Description
Lead and coordinate wildland fire suppression, prevention, and fuels management across forest and WUI landscapes, supervising crews and resources from preparedness through incident response and recovery while ensuring safety, policy compliance, and interagency coordination.
- • Assign wildland crews, engines, dozers, and aircraft to strategic divisions to contain fires and protect values at risk.
- • Ensure medical plans, qualified responders, and rescue resources are in place for incidents and project work.
- • Assess fire behavior, fuels, weather, topography, access, and exposures to set strategy and resource needs.
- • Communicate incident details and resource orders with dispatch, cooperators, and chain of command via radio and data systems.
- • Serve as Incident Commander on initial attack and as Division/Group Supervisor or Burn Boss as qualified.
- • Instruct and drill wildland firefighters in fireline tactics, LCES, firing operations, pump and saw use, and aviation safety.
- • Maintain engines, pumps, hand tools, radios, and PPE in a state of readiness.
- • Evaluate performance, readiness, and qualifications of assigned personnel.
- • Direct training programs, assign instructors, and report on qualifications, red-card status, and progress.
- • Perform minor maintenance on vehicles and equipment and propose repairs, replacements, and upgrades.
- • Schedule staffing, duty rosters, preparedness drills, and project work priorities.
- • Monitor suppression, preparedness, and fuels budgets, ensuring cost-effective operations.
- • Lead community wildfire prevention, defensible space, and evacuation planning with local partners.
- • Maintain GIS maps, fire history, resource status, and operational records.
- • Operate and supervise the use of agency vehicles, crew carriers, UTVs, and trailers to move personnel and equipment.
- • Inspect stations, helibases, camps, and recreation sites for fire and safety compliance; take corrective action.
- • Review and improve unit SOPs, readiness standards, and compliance with agency policy.
- • Direct and participate in station and equipment maintenance and readiness inspections.
- • Recommend personnel actions including hiring, discipline, performance plans, and leave approvals.
- • Prepare administrative and incident documentation, after-action reviews, and required reports.
- • Coordinate origin and cause investigations of wildland fires with law enforcement and prevention staff.
- • Recommend and justify equipment procurement and technology deployments.
- • Conduct defensible space, debris burn, and industrial operations inspections; enforce permits and restrictions.
- • Test and maintain detection, communication, and water-delivery systems, including repeaters, engines, and pumps.
- • Implement and communicate fire restrictions, burn permits, and industrial precaution levels.
- • Analyze prescribed fire conditions and outcomes; produce post-burn reports and monitoring data.
- • Perform size-ups and update the common operating picture on incident growth, containment, and values at risk.
- • Maintain current knowledge of wildland fire policy, tactics, fire weather, and prevention practices.
- • Plan, approve, and supervise prescribed fire and mechanical fuels projects in compliance with policy and plans.
- • Recruit, hire, and mentor seasonal and permanent wildland fire personnel.
- • Coordinate interagency response, mutual aid, and cooperative agreements for preparedness and incidents.
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O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
