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Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists

  • Bright Outlook
  • Rapid Growth

Enforce fire regulations, inspect forest for fire hazards, and recommend forest fire prevention or control measures. May report forest fires and weather conditions.

What you’d do

  • Relay messages about emergencies, accidents, locations of crew and personnel, and fire hazard conditions.
  • Conduct wildland firefighting training.
  • Estimate sizes and characteristics of fires, and report findings to base camps by radio or telephone.
  • Direct crews working on firelines during forest fires.
  • Locate forest fires on area maps, using azimuth sighters and known landmarks.
  • Extinguish smaller fires with portable extinguishers, shovels, and axes.
  • Patrol assigned areas, looking for forest fires, hazardous conditions, and weather phenomena.
  • Compile and report meteorological data, such as temperature, relative humidity, wind direction and velocity, and types of cloud formations.

Skills that matter

  • Critical Thinking
  • Coordination
  • Speaking
  • Active Listening
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Complex Problem Solving

How to get there

Medium preparation: usually vocational school, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree

Also called

  • Fire Management Officer
  • Fire Prevention Technician
  • Forest Officer
  • Forest Patrolman
  • Fire Operations Forester
  • Fire Prevention Officer

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