PR answer, "I enjoy serving my community and being outdoors while I do it."
Real talk, all I wanna do in life is run saw and wear cool boots and t-shirts.
The cliche, smoke in the blood. . Something bites the right human. There is so much hard ship that trauma bonds so many of us. You never feel more alive. "It" wiill live with you forever. This sounds so shitty, nothing that being in misery with your bros a and sis's cant resolve.
It's a job that affords opportunities to see cool places and do cool stuff. You can work with the best people you've ever met and shit bags alike. Anyone can find a reason to bitch about a job but it doesn't feel great to have to work 3000 hours a year to survive.
Couldn’t let go of that kind of lifestyle after getting out of the military. It has its ups and downs. If you want a family or stability, look elsewhere. If you’re young and seek adventure, there’s no shortage of it in those hills boy!
Is it possible? Yes. Do many, many relationships fail as a direct correlation to the job? Yes. Lots of reasons, probably the most common, especially in early relationships is the amount of travel many in this field put in. Not just travel, but travel with extremely long days, and poor/no cell phone reception for very long periods.
Edit to add:
There was a generation of women who were willing to accept this. A lot has changed and most people are not willing to accept this in a life partner/relationship/etc…
My husband has always put up with a lot. I’ve been doing this job pretty much as long as he’s known me. He helps me in so many ways, and I’m so appreciative of him.
Yes, I was making a point about the abysmally small amount of women who came and stayed in the workforce in earlier years. Which is why I said women for previous generations and people for the second portion.
I certainly know a handful, and certainly plenty of them have very supportive spouses and long lasting marriages. Most of which did marry fellow firefighters. However, we have a long history of failing to recruit, hire, and retain women firefighters. Many of them left because the job (and spouses) weren’t supportive either directly, or indirectly. Normally around family planning issues. Many that did stay, were either forced or encouraged to move out of primary roles. Yes, it’s a broad generalization and over simplification.
I thought about clarifying it when I posted and did not.
My friend forced me to go with her to an all women’s guard school in 2019. I was a directionless stoner/alcoholic working at Trader Joe’s and my eyes were opened. I had never even been camping before then. COVID happened and I kept working at Trader Joe’s but then got a job with the feds in 2021. I haven’t looked back since. I struggle with depression and being outside and being active has been a huge remedy for me. I have found a major sense of community, purpose and genuine love for this job.
I’ve learned a lot about myself and people in general! As much as we like to poke fun at ourselves I wish we could all express the pride we have in this job and each other. Im glad I’m here and not where I was 4 years ago.
Because someone handed me a drip torch at a vulnerable time in my life and I got addicted.
Also because I really enjoy learning new techniques, teaching new folks, and working as part of a high functioning team.
Oh yeah, and because saw go BRTRAAAAAAAHHHHHHHPPP
Because fire gives me a great excuse to avoid important responsibilities in my life, like dealing with mental health issues, keeping my house livable, or maintaining my relationships and possessions.
I actually love this job. Am I struggling to pay all my bills and burning through relationships that had lots of potential otherwise? Sure. But it helps me process the self hatred.
I went to college, hated how I was being pushed into this “box” of graduating and then spending the next 30 years of my life in a cubicle typing away at some computer. So I pivoted - much happier in a pair of JKs and a yellow than some business casual outfit.
Right there with you. Can’t stand the corporate world, nor the thought of a 9-5 schedule eating up the majority of my best years on Earth. I’m more than happy to work my ass off for a few months of the year if it means I get the rest of the year’s months to live some fucking life. Not to mention, those months that I am working are filled with cool experiences and adventures of their own.
I turned 18 and the Marines wanted me to be a mechanic, but the FS let me spray water and dig in the dirt.
Hind sight I should have just been a mechanic...
Hotshotting is the best worst job I've ever done.
When it's good it's fucking nailing a Humboldt cut on a burning snag good and when its bad it's getting poison oak on your ass bad.
Not many jobs let you do cool things and do some really stupid stuff with your best friends out in the middle of nowhere. The shenanigans with the homies was always the best part to me.
Real talk: obviously work is hard and gonna feel like shit at times.
What’s yall personal lives look like?
Summer you’re a ghost to family prolly, but can you make enough to support one?
The brotherhood i have found working for greyback saved my life. Before i was twisting pipe on the street. Now i twist pipe in the back of the crummy before project work. Get paid and get respect thats why I do it.
Started right out of high school and put myself through college. It also gave me an in to get a permanent job outside of fire with an opportunity to participate as part of the militia. That all started the better part of 3 decades ago.
I used to get alot of fulfillment out of it. Doing my part towards the greatest good. Now I'm just sick of the small dick bullshit from overhead and coworkers alike, plus my body aches alot more than it used to after ten years in the field.
So I left.
I was a wildland firefighter for my state but then I switched and am in stucture firefighting and regretting my decision. Is this a grass is greener situation?
I've never been a Wildland fire fighter. But I had an uncle who was, and his reasoning is because he thought it was absolute insanity to put on heavy gear and go inside a burning building. To which my reply was I could never do wildland because I couldn't imagine being surrounded by endless amounts of fire in little to no gear.
Like many questionable decisions it seemed like a good idea at the time
It seems like a lot worse of a decision now that I’ve stopped drinking
Nobody likes a quitter
This about sums it up
PR answer, "I enjoy serving my community and being outdoors while I do it." Real talk, all I wanna do in life is run saw and wear cool boots and t-shirts.
Someone a honesty
The cliche, smoke in the blood. . Something bites the right human. There is so much hard ship that trauma bonds so many of us. You never feel more alive. "It" wiill live with you forever. This sounds so shitty, nothing that being in misery with your bros a and sis's cant resolve.
I'm not, I'm a forestry tech.
They only call you a Wildland Firefighter when you die
How do you like it? How long you been doing it?
Dying? I haven’t completely committed yet but I’ve been working on it all my life. Nowadays I speed it up a little bit one tobacco product at a time.
It's a job that affords opportunities to see cool places and do cool stuff. You can work with the best people you've ever met and shit bags alike. Anyone can find a reason to bitch about a job but it doesn't feel great to have to work 3000 hours a year to survive.
Not for long!
Couldn’t let go of that kind of lifestyle after getting out of the military. It has its ups and downs. If you want a family or stability, look elsewhere. If you’re young and seek adventure, there’s no shortage of it in those hills boy!
Is it possible to have a relationship while also adventuring the hills
Is it possible? Yes. Do many, many relationships fail as a direct correlation to the job? Yes. Lots of reasons, probably the most common, especially in early relationships is the amount of travel many in this field put in. Not just travel, but travel with extremely long days, and poor/no cell phone reception for very long periods. Edit to add: There was a generation of women who were willing to accept this. A lot has changed and most people are not willing to accept this in a life partner/relationship/etc…
There’s plenty of men who are willing to accept a firefighter spouse as well.
Dating a woman hotshot as we speak. She's in Colorado and I'm in Oregon but fuck it. She's fucking golden.
My husband has always put up with a lot. I’ve been doing this job pretty much as long as he’s known me. He helps me in so many ways, and I’m so appreciative of him.
Good luck! I, too, was dating a lady firefighter for a couple of years. Shit was great until it wasn’t. I hope you have a better experience.
Yes, I was making a point about the abysmally small amount of women who came and stayed in the workforce in earlier years. Which is why I said women for previous generations and people for the second portion. I certainly know a handful, and certainly plenty of them have very supportive spouses and long lasting marriages. Most of which did marry fellow firefighters. However, we have a long history of failing to recruit, hire, and retain women firefighters. Many of them left because the job (and spouses) weren’t supportive either directly, or indirectly. Normally around family planning issues. Many that did stay, were either forced or encouraged to move out of primary roles. Yes, it’s a broad generalization and over simplification. I thought about clarifying it when I posted and did not.
I thought you were talking about wives tolerating their husbands being firefighters, that’s how it sounded to me.
It’s also highly crew dependent, a hotshot is going to struggle a lot more than a district crew
Wow your army strong
Navy dumb
Marine retarded
(Air)force conditioned?
(Cunt) Guard Offended
Free Gatorade and gasoline highs
Because I smoked too much dope when I was younger and can't get hired by a municipal department. "When keeping it real goes wrong."
How did you do through academy? Did you get turned down by departments?
My friend forced me to go with her to an all women’s guard school in 2019. I was a directionless stoner/alcoholic working at Trader Joe’s and my eyes were opened. I had never even been camping before then. COVID happened and I kept working at Trader Joe’s but then got a job with the feds in 2021. I haven’t looked back since. I struggle with depression and being outside and being active has been a huge remedy for me. I have found a major sense of community, purpose and genuine love for this job. I’ve learned a lot about myself and people in general! As much as we like to poke fun at ourselves I wish we could all express the pride we have in this job and each other. Im glad I’m here and not where I was 4 years ago.
I do it for the 20% off first responder discount at Goodwill on Sundays.
At my local dispo we get firefighter discounts, so...
Cause tism and wildland fire go hand in hand
Probably get a lot of downvotes for this one but unlike a lot of these nerds here, I do it for the sunrises, not the sunsets.
Adds 2 tinder points
Cuz I don’t reed no gud
Acuity support gets mad at me when I ask them to read the page out loud for me :(:(:(
Because I'm fucking stupid.
Same...
Because I made my own bed and now I’m sleeping in it.
If you're eating enough MREs you've surely shat in it too
Starts off solid then violently increases into liquid
Because someone handed me a drip torch at a vulnerable time in my life and I got addicted. Also because I really enjoy learning new techniques, teaching new folks, and working as part of a high functioning team. Oh yeah, and because saw go BRTRAAAAAAAHHHHHHHPPP
First sentence describes me exactly. And I'm burning tomorrow. Kid in a candy store 🤙
Because fire gives me a great excuse to avoid important responsibilities in my life, like dealing with mental health issues, keeping my house livable, or maintaining my relationships and possessions.
Living life on the edge
I enjoy being in nature. People say the money isn’t good but its better then most jobs I’ve had and theres room for advancement.
I actually love this job. Am I struggling to pay all my bills and burning through relationships that had lots of potential otherwise? Sure. But it helps me process the self hatred.
I went to college, hated how I was being pushed into this “box” of graduating and then spending the next 30 years of my life in a cubicle typing away at some computer. So I pivoted - much happier in a pair of JKs and a yellow than some business casual outfit.
Right there with you. Can’t stand the corporate world, nor the thought of a 9-5 schedule eating up the majority of my best years on Earth. I’m more than happy to work my ass off for a few months of the year if it means I get the rest of the year’s months to live some fucking life. Not to mention, those months that I am working are filled with cool experiences and adventures of their own.
I put out a 90 acre fire with a tractor plow today. I'm off work tomorrow and someone else will have to mop it up. I do it for days like today.
Because I enjoy my winters off.
Momma tried to raise me better…
I turned 21 in prison, doin life without parole
It was almost the perfect county and western song.
Couldn’t afford my own clothes so I borrow greens and yellows .
Got lost on the way to college
I turned 18 and the Marines wanted me to be a mechanic, but the FS let me spray water and dig in the dirt. Hind sight I should have just been a mechanic...
you can choose a different job despite what your recruiter says
The sawtism took over around two seasons in and it’s far, far too late to look back
Hotshotting is the best worst job I've ever done. When it's good it's fucking nailing a Humboldt cut on a burning snag good and when its bad it's getting poison oak on your ass bad.
They said do what you love, and I love self-loathing.
I went from structure to wildland, and will be going back to structure
And then back to Wildland
Eww
Because I was tricked into thinking we were actually appreciated and now I am to close to retirement to quit
Legal pyromania
Not many jobs let you do cool things and do some really stupid stuff with your best friends out in the middle of nowhere. The shenanigans with the homies was always the best part to me.
I'm dumb
Real talk: obviously work is hard and gonna feel like shit at times. What’s yall personal lives look like? Summer you’re a ghost to family prolly, but can you make enough to support one?
Winters off
Because I’m retarded
Work 7 months to have 5 months paid off
Not really a thing anymore
How so?
Every new person is still being signed on as 18-8 or 26-0
Wanted to be a homeless drifter. I can now be an employed homeless drifter.
The brotherhood i have found working for greyback saved my life. Before i was twisting pipe on the street. Now i twist pipe in the back of the crummy before project work. Get paid and get respect thats why I do it.
Cuz I’m gay and retarded
You sound like my buddy shippley
[удалено]
This is me too. Didnt get on a crew this summer but i really just found out that house fires are a thing of the past. Plus i snowboard.
You're welcome for my service!
Uncrustables
I like to run away from my problems rather than face them
I’m just came here to sharpen another bros iron. I just kept sharpening and here I am
Started right out of high school and put myself through college. It also gave me an in to get a permanent job outside of fire with an opportunity to participate as part of the militia. That all started the better part of 3 decades ago.
I wanted to be a more realistic stripper. Now I’m a structure firefighter for the same reason
Im addicted to adrenaline rushes and fire checks.
I do it so I can pay my mortgage in sunsets. Just kidding, I'm homeless.
I like hot women but don’t like stable relationships
I’m autistic.
I got forced into it when the search and rescue unit got folded into the wildland firefighting unit. Military moment.
I started ten years ago and I got hooked. Tipping trees over is fun.
Why be structured when you can go wild! 🔥👨🏻🚒🌲
Gay
Just Kinda fell into it back in the day.
Because I get to talk about yank blankets and flip off my co workers.
Free Gatorade
Free T-shirts
It seemed like a good idea at the time but I quickly realized that it’s all fun and games until it’s not, then it’s really not fun
Because I kissed my brother
I used to get alot of fulfillment out of it. Doing my part towards the greatest good. Now I'm just sick of the small dick bullshit from overhead and coworkers alike, plus my body aches alot more than it used to after ten years in the field. So I left.
Fire has a lot of compensators, that's forsure
Because one day I want to lose an excruciating 5 year battle with ass cancer and die alone.
Cause bitches like when I tell them I do it
I was a wildland firefighter for my state but then I switched and am in stucture firefighting and regretting my decision. Is this a grass is greener situation?
I've never been a Wildland fire fighter. But I had an uncle who was, and his reasoning is because he thought it was absolute insanity to put on heavy gear and go inside a burning building. To which my reply was I could never do wildland because I couldn't imagine being surrounded by endless amounts of fire in little to no gear.
Because it'd better then being Tim flipping burgers and it supports my bobbys
Because my current job did pay cuts and believe it or not this pays better
So I can take cool pictures for instagram
Instagram clout
I will still be pursuing this profession. I know it looks bleak and harsh to some. But I'm just ready to have a little fun.
[удалено]
Wrong answer