The United States Forest Service just wrapped up a recruiting effort for temporary help with fighting wildfires, including Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in Wilmington. And permanent positions are likely to become available this fall.
Applicants should have an interest in protecting nature and a certain capacity for danger, but these days the No. 1 requirement may be a desire to travel, according to Chris Lundgren, a forest fire management officer with the Midewin Interagency Hotshot Crew.
“It does take a certain type of person just willing to be on the road nowadays,” Lundgren said. “It seems we’re on the road more and we move around the country quite a bit more than we once did. It still takes a person that’s willing to work hard in some pretty arduous conditions — dirty, hot and dusty, a myriad of all weather conditions it seems like we’re always working in. It takes a good mental capacity, too. You have to have your mind in the right place to do this kind of job.”
Lundgren knows what it takes. He is on year 26 of forest fire management, having followed the footsteps of his father into that line of work. And in mid-August, he was in Oregon to battle the Bootleg Fire.
As of last week, 44,263 wildfires have raged across the United States, impacting a total of 5.53 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Lundgren does not travel quite as much as the crews, having gone out of state five times so far this year. But Midewin’s Hotshot crew was on assignment No. 10 in a six-month period as of mid-August.
“We’re doing good,” Lundgren said. “We’re plugging away.”
Lundgren enjoys traveling around the country, seeing new places and working with new people. He has made lifelong friendships with people through forest fire management, too. The basics of the job have stayed the same over the years, he said, with the biggest changes being related to technology.
When he is not traveling, Lundgren oversees operations in Wilmington, which involve a “fairly active prescribed fire program” that burns 6,800 of the prairie’s 20,000 acres annually, helping the ecosystem thrive. The busiest part of that season is in late March to early April.
“There’s a lot of planning that goes into that program,” Lundgren said. “When I’m around there, I’m either planning or implementing prescribed fires.”
Those fires are essential at the newest national tallgrass prairie in the USDA Forest Service system. Over 275 species of native Illinois grasses and forbs are to be included in the ongoing restoration of the prairie, and fire helps remove invasive pasture plants while making conditions suitable for the native plants.
Lundgren said crews involved with the fire service also help out with other Forest Service functions, including maintaining trails and fisheries.
“Over the years, I definitely had folks that weren’t expecting what it actually is,” Lundgren said of the job. “I had one person figured he’d just be around the fire station waiting for the fire call. It’s definitely not that. When the crews aren’t on fires, they’re doing a myriad of project work.
“That’s one good thing about the job in fire: You don’t get stuck doing the same thing day in and day out. You’re helping all the other functions. It takes really an open mind to do the job we do, because we do a lot of things.”
That versatility includes a gamut of emergencies. The Midewin Hotshots respond to hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and other natural disasters in addition to the wildfires.
“We can respond to any emergency,” Lundgren said. “You just have to be ready for anything and everything.”
Lundgren first got involved in the business because he liked the outdoors and had that familial connection to the work. He kept at it over the years because he enjoys the strategy of battling fires. He also moved up the ladder, taking on new responsibilities. He still finds it rewarding more than a quarter-century later.
“I enjoy the day-to-day operations, keeping the organization going,” Lundgren said. “I just enjoy seeing the fruits of my labor. It takes a lot of coordination when we’re thousands of miles apart.”
Lundgren said the Forest Service usually hires temporary workers in August for the next season, which has been tough as there is a shortage of wild firefighters throughout the country. Permanent staff hiring typically starts in the fall, when work for the fire crews slows down, he said. Information on that process is at fs.usda.gov/managing-land/fire/careers.
Bill Jones is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
