Best way to get into fire ops??
Posted by Accomplished_Sun5287@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 30 comments
Almost done with Commercial and wondering what the best path is to get into fire ops. The goal one day is large air tanking but i understand I won’t get a job doing that right away. Just looking if there’s anyone in the industry that can offer come guidance?
mutarjim@reddit
I'm in training in Montana and the CEO of Bridger Aerospace came and talked to us. He said 1500 hours was a non-waiverable minimum for any pilot job at his company.
redditburner_5000@reddit
It's a government contract stipulation, which is why it's not waiverable. Not regulatory.
You also need "mountain time" which has a definition in that contract. Then there's a make/model requirement but it's manageable if you get hired, but could be tough to get on your own. Where is a lower time pilot going to get 25hrs in an AC690 or Shrike?
scoot5ever@reddit
You will get the 25 hours in type in training it’s good to already have some but this is a requirement to get carded by the forest service not a requirement to get hired.
redditburner_5000@reddit
I would always prefer guys with time in type before guys with no time in type. Sure, you'd get to 25 flying charter in the off-season if there was enough time to go around. But 25hrs in m/m is nothing, especially when a pilot has no previous turbine or "big twin" experience (ex. 340 or 414), is only at contract mins, and has maybe flown only four makes and models in their entire careers to that point.
LassenDiscard@reddit
Maybe get on with an outfit that has a bunch of 680s/690s that do non-fire work as well? Ponderosa's the only one I'm familiar with, and I've never asked about their hiring practices, I've only met their Air Attack pilots.
redditburner_5000@reddit
Get multi-turbine PIC as quickly as you can. Places like Alpine, AmFlight, etc.
Go to ADSB Exchange and search for squawk code 1255. Note who the operators are. Contact them for their hiring minimums. Go visit them. Need a reason to get some XC hours? Arrange a visit and become a known quantity.
I think getting on with a tanker outfit as your first job is a longshot, but try anyway. Focus your attention on the airplanes flying circles all day long. This is "air attack" and is probably the most realistic shot you have to get into a fire job.
Do a few seasons with an air attack company and then go apply to tankers. Or to the USFS as a lead plane pilot. Get paid to fly low in the mountains and bag a federal pension out of it! Beats the hell out of airlines if you ask me!
Reputation actually matters, so play nice. Do a good job. Go out of your way to learn stuff about fire science. It's not like the industrialized hiring machinery at an airline. It's very much who you know.
GoodMorningLemmings@reddit
This is awesome, but I would caution the “federal pension” element of this. Federal pensions or even positions are not nearly as attractive as they once were. The move from CSRS to FERS and the increase of FERS contributions to 4.4% make them incredibly expensive for the end payout. There are still some minor benefits over the private sector, depending on your risk/reward expectations, and as for aerial firefighting they are probably a great avenue, just do research on what things truly look like because it’s not what people think it is. Source: am Fed.
redditburner_5000@reddit
Agree. But it's something.
The pilots in it for the money might not want the job
Accomplished_Sun5287@reddit (OP)
Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for!
Consistent-Back1986@reddit
wildfiretoday.com is a good source of what’s going on in the industry. In addition to the commercial opperaters, many states and providences have their own airforce and often have a mutual aid agreement with other governments. Great for networking. And with climate change, the demand for knowledgeable pilots will increase but you can expect to be gone for months at a time.
jakep623@reddit
To add, if you have a background that's relevant to any civil service jobs, go for that. Once in civil service it's often far less friction to network and job hop to other agencies.
JustAnotherDude1990@reddit
Hmmm…I have a bunch of multi turbine PIC time and doing fire work sounds cool.
120SR@reddit
This is advice is underrated and beyond gold, straight from the source goodness, the kid reading this is so lucky, people take years learning the hard way
Jzerious@reddit
For what it’s worth, and it might be worth nothing, I’ve heard they look for people with experience in ag flying/applicator experience. Also depending on what’s available, the aircraft may be seaplanes or tail draggers.
DonnerPartyPicnic@reddit
Yeah, i thought low-level experience was part of the requirements. Completely different type of flying.
JimTheJerseyGuy@reddit
Altogether?
happierinverted@reddit
It’s a different type of flying.
DonnerPartyPicnic@reddit
Safety wise, yes. Ground rush, CFIT avoidance, terrain clearance, etc. The fire guys aren't flying super fast, but if you're not on your A game, you can very easily put yourself into the dirt.
Key_Math8192@reddit
The ag flying is only required if you’re looking to fly single engine air tankers. Those are just modified air tractors, and they fly the lowest of all of the tankers so the operators just pull from the workforce that is already out there doing it. Those are also the only tankers that we see crashing fairly regularly.
Suspicious_Clock2311@reddit
Does anybody have a rough idea of what air attack or tankers are paying in 2025?
Raccoon_Ratatouille@reddit
It’s all about who you know. Network, network, network
OkTadpole7559@reddit
This seems oddly similar to a conversation I had with someone in the parking lot of an fbo in the midwest last week.
CheesecakeBulky7393@reddit
our school has career mentors that we start talking to during CFI training. One is a firefighter pilot. I spoke with him and he did: air show aerobatics and crop dusting. Then a firefighter company actaully reached out to him because his cropduster was the same type and hes been doing it ever since.
Plus_Goose3824@reddit
From anything I've researched, crop dusting is the way in to flying SEATs. Also, mountainous terrain hours. Whatever jobs you find that give low level and/or mountain time. A lot of fire jobs I've seen also want you to have at least one season of on the ground line experience on wildfires. That is probably not across the board, but if you don't have any fire experience of any kind, it would put you at a disadvantage understanding how your aircraft's mission meets the ground objectives. I'm just a PPL who researched this extensively a few years ago because it was my motivator for flying to begin with. Wanting to fly large tankers possibly has a different route that I didn't research because there will be way less of those jobs than SEATs, so you might have to work your way up the ladder. Going helicopter would be another option where the standard jobs such as long lining would relate directly to fire.
Actual_Environment_7@reddit
I flew wildlife survey out west for many years. Got two SEAT operators interested in me without even looking. I didn’t pursue it because my priorities were changing and I wanted stability in my life.
kapnkorn@reddit
Hey man, here's a post I made a while ago. It's geared towards Canada but you may find some value. Best of luck! https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/comments/154nbtk/an_incomplete_guide_to_water_bombing_in_canada/
Feckmumblerap@reddit
Im only a ppl student but this would be my dream job also. Commenting so i can come back to the thread later
Kemerd@reddit
This really doesn’t work for any other industry anymore in 2025. But pull up those bootstraps. Talk to people. Especially those in fire ops. Who runs the show? Network. Make friends. Ask them point blank how do I fly for you? They’ll tell you. Get there and work towards it.
theoriginalturk@reddit
The mins for some of entry level stuff is an ATP and and some TPIC time
The. you can apply to one of the companies flying an AT-802 and work your way up from there
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
Almost done with Commercial and wondering what the best path is to get into fire ops. The goal one day is large air tanking but i understand I won’t get a job doing that right away. Just looking if there’s anyone in the industry that can offer come guidance?
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