#NotYourOrdinaryJob: Learn about smokejumpers!
Talk about an exciting job! Smokejumpers are wildland firefighters who deploy to fires via airplane and parachute. These highly skilled jumpers can get to remote fires safely and quickly, helping keep high-risk fires small.
The United States has about 450 jumpers and smokejumping in the U.S. dates back to 1939. The first operational fire jump occurred in 1940 on the Nez Perce National Forest in Idaho.
-BLM smokejumpers are based out of Boise, Idaho, and Fairbanks, Alaska.The Boise jump base employs some 80-85 jumpers every season. During the fire season, these jumpers are based out of other locations in the Great Basin, depending on where the needs are.
Here’s a few fun facts about smokejumpers:
-Smokejumper training takes about five weeks. An attrition rate of 30-50% is not uncommon, due to the rigors of the training program.
-When a smokejumper leaves the airplane, he or she is wearing about 85 pounds of equipment.
-Smokejumpers suit up in approximately 2 minutes. The load of jumpers takes about eight minutes to get suited up and into the air after getting a dispatch.
-The smokejumper’s reserve parachute has an automatic device (works on barometric pressure) that deploys the parachute if the jumper is unconscious.
-Smokejumpers require special training and physical fitness rivaled only by elite military units. Once they have completed their mission on a fire, jumpers usually have to pack out their gear—which typically weighs 120 pounds.
Interested in becoming a smokejumper or a wildland firefighter? We are hiring! Click here to learn more!
