The crew came on in early April, hitting the spring prescribed fire window perfect.The District completed 400+ acres of Wildland Urban Interface burning utilizing both hand and aerial ignition to accomplish objectives. With a slow start to the fire season the crew accomplished a variety of project work on Fall burn units. By early July all resources were dispatched to either California, Oregon, or Washington to support initial attack and large fire incidents. By end of July, early August, the crew responded to a moderate initial attack load on the District. Fall burning was extremely successful burning over 1000 acres in the Mission Mountain Wilderness as well as an additional 500+ acres in the Wildland Urban Interface. Most of the crew members had an opportunity to work on leadership skills and qualifications such as Engine Boss, Firing Boss, Squad Boss, Incident Commander Type 4, and Incident Commander Type 5. This was another successful field season for the Swan Lake Fire Crew. Looking forward to another exciting and successful season for 2016.
2015 Fire Season
The crew came on in early April, hitting the spring prescribed fire window perfect.The District completed 400+ acres of Wildland Urban Interface burning utilizing both hand and aerial ignition to accomplish objectives. With a slow start to the fire season the crew accomplished a variety of project work on Fall burn units. By early July all resources were dispatched to either California, Oregon, or Washington to support initial attack and large fire incidents. By end of July, early August, the crew responded to a moderate initial attack load on the District. Fall burning was extremely successful burning over 1000 acres in the Mission Mountain Wilderness as well as an additional 500+ acres in the Wildland Urban Interface. Most of the crew members had an opportunity to work on leadership skills and qualifications such as Engine Boss, Firing Boss, Squad Boss, Incident Commander Type 4, and Incident Commander Type 5. This was another successful field season for the Swan Lake Fire Crew. Looking forward to another exciting and successful season for 2016.
DISTRICT FIRE PROGRAM
The Swan Lake Ranger Station is located in the town of Bigfork, MT on the northeast corner of Flathead Lake. The District is broken into two geographic areas; the 50,000 acre Island Unit west of Flathead Lake and the 500,000 acre Swan Corridor that extends from the north along the Swan Mountain Range to the south, bordered by the Bob Marshall Wilderness complex to the east and the Mission Mountain Wilderness and Flathead Lake to the west. The Mission Mountain Wilderness area has approximately 75,500 acres that are approved for managing fire for resource benefit and the Swan Face has about 40,000 acres that are approved. Approximately 240,000 acres of the district are in wildland urban interface or adjacent to the wildland urban interface. The District Fire Management Program covers a full range of fire management practices from suppression, mechanical fuels reduction, prescribed fire with a target of 2500 acres/year, to managing fires for resource benefit. The District has a two 6-8 person Engine Crews that staff two Type 6 Engines and a chase trucks throughout the season. There are two fully functional caches; one at Bigfork and the other located down the Swan Corridor in Condon.
EMPLOYMENT
District fire crews are a great way to start you career (or dedicate your career to for that matter) in wildland fire. District fire crews provide highly skilled and competent leadership that allows for the mentoring of seasonal firefighters. Here at Swan Lake we typically hire 6-12 seasonal firefighters from GS-3 to GS-5 depending on experience and qualifications. Average fire season is from late May through late September. Based on seasonal fire activity and various funding for fuels or other project, season length may vary. There is bunk house space available on the district compound and rentals available throughout the valley.
You must create a profile and resume on usajobs.gov. Then search for the Job Announcement using one of the provided Announcement Numbers below. Enter the announcement number either in the "What:" or "Search Jobs:" fields. This will bring you to the overview and job summary. There will be additional tabs providing more information about the job and how to apply.
Make sure you carefully read the "how to apply" section to ensure that you have all the required documents for uploading to your profile. You can use your resume that you creating using the USAJOBS template or upload a resume from a word document. This is where you will upload any other required documents as well.
It is critical to select the Duty Stations/Locations that you want to apply for. For instance BIGFORK, MT is the duty station/location for the Swan Lake Ranger District on the Flathead National Forest. The location needs to be saved during the application process. The more locations you choose the better your chances of getting a job offer. After all your information is updated in USAJOBS, you will have to submit your application. Form here you can start the application process by selecting to "Apply Online". This will eventually take you through the final process of submitting the application to the Forest Service. Select the documents that you created or uploaded in your profile and select "Apply for this Position Now!" You will have a chance to review your information prior to the finalization. If everything looks good, "Submit Application". It is critical that you check your email for confirmation that your application was submitted.
The difference in the announcement numbers above is based on experience. A first year firefighter with no experience or education requirements will rate out as a GS-3. After a season or two combined with experience and or education, you start to rate out at higher GS-Levels and become more competitive for jobs. The jobs listed are those that we currently staff here at Swan Lake.
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