0
NegroKarlezi

Smoke Jumpers!!

Recommended Posts

Hey everyone!! Does anybody knows how could I apply to be a smoke jumper in Oregon? What are the requirements? Any smoke jumpers here? I’ve been a firefighter for almos 20 years and a skydiver for 6, and a really want to work as a smoke jumper next season or forever!!! I’m from Chile. So I anyone knows something let me know!!!

Stay safe and keep flying
Stay safe and keep flying

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I've met and talked with them at PIA. If you really want to do this, that's cool. More power to you. But know what you're getting into. That is one of the hardest jobs I've ever seen. It's HARD work. They carry HEAVY packs. And it's about as far from glamorous as you can get. The jumping thing is like 5% of it and the jumping is not supper fun. I'm a base jumper and some of the things they do, conditions they jump in, places they land are kind of sketchy. Base is more fun, less dangerous, and less stressful then what they do. They need good men. And if you want to step into that breach good for you but it will probable be the hardest thing you've ever done in your life.

And just to add, why are you asking around here? If you're qualified for this, with years of back woods fire fighting under your belt, I would think that you would already know who to talk to.

Lee
Lee
[email protected]
www.velocitysportswear.com

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Hey Lee! Thanks for your response, I’m asking here because I’m not a US Citizen, and in Chile (my country) there is no smoke jumpers, it’s not the fun what I’m after, I’ve always dream become a smoke jumper, that’s the reason I’ve become a skydiver in the first place.
Stay safe and keep flying

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I'm not the best person to give you advise. I was looking at this more from a rigging/technology point of view then as a job.

As I understand it there are two groups that run smoke jumper operations. I think one is the Forest Service and the other might be the Bureau of Land Management? Public lands in the US can be managed by any of a number of branches of the government or they might be tribal lands belonging to the native Americans. So there are two different groups administered by different parts of the government. I was looking more at the gear and I can tell you that one group jumps steerable rounds and the other jumps squares. Let me clarify that. They jump things like a Goliath 360 sq ft 7 cell. Think MC-1. Not a bad choice for what they are doing but I've jumped rounds that had a better turning speed. Point is that if you learned to skydive to help you with this goal you sort of wasted your time. Unless you specialized in jumping accuracy with a para foil then the skills wont really translate. I think one group static lines them just like a military jump. The other does drogue fall. It's an interesting system where you hang vertically under the drogue. You are basically part of the cargo load. I'm hard pressed to think of any similarities to sport skydiving. I don't think that's even a metric that they look at in selection. They can start from scratch just as easily. My understanding is that what they really look for is really good experienced fire fighters. That's what they really are. The jumping is just delivery to the site. They look for the best, strongest fire fighters they can find. I don't know what their experience requirements are but they are measured in years. They look for people capable of operating on their own with no back up or support in what is by definition very isolated areas.

What's your story? I assume you're a fire fighter in Chile? Do you work for the government there? What are your goals? Are there smoke jumpers there or are you trying to establish a program? Being from out side of the country might actually open up some opportunities for you. They might be interested in a program of cross pollination? You might approach it as an exchange program between the two countries. If your respective bosses put their heads together they might sell it as a cross training program between our two nations.

Lee
Lee
[email protected]
www.velocitysportswear.com

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
You can not apply to be a smoke jumper until you've spent at least 2 years, it could be more now, as a wild land fire fighter. Apply to the BLM.
U only make 2 jumps: the first one for some weird reason and the last one that you lived through. The rest are just filler.
scr 316

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0