- After dropping out of college, I worked for AmeriCorps and then became a firefighter in Washington.
- I often fight wildfires, which can be grueling; I sometimes have little food and terrible shelter.
- Although it’s a difficult job, I’m glad I can help save people’s lives and homes.
Last year, I fought wildfires on a fire engine with the Washington Department of Natural Resources.
I worked in the Washington Methow Valley district, and whenever there was a wildfire in that area, they sent me and my fellow firefighters out to deal with it.
While the conditions are sometimes grueling, I’m glad I could help out communities in some way.
I took this job because it’s where my expertise was
I dropped out of college during the pandemic because I felt that college was not preparing me for real life or developing me into an adult.
From there, I joined AmeriCorps and worked a couple of seasons doing green-collar work. During that time, I lived out of my car, built hiking trails, and ripped out invasive trees.
It all taught me more than college ever could. On my own, I learned how to manage my finances, how to fix a chainsaw in the field, and how to sneak into a state park for a free shower.
When I learned I could make slightly more money working as a firefighter for Washington state and had the necessary skills, I decided to switch jobs and help save communities.
The job is often brutal and miserable
Firefighting requires a lot of work. For starters, there is no such thing as a work-life balance. If something is on fire, we have to be there until it’s out.
Sometimes, we’ll have to hike two or three miles up a mountain with five gallons of water in bags on our backs to extinguish a lightning-struck tree. Sometimes, we’ll have to spend all day digging ditches in the sun to contain a fire, and then we’ll have to stay there all night to keep watch.
Once, we were sent out to a fire on 10 minutes’ notice and spent the next 17 days without a break chasing fast-moving brush fires. You have to be ready to go anywhere and do anything whenever it’s required of you.
We sleep wherever and whenever we can. Sometimes, the state pays to put us up in hotels. Sometimes, we’re in tents or on the cement floor of a rural firehouse. Often, we have to grab sleep in the back of the engine whenever we get 15 minutes of downtime — with the understanding that if someone kicks you awake, you have to be ready to go.
We eat whatever is available. Sometimes, local restaurants near the fires will cater free meals for us. In emergencies, we eat pre-packaged military rations and whatever we have squirreled away in our packs. It’s grueling, and it grinds you down to the nubs.
I’m glad I get to help communities stay safe
After all my experience fighting fires, I’m now very concerned when I watch the fires in Los Angeles on the news. To me, it’s clear that the fire season is becoming longer and making fires more intense. As regions across the world get hotter and drier, fires burn brighter and for longer.
Wildfires are destroying homes and livelihoods all over the country in towns you’ve never heard of. I just hope governments are prepared to provide housing, food, and healthcare to us firefighters.
Nevertheless, I’m glad to see so many fire crews from around the country and the world gathering to save Los Angeles. Although I haven’t been brought down to Los Angeles myself, I’m still glad to be part of this brotherhood determined to save lives and homes. I wouldn’t trade that for anything.
