Wildfire crew in Beaufort Delta

Wildfire operations

Join the team

Are you team-oriented, motivated, and looking for a challenging and dynamic workplace?

Consider wildfire management. There are good, rewarding jobs available on bases, in offices, and on wildfire crews that help keep communities safer.

In this section

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Career paths

You can support wildfire management in many different career paths. To get the job done, we need:

  • Wildfire crew members: to serve on one of 33 core four-person wildfire fighting crews covering nearly all communities.
  • Forest officers:
  • Fire Technicians: to supervise crews and manage fire response
  • Extra firefighters: to provide back-up support during wildfire seasons in our communities
  • Tower persons: to detect wildfires
  • Air attack officers: to assess and fight wildfires from the skies
  • Administrative professionals: to be fire clerks and office support staff
  • Finance professionals: to keep track of spending and budgets
  • Logistics workers: to coordinate equipment and resources across the territory
  • Dispatchers: to ensure communications with aircraft
  • Loaders: to put retardant in air tankers
  • Wildfire scientists: to keep up to date with the latest wildfire research and provide expertise in the interactions of wildfire with wildlife and the environment.
  • Prevention Specialist: to help people, industry and communities reduce the risk from wildfires
  • Web, IT, and GIS professionals: to ensure wildfire intelligence runs properly throughout the year

These services are provided both by the GNWT and contractors.

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Basic training for wildfire fighters

Fitness testing

Wildfire fighting is physically-demanding work – and to ensure everyone’s safety, wildfire crew members must be physically-fit.

This is assessed through a fitness test called WFX-FIT for seasonal crews. Sessions are offered each year in regions of the Northwest Territories. You must be re-certified each season if you wish to be a Type 1 wildfire fighter.

Extra Firefighter (EFF) Training

The Northwest Territories trains and maintains back-up firefighters who can take on basic wildfire fighting duties on an as-needed basis.

Training is available annually in regions across the Northwest Territories – and is intended to give people the basics to step in and help in support roles during wildfire response.

Extra firefighting training for women and non-binary folks

Women and non-binary folks have been traditionally under-represented on wildfire teams across the country.

Beginning in 2021, the Government of the Northwest Territories began offering EFF training specifically targeted to these groups. 

The intent is to offer the same training while providing a space for folks who may have been discouraged from the field in the past to see themselves in rewarding careers in wildfire management.

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Becoming a qualified wildfire fighter

Ready to take the next step? You need to have the following to become a Type 1 Firefighter:

  • First Aid, CPR, and AED certification
  • Restricted Operator Certificate with Aeronautical Qualification (ROC-A)
  • Class 5 Drivers License
  • S-131 Wildland Firefighter Training
  • ICS-100 training
  • WHMIS and Transportation of Dangerous Goods certification
  • Hover Exit training
  • Fire Investigation I-110 training

Apart from your Class 5 Drivers License, the department can offer this training to prospective firefighters if you don’t have it already.

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Find training programs

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For more information

Call your regional Environment and Climate Change office for more information on getting certified, taking training, and joining the team.

 

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