropology
  Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
  Importance: 28/100
• Economics and Accounting
  Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
  Importance: 24/100
• Production and Processing
  Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
  Importance: 23/100
• Philosophy and Theology
  Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
  Importance: 20/100
• Foreign Language
  Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
  Importance: 17/100
• Sales and Marketing
  Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
  Importance: 14/100
• Food Production
  Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
  Importance: 12/100
• History and Archeology
  Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
  Importance: 12/100
• Fine Arts
  Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
  Importance: 3/100

Physical Abilities for Firefighters

In order of importance

• Problem Sensitivity
  Noticing when problems happen.
  Importance: 78/100
• Oral Comprehension
  Listening and understanding what people say.
  Importance: 72/100
• Oral Expression
  Communicating by speaking.
  Importance: 69/100
• Static Strength
  Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
  Importance: 69/100
• Far Vision
  Seeing details that are far away.
  Importance: 69/100
• Arm-Hand Steadiness
  Keeping your arm or hand steady.
  Importance: 69/100
• Deductive Reasoning
  Using rules to solve problems.
  Importance: 69/100
• Control Precision
  Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
  Importance: 66/100
• Near Vision
  Seeing details up close.
  Importance: 66/100
• Inductive Reasoning
  Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
  Importance: 66/100
• Multilimb Coordination
  Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
  Importance: 66/100
• Stamina
  Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
  Importance: 66/100
• Speech Clarity
  Speaking clearly.
  Importance: 66/100
• Trunk Strength
  Using your lower back and stomach.
  Importance: 63/100
• Flexibility of Closure
  Seeing hidden patterns.
  Importance: 63/100
• Manual Dexterity
  Holding or moving items with your hands.
  Importance: 63/100
• Reaction Time
  Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
  Importance: 63/100
• Speech Recognition
  Recognizing spoken words.
  Importance: 63/100
• Dynamic Strength
  Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
  Importance: 63/100
• Information Ordering
  Ordering or arranging things.
  Importance: 63/100
• Extent Flexibility
  Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  Importance: 60/100
• Perceptual Speed
  Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
  Importance: 60/100
• Auditory Attention
  Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
  Importance: 60/100
• Written Comprehension
  Reading and understanding what is written.
  Importance: 60/100
• Spatial Orientation
  Knowing where things are around you.
  Importance: 56/100
• Visualization
  Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
  Importance: 56/100
• Speed of Closure
  Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
  Importance: 53/100
• Depth Perception
  Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
  Importance: 53/100
• Explosive Strength
  Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
  Importance: 53/100
• Category Flexibility
  Grouping things in different ways.
  Importance: 53/100
• Gross Body Coordination
  Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
  Importance: 53/100
• Selective Attention
  Paying attention to something without being distracted.
  Importance: 53/100
• Visual Color Discrimination
  Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
  Importance: 53/100
• Response Orientation
  Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
  Importance: 50/100
• Gross Body Equilibrium
  Keeping your balance or staying upright.
  Importance: 50/100
• Finger Dexterity
  Putting together small parts with your fingers.
  Importance: 50/100
• Written Expression
  Communicating by writing.
  Importance: 50/100
• Rate Control
  Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
  Importance: 47/100
• Memorization
  Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
  Importance: 47/100
• Speed of Limb Movement
  Quickly moving your arms and legs.
  Importance: 47/100
• Fluency of Ideas
  Coming up with lots of ideas.
  Importance: 47/100
• Hearing Sensitivity
  Telling the difference between sounds.
  Importance: 47/100
• Time Sharing
  Doing two or more things at the same time.
  Importance: 44/100
• Originality
  Creating new and original ideas.
  Importance: 41/100
• Glare Sensitivity
  Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
  Importance: 41/100
• Mathematical Reasoning
  Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
  Importance: 41/100
• Peripheral Vision
  Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
  Importance: 41/100
• Number Facility
  Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
  Importance: 41/100
• Sound Localization
  Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
  Importance: 38/100
• Wrist-Finger Speed
  Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
  Importance: 38/100
• Night Vision
  Seeing at night or under low light.
  Importance: 35/100
• Dynamic Flexibility
  Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  Importance: 28/100

Tools and Technology used by Firefighters

• Acoustic sensors
• Adjustable wrenches
• Agricultural tractors
• Air bags for loading
• Air exhausters
• Air samplers or collectors
• All terrain vehicles tracked or wheeled
• Anemometers
• Armored recovery vehicle
• Binoculars
• Blocks or pulleys
• Bolt cutters
• Calibrated resistance measuring equipment
• Chemical test strips or papers
• Claw hammer
• Cold chisels
• Diagonal cut pliers
• Digital camcorders or video cameras
• Ear plugs
• Electrocardiography EKG units
• Electronic blood pressure units
• Extremity restraints
• Facial shields
• Fans
• Fire blankets
• Fire escape equipment
• Fire extinguishers
• Fire fighting chemical truck
• Fire fighting ladder truck
• Fire fighting pump truck
• Fire fighting watercraft
• Fire hoses or nozzles
• Fire pump sets
• Fire retardant apparel
• Fire retardant footwear
• Fire suppression hand tools
• Flares
• Flatbed trailers
• Forestry saws
• Gas detectors
• Gas generators
• Geological compasses
• Glass cutters
• Global positioning system GPS receiver
• Glucose monitors or meters
• Goggles
• Grounding hardware
• Hacksaw
• Hammers
• Hand pumps
• Hand trucks or accessories
• Hard hats
• Hazardous material protective apparel
• Hazardous material protective footwear
• Heat tracing equipment
• Hold down clamps
• Hydraulic pumps
• Intermittent positive pressure breathing IPPB machines
• Jacks
• Ladders
• Life rings
• Life vests or preservers
• Lighters
• Liquid leak detectors
• Locking pliers
• Machetes
• Manlift or personnel lift
• Medical acoustic stethoscopes
• Medical gas cylinders or related devices
• Mercury blood pressure units
• Metal cutters
• Metal detectors
• Mobile medical service intravenous IV kits
• Mobile medical services automated external defibrillators AED or hard paddles
• Mobile medical services basket stretchers
• Mobile medical services cervical or extrication collars
• Mobile medical services first aid kits
• Mobile medical services litter
• Mobile medical services spine boards
• Mobile medical services suction antichoke devices
• Mowers
• Multi gas monitors
• Needlenose pliers
• Notebook computers
• Nylon rope
• Open end wrenches
• Orthopedic splint systems
• Parachutes
• Personal computers
• Picks
• Pipe wrenches
• Pneumatic hammer
• Portable data input terminals
• Power saws
• Protective gloves
• Protective hood
• Pry bars
• Psychrometers
• Pulse oximeter units
• Radiation detectors
• Radio frequency identification devices
• Rescue truck
• Respiration air supplying self contained breathing apparatus or accessories
• Respirators
• Resuscitation masks
• Safety glasses
• Safety harnesses or belts
• Safety helmets
• Saws
• Screwdrivers
• Scuba regulators
• Shovels
• Sledge hammer
• Slip or groove joint pliers
• Sockets
• Spanner wrenches
• Specialty wrenches
• Spill kits
• Surface thermometers
• Telescopes
• Torso and belt restraints
• Track bulldozers
• Two way radios
• Underwater cameras
• Utility knives
• Water analyzers
• Water pumps
• Weapon or explosives detectors and supplies
• Weather stations
• Wedges
• Wetsuits
• Wheel chocks
• Wheel nut or lug wrench
• Winches
• Wire cutters
• pH test strips or papers
• Analytical or scientific software
  • Plume modeling software
• Data base user interface and query software
  • Affiliated Computer Services ACS FIREHOUSE
  • Fire incident reporting systems
  • Microsoft Access
• Electronic mail software
  • Email software
  • Microsoft Outlook
• Geographic information system
  • Geographic information system GIS software
• Internet browser software
  • Web browser software
• Office suite software
  • Corel WordPerfect Office Suite
  • Microsoft Office software
• Operating system software
  • Microsoft Windows
  • Operating system software
• Presentation software
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
• Project management software
  • Incident command system ICS software
• Spreadsheet software
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Spreadsheet software
• Word processing software
  • Microsoft Word

Employment Industries for Firefighters

• Local government, excluding education and hospitals
  285,200 employed
• Other support services
  19,500 employed
• State government, excluding education and hospitals
  10,600 employed
• Federal government, excluding postal service
  8,000 employed