| Smokejumpers | | Hot Shots | | Volunteers | | Air Fight |

Firefighting is dangerous and very hard work. To fight fires you must have strength, stamina, endurance, and knowledge. This web site was designed to teach you all about the life and job of a firefighter. There are different firefighters who fight different fires. Volunteers are firefighters who come to your house when it catches on fire. If anyone is still inside a burning house when the firefighters arrive, one of the firefighters will go in after the person. That is why everyone needs to know to stay where the firefighter can find you quickly. To find out more about what to do if you are caught in a fire, visit the In Case Of A Fire section of the Safety & Prevention page.

Another type of fire fighter is a Hot Shot. Hot shots fight wildfires that burn near civilization. They use buldozers and other types of machinery to make fire breaks by clearing away anything that could serve as fuel for the fire. Smokejumpers do similar work to that of a hot shot except they don't get to use high-tech machinery like the hot shots. The reason for this is because smokejumpers fight fires way off in remote areas. They can't get machinery in there to help them. Smokejumpers have to do all their work by hand with shovels, pulaskis, picks, chain saws, and other tools. Both hot shots and smokejumpers have to work very, very hard while they are fighting fires but hot shots do get a little bit of help from machines and things. Sometimes the ground crews of smokejumpers or hot shots can't get the fire under control. This is when the Air Fight begins. Air tankers (a type of airplane) and helicopters are sent out to help. They dump water and a mixture called stagnant on the fire. Usually they can get the fire under control and eventually put out.

| Smokejumpers | | Hot Shots | | Volunteers | | Air Fight |