Protective service
Forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists
Enforce fire regulations, inspect forest for fire hazards, and recommend forest fire prevention or control measures. May report forest fires and weather conditions.
Median pay
$56,870
Growth to 2035
+13%
faster than average
Openings a year
400
Time to qualify*
2.5 years
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
- Prior experience
- Less than 5 years
Calculate your switch to forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Outdoors in all weather
Hazardous conditions
Exposure to disease
Forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists: 58% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- Relay messages about emergencies, accidents, locations of crew and personnel, and fire hazard conditions.
- Conduct wildland firefighting training.
- Estimate sizes and characteristics of fires, and report findings to base camps by radio or telephone.
- Direct crews working on firelines during forest fires.
- Locate forest fires on area maps, using azimuth sighters and known landmarks.
- Extinguish smaller fires with portable extinguishers, shovels, and axes.
- Patrol assigned areas, looking for forest fires, hazardous conditions, and weather phenomena.
- Compile and report meteorological data, such as temperature, relative humidity, wind direction and velocity, and types of cloud formations.
Also called: Fire Management Officer · Fire Operations Forester · Fire Prevention Officer · Fire Prevention Technician · Fire Technician · Forest Officer · Forest Patrolman · Forestry Patrolman
Outlook and AI
Forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists held 3,000 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 3,400 by 2035 (+13%, faster than average; all jobs: +3.5%).
Demand change - share increases as increasingly destructive wild land fires will increase the demand for fire prevention.
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