Fire Dispatch (Forestry Technician)

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This Fire Dispatch (Forestry Technician) position is with the US Wildland Fire Service, GW-0462-4/5/6/7 working in the following locations:

• Shoshone, ID
• Elko, NV
• Ely, NV
• Minden, NV
• Winnemucca, NV
• Vale, OR
• Colville, WA
• Casper, WY

You may select up to SEVEN locations. Not all locations may be hiring for all grades.

Qualifications:

In order to qualify for this position, you must possess you must meet the Selective Factor andthe Minimum Qualification requirements listed below.

Selective Placement Factor: This position requires a special qualification that has been determined to be essential to perform the duties and will be used as a screen out element. Those who do not provide evidence they possess the following selective factor(s) will be rated not qualified.

Prior on-the-line firefighting: This experience must be clearly documented in your resume with specific to and from dates, description of work performed, and hours worked per week in order to be considered. This is an administrative position in an organization having a firefighting mission and is in an established career path. Prior firefighting experience, as gained by substantial service in a primary firefighter position or equivalent experience outside the Federal government, is a MANDATORY PREREQUISITE. Candidates must possess substantial wildland firefighting experience, gained through fire line work in containment, control, suppression or use of wildland fire. The Department of the Interior defines wildland firefighting experience as any non-structure fire that occurs in the wildland. Wildland firefighting experience is gained through work on the fire line in containment, control, suppression or use of wildland fire. This experience can be met by serving in a temporary, seasonal, or equivalent private sector fire position. Wildland fires are categorized into two distinct types: (1) Wildfires - Unplanned ignitions or prescribed fires that are declared wildfires; and (2) Prescribed Fires - Planned ignitions. This description includes only fireline experience on a Prescribed Fire; it does not include experience in the planning stages. Prescribed fire experience must be supplemented by fire suppression experience in order to be creditable as previous wildland firefighting experience.

In addition to the requirements described above, the following additional experience is required.

Only experience and education obtained by 04/22/2026 will be considered.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. Please be sure to include this information in your resume. No assumptions will be made about your experience.

Minimum Qualifications:

To qualify for a GW-4, you must meet at least one of the following:
1). Six (6) months of general work experience, which can be any work experience AND six (6) months of specialized work experience equivalent to the GW/GS-3 level duties.
Examples of specialized work experience may include but are not limited to:
Performing dispatch work or equivalent experience that provided familiarity with dispatch operations and procedures, such as performing wildland fire suppression duties or working with fire/dispatch computer programs.
-OR-
2). Two (2) years of education above the high school level which included at least 12 semester hours in any combination of the following courses: forestry, agriculture, crop or plant science, range management or conservation, wildlife management, watershed management, soil science, natural resources (except marine fisheries and oceanography), outdoor recreation management, civil or forest engineering, or wildland fire science. No more than 3 semester hours of mathematics is creditable toward this requirement.
-OR-
3). A combination of the education and experience described above.

To qualify for a GW-5, you must meet at least one of the following:
1). One (1) year of specialized work experience equivalent to the GW/GS-4 level duties.
Examples of specialized work experience may include but are not limited to:
Performing dispatch or dispatch office functions related to wildland fire suppression activities such as determining priorities and selecting alternative resources while independently performing dispatch operations duties.
-OR-
2). A successful completion of a 4 year course of study above high school leading to a bachelor's degree with either 1. a major study in forestry, range management or agriculture; or a subject matter field directly related to the position; OR 2. at least 24 semester hours in any combination of the following courses: forestry, agriculture, crop or plant science, range management or conservation, wildlife management, watershed management, soil science, natural resources (except marine fisheries and oceanography), outdoor recreation management, civil or forest engineering, or wildland fire science. No more than 6 semester hours of mathematics is creditable. The level of the course work must have been equivalent to at least the junior and senior year levels of a baccalaureate program.
-OR-
3). A combination of education and experience as described above.

To qualify for a GW-6, you must meet at least one of the following:
1). One (1) year of specialized work experience equivalent to the GW/GS-5 level duties.
Examples of specialized work experience may include but are not limited to:
Performing dispatch and dispatch office functions related to wildland fire suppression activities such as receiving and reviewing fire incident reports, working with wildland fire dispatch computer programs, and/or determining fire resource needs.
-OR-
2). One (1) year of graduate level education directly related to this position.
-OR-
3). A combination of education and experience directly related to the work of the position.

To qualify for a GW-7, you must meet at least one of the following:
1). One (1) year of specialized work experience equivalent to the GW/GS-6 level duties.
Examples of specialized work experience may include but are not limited to:
Performing and directing others in dispatch and dispatch office functions related to wildland fire suppression activities, providing logistical support information and making recommendations for efficient use of available resources.
-OR-
2). One (1) year of graduate education directly related to this position.
-OR-
3). A combination of education and experience directly related to the work of the position.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

*Applicants must meet all minimum qualification requirements for the position of interest by the closing date of the Job Announcement.

Physical Demands: The work involves long hours of sitting, intense concentration, and working at peak proficiency/intensity levels with irregular breaks and mealtimes. Must be able to cope with the pressure of meeting timeframes and changing priorities. Mental concentration and accuracy are required. Vehicle and aircraft travel associated with field visits and other administrative travel may be required.

Work Environment: Work is performed primarily in an office setting. During peak activity, increased radio traffic, numerous ringing phones, and conversations result in high noise levels, which require a high level of concentration to perform duties. The duties of this position create a highly stressful environment during peal activity, requiring the ability to keep calm in emergency situations.

Responsibilities:

For contact information, housing availability, and additional details regarding temporary fire positions with DOI, visit the DOI FIRES website

As a Fire Dispatcher (GW-4 Forestry Technician), your duties will include but are not limited to the following:

• Serves as a dispatcher, receiving, filling, and tracking resources requests for fire and other emergency incidents.
• Receives fire reports, determines location, land status, and current fire information, and dispatches personnel, equipment, aircraft, and/or supplies.
• Provides critical logistical support information to supervisor.
• Monitor all fire radio communications and maintain telephone and radio conversation logs.

As a Fire Dispatcher (GW-5 Forestry Technician),your duties will include but are not limited to the following:

• Receives fire reports, determines location, land status, and current fire information, and dispatches personnel, equipment, aircraft, and/or supplies.
• Collects, processes, collates and submits incident information to support fire operations.
• Processes and interprets weather information.
• Inputs data into a number of fire-related computer applications.

As a Fire Dispatcher (GW-6 Forestry Technician),your duties will include but are not limited to the following:

• Serves as a dispatcher receiving fire reports, determines location, land status, and current fire information, and dispatches personnel, equipment, aircraft, and/or supplies.
• Interprets weather information and gives to management for making decisions.
• Inputs data into a number of fire-related computer applications.
• May train other dispatchers.

Salary : $23