Feel the Burn
The U.S. Forest Service is looking for women interested in the outdoors and learning to fight wildland fires
If you’re female and fighting wildfires sounds like your calling, the U.S. Forest Service wants to hear from you.
Fire managers at the Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands are looking for a small number of women for on-call, seasonal positions as wildland firefighters for the 2018 fire season. These on-call positions will provide support to wildland fire operations during the summer fire season and can help pave the way for future employment and career advancement opportunities within the Forest Service.
According to Donna Nemeth, public affairs officer for Cibola, 30 women will be selected for the Women in Wildland Fire Boot Camp in October. This boot camp provides firefighter training and orientation. After boot camp is complete, recruits will be prepared for the Work Capacity Test, which is a requirement to qualify as a Wildland Firefighter.
The boot camp is scheduled for the weekends of Oct. 21-22 and Oct. 28-29 at the Magdalena Fire Center, near Magdalena. For those on the path to becoming a firefighter, attendance both weekends is required, as well as an online course taken before the boot camp. The deadline for applications is 4:30 p.m. Oct. 6. Selections will be made by Oct. 11.
“At this duty station, candidates will learn basics about physical fitness, dietary needs, basic outdoor camping and field skills, along with firefighter training,” Nemeth said.
The program is designed help participants to get experience that will help them when they apply for seasonal positions. Selected participants will be paid for the hours they are at boot camp.
The training can also be a good starting point for anyone interested in a career with the Forest Service, Nemeth said.
Nemeth said that although the training focuses on getting women prepared to train further to become wildland firefighters, anyone who is interested is invited to attend.
Information and the application are available on the Cibola National Forest website at www.fs.usda.gov/cibola. Contact the Magdalena Ranger District at 575-854-2281, or Britton Quinlan, bquinlan02@fs.fed.us, with questions.