Is actual firewatch work like this?

[renmccourtey]

It made me think and it doesnt go away even months since I completed this game. Does work just like this actually exist? I mean, like it is depicted in the game, that you basicly hang out in the woods whole summer, looking for smoke? What is needed to get that job?:-)

[Sphinx of Black Quartz]

It's a real job! From what I understand, the game is not a bad snapshot of how real fire lookouts live. (Although I would hope the real-world job has a good deal less drama and mystery.) Civilians with no previous experience are welcome to apply; training is provided. The pay isn't fantastic, but the job often appeals to people looking to get away from the hurlyburly of everyday life for a few months.

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fire/current-wildland-fire-job-openings.htm

[renmccourtey]

You couldn't describe my intentions better indeed. I don't care about payment, but as a foreigner, it would be probably very difficult to apply for me. I'm going to discover it anyway, thanks!
/actually, thinking about the payment a bit: after sitting in the lookout tower for half a year, without even a chance to spend a single penny, no payment is really bad.:-)

[Quadrenaro]

I lived next to a watch tower when I was a kid. We had a lot of them where I grew up. It's been a dying job for the last two decades. Cell phones make it significantly easier to call in a fire by motorists. That's at least what the ranger told me when I was 10. That tower was bought and removed by a private party in the early-mid 2000's.

[renmccourtey]

Yea, I've been checking that a bit. Interesting I didn't realize (during gameplay) that it's set 30 years ago. And yes, there's plenty of those towers now abandoned, turned into vacation spots, mini-museums, or simply left to fall apart. Still, NPS are looking for fire lookouts, as Pocket Nerd lined above. It's just not that life in solitude anymore, I guess.

[Jack Ketch]

I read a book called "Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout" on this subject. It won a bunch of non-fiction awards and was probably one of the inspirations for the game?

Anyways the book is interesting and I enjoyed reading it.

[renmccourtey]

Originally posted by Jack Ketch:

I read a book called "Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout" on this subject. It won a bunch of non-fiction awards and was probably one of the inspirations for the game?

Anyways the book is interesting and I enjoyed reading it.

Thank you, I immediately bought the book. Even though I know it will left me longing for that life even more.

[Rise of Anarchism]

Originally posted by renmccourtey:

Originally posted by Jack Ketch:

I read a book called "Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout" on this subject. It won a bunch of non-fiction awards and was probably one of the inspirations for the game?

Anyways the book is interesting and I enjoyed reading it.

Thank you, I immediately bought the book. Even though I know it will left me longing for that life even more.

i'm pretty late on the replies but you can always go and apply to work at a national park. My friend was a seasonal and said she loved the work. I've thought about it as well but never got the balls to leave it all behind and go. If you don't have anything holding you back I'd tell you to go for it. From what I hear its very rewarding work. The pay isnt too shabby either for seasonal work

https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/how-to-apply.htm

[Methistopheles]

Originally posted by renmccourtey:

/actually, thinking about the payment a bit: after sitting in the lookout tower for half a year, without even a chance to spend a single penny, no payment is really bad.:-)

on the other hand - whatever amount you do get paid should stack up and be waiting there at the end of your service.

[renmccourtey]

Originally posted by JFKpeekedLong:

That's ok, I'm still around...As I mentioned, I'm not living in US, I'm from Europe, which would probably overcomplicate things. We do not have exactly this kind of opportunities around here, the one I was looking for. Most Americans probably wouldn't believe how overcrowded Europe is, it's like Manhattan coast-to-coast. No place to run.
Lately I was thinking about building house in countryside and moving there. Far from NPS experience, I know, but also far from life in capital I live now, so it could be good enough.

Originally posted by Sveldte Svenheim:

That's what I ment.

[pew pew]

there is an alternative, you can become a lighthouse keeper

[MenaceXP]

this discussion makes me nostalgic for the game and i hope they make another one. When i was a kid back in the 80s and 90s we used to have these towers around our city. I think most of them got torn down shortly after.

[renmccourtey]

Originally posted by pew pew:

there is an alternative, you can become a lighthouse keeper

Well, that's a very hypothetical alternative. There are also not many lighthouses requiring full time service anymore and those are not usually located in the middle of US parks.:-) Yes, that would fit the solitude part nicely but it could be kinda depressing I guess.
I mean, there used to be thousands fire watch posts occupied every year, it used to be simple to reach job every summer if you wanted and you ended up in the middle of the beautiful nature for the whole season. How this wouldn't be the best job in the world is beyond my understanding...

Originally posted by MenaceXP:

...When i was a kid back in the 80s and 90s we used to have these towers around our city...

Nice, where did you grow up...?