by L.L.Ortiz

Created on: April 17, 2008

The landscape around me turned a sinister blood red as thick smoke rolled in front of the sun. I was high up on a brush choked hillside somewhere in southern California. To the west was a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean, glimmering like a sheet of liquid glass. To the east was a scene from Hell. The entire ravine below me had just ignited at once and was completely filled with flame. Fire on this scale takes on a life of its own. It becomes like a living thing; breathing, roaring, and devouring anything in its path including the dozens of homes along the ridge top that now burned like funeral pyres. I looked up to watch a massive P-3 Orion tanker, a converted Navy submarine hunting plane, dive over the hill in front of me and release its load of retardant. My fascination didn't last long as a call came over the radio that we had a 'firefighter down'. I was the lead EMT for the crew so I headed down the line to help...

Sound exciting? Think you can handle it? Want to know how to get in? Then read on.

There are many different ways to get yourself into the position I found myself in on that day. Some are definitely better than others. For instance, the State of California has hand crews but they wear orange jumpsuits and go back to prison when the fire's over. Nothing against them, they're hard workers and are some of the nicest guys out there. Don't ask me how I know that because we're not supposed to talk to them but the way I see it we're all human, they just got caught and we didn't. There are Federal crews, State crews, Indian crews, International crews, local agencies, and contractors all over the place. I went with the Federal Government myself but no matter which type of crew you opt for there is a minimum of training that you will need.

I was lucky enough to be able to take a basic wildland firefighting course at the local community college. It was a semester long 40 hour class (can also be completed in a week) that gave me the basic certifications needed for wildland firefighting. These were: S-130, S-134, S-190, and I-100. Basic, basic stuff. I think there are still places out there that will hire people without these certifications but it is becoming a standard to require them. That being said, once you have these qualifications, getting a job is easy. I got my job two months after completing the course. I called every ranger unit in the state of California twice a week and talked to fire captains, engineers, secretaries, division chiefs, firefighters,

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