Fighting fires in forests and wilderness from the ground and the air, and preventing the next megafire.
Top pay: highest pay, longest training
Wildfire Incident Commander: Takes overall command of a large wildfire, managing thousands of firefighters, aircraft, and evacuations. Typical pay $135k.
Air Tanker Pilot: Flies big planes that drop fire retardant or water on wildfires. Typical pay $140k.
Air Attack Supervisor: Circles above a wildfire in a small plane, directing all the aircraft fighting it, like an air traffic controller for firefighting. Typical pay $115k.
Incident Meteorologist: A National Weather Service forecaster who deploys to wildfires to predict wind and weather for firefighters. Typical pay $115k.
Lead Plane Pilot: Flies ahead of giant air tankers, showing them exactly where to drop retardant on a wildfire. Typical pay $120k.
Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship
Fire Behavior Analyst: Predicts how a wildfire will spread using fuels, terrain, weather, and computer models. Typical pay $95k.
Smokejumper: An elite wildland firefighter who parachutes into remote wilderness to attack fires early. Typical pay $70k.
Hotshot Firefighter: Part of a 20-person elite crew that takes on the toughest parts of big wildfires. Typical pay $60k.
Helitack Firefighter: A firefighter who flies to fires by helicopter, sometimes rappelling down ropes into rugged terrain. Typical pay $60k.
Wildland Fire Engine Captain: Leads a crew on a wildland fire engine that protects homes and attacks fires near roads. Typical pay $75k.
Prescribed Fire & Fuels Specialist: Plans and lights carefully controlled fires to clear brush and prevent future megafires. Typical pay $62k.
Fireline Paramedic: Provides emergency medical care to firefighters out on the fire line. Typical pay $62k.
Fireline Dozer Operator: Drives bulldozers to carve firebreaks that stop wildfires from spreading. Typical pay $65k.
Infrared Interpreter: Works overnight turning heat images taken from planes into the maps that show exactly where a wildfire burned and where it is hottest. Typical pay $66k.
Burned Area Emergency Response Specialist: Rushes in as a wildfire ends to predict floods and mudslides from the burned slopes and plan emergency fixes before the rains. Typical pay $85k.
Air Resource Advisor: Joins wildfire teams to forecast where smoke will go and warn towns, schools and health officials when the air will be unsafe. Typical pay $85k.
Starter: fastest way in
Wildland Firefighter: Fights fires in forests and grasslands, digging fire lines and putting out hot spots. Typical pay $50k.
Fire Lookout: Lives in a mountaintop tower all summer, watching for smoke and reporting new fires. Typical pay $36k.
Wildfire Prevention Technician: Educates the public and patrols forests to prevent human-caused wildfires. Typical pay $50k.
Fire Camp Logistics Specialist: Keeps a giant temporary fire camp running with food, water, supplies, and equipment. Typical pay $44k.
Wildland Fire Sawyer: Uses a chainsaw on the fireline to cut down trees and brush, clearing the way for crews. Typical pay $45k.
Defensible Space Inspector: Inspects homes in fire-prone areas and tells owners how to clear brush and harden their houses against wildfire embers. Typical pay $50k.
Aerial Ignition Drone Operator: Flies drones that drop small chemical fire-starting balls to light controlled burns and backfires where it is too dangerous for crews to walk. Typical pay $50k.
Wildland Water Tender Operator: Drives big water trucks on steep dirt roads to refill fire engines, wet down fire lines, and keep dust down in fire camp. Typical pay $48k.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.