State and federal governments in recent years have also put more money into increasing firefighter pay and year-round career opportunities.

State and federal agencies compete for personnel, said Josh Harvey, Idaho Department of Lands Fire Management Bureau chief based in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

“We’ve made some huge steps, and some of those steps really helped us retain folks,” he said, referring to pay and benefits primarily.

IDL was on track to put nearly 200 firefighters on the ground this year as seasonal hiring was wrapping up in late April, compared to 150 to 170 in recent years, Harvey said.

The department’s firefighters now earn $15.91 an hour their first season, $16.97 their second and third seasons, and $18 and higher, depending on experience and specialty qualifications. They also earn overtime and hazard pay.

Qualifying as an engine boss, which can take five to seven years, is a big step toward establishing an IDL fire career, said Harvey, 44. More advanced jobs include assistant fire warden, similar in level to an assistant fire management officer with the U.S. Forest Service, which has a fire workforce of about 10,000.

During high school, he aimed to be an English teacher who fought fires in the summer. He started as a firefighter after he graduated, studied at North Idaho College and took fire jobs of increasing responsibility as his career unfolded.

Harvey’s family was in the timber industry, his grandfather was involved in fighting fires, and “I grew up listening to that story,” Harvey said.

“It was always in my mind to work in the woods,” he said.