Wildland Fire Permanent Positions

The Northern Region fills hundreds of permanent wildland firefighter positions across 10 National Forests and Grasslands in Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota. Specialized positions include dispatch, engine crews, fire and fuels management, hotshot crews, hand crews, helitack, smokejumpers, and prevention. All positions could engage in a spectrum of fire management activities including contributing to fire suppression efforts, performing project work such as fuel inventories, preparing associated reports, and implementing hazardous fuels reduction projects. Region 1 will be filling permanent full-time and permanent seasonal fire and fuels positions ranging from GW-03 to GW-10.

The Fire Hire process is used to standardize hiring of permanent wildland firefighter positions to provide consistent practices around the Region and throughout the agency. Fire Hire is currently utilizing a Direct Hire Authority, which has been granted by OPM for the Forest Service to fill critical positions in an accelerated manner. The announcements are open to the public, but many require NWCG qualifications. Each announcement will define what the requirements are.

The vacancy announcements for these positions will be posted on the US Government's official website for employment opportunities at USAJOBS.

Applicants are encouraged to apply to any position and duty station you may be interested in, as those positions may become vacant throughout the Fire Hire process.

August 22, 2025: Vacancy Announcements OPEN in USAJOBS.

Applicants are encouraged to apply for multiple locations (where they would accept a position if offered), even if positions for certain locations in which you are interested are not currently vacant. Vacancies may occur during the hiring process and could be filled during the selection week.

September 23, 2025: Vacancy Announcements CLOSE.

To be considered for these announcements during the centralized fire hire event, applicants must complete the application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date.

September 25, 2025: HR Qualification Review period begins. 

Applicants may receive qualification review notices from USAJOBS/HR in this timeframe.

October 2025: Reference checks begin (this timeframe is an estimate). 

Monitor your email for an automated request to provide references, and notify your supervisors they will be getting reference check requests.

November 2025: Hiring Managers will begin the hiring process.

All applicants who have applied to the announcements on or before the listed closing date and are found to be qualified will be referred for consideration. Applicants may check the status of their application during this time in USAJobs.

November 2025 – December 2025: Selections occur. 

Representatives from each unit will make recommendations for hiring. It is critical to be available via phone and email during this time.

December 2025 – March 2026: HRM Processing. 

Selected applicants will be processed through onboarding - including personnel security, background checks, drug testing, etc., as required.

March 2026 ─ Anticipated effective date (report to duty).