Explore by Career/Protective Service
Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists
Enforce fire regulations, inspect forest for fire hazards, and recommend forest fire prevention or control measures. May report forest fires and weather conditions.
- Median pay
- $52,380
- per year
- 10-year outlook
- +14.6%
- Growing
- Typical entry
- High school diploma or equivalent
Key skills
- Critical Thinking
- Speaking
- Coordination
- Active Listening
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Complex Problem Solving
- Monitoring
- Instructing
What they 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.
- Examine and inventory firefighting equipment, such as axes, fire hoses, shovels, pumps, buckets, and fire extinguishers, to determine amount and condition.
- Educate the public about fire safety and prevention.
Majors that lead here
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, Employment Projections) and O*NET, used under CC BY 4.0.