Fire suppression

[Admiral Benson]

Looking for any insight into the feasibility of commuting in the firefighting world. Currently a regional captain living in the west but have always dreamed of getting into firefighting. I'm more than happy to live in my camper for a month or 2 during the summer but I have always wondered if any of the operators are more "commuter friendly" than others. Any experiences or info is greatly appreciated. Thanks,

AB

[digits_]

Ontario has the most days off,10/4 I believe. Most other ones seem to be CARs off. So about 1 week off every 7 weeks.

[cykj]

I did that in SK years ago. They really need you there during the fire season. Having a few days off and maybe a week every 7 weeks as _digits mentioned may be the most you could expect. Some of the remote bases aren't easy to commute from. Another problem is that some operators will send you off to other provinces or states on short notice. It's hard to plan anything when you don't know where you'll be next week. It was a great job though.

[N181CS]

You will not really be able to commute. Think of it like a Compressed work year. You work you days then your off for the fall winter and some of spring. Conair is something like 160 days and cars days off. Rain days are days off. Ontario is 10 and 4 but you will be in Dryden… so unless your made of money as there is no pass travel. Standby is not so great when you need to be back for you sked day on. Suppression is not a “flying job”.

[digits_]

Rain days are days off

Is that still the case? I thought TC was applying pressure to the industry to switch to pre-planned days off?

[tractor driver]

93 day contract in NWT. Colour coded alert system. Green = day off, blue 1 hr to dispatch, yellow 30 minutes, red 5.
Not a heavy schedule usually. Last year we did 150 hrs. This year probably not so much. Great job with great folks. People usually pretty happy to see you when you show up.

[matt foley]

If you go into this side of the industry with your priority being able to "commute" then you will be perpetually disappointed until you leave jaded and broke. Stick to the X days on/X days off companies where commuting is the rule vs exception.
This being said, I will add to some of the good points already made.
Conair awards 130 or 100 day pilot assignments where one is generally assigned a 123 day or 92 day duration in the field. All 130 day pilots receive 2x7days time free from duty and 100 day pilots 1x7 days off. The balance of the days are used for training or other assignments as required. The 7 day free from duty blocks start and end at your seasonal base so if you want to go home you can or whatever floats your proverbial boat so long as it's free of duty according to CARS. During time free you continue to get paid and receive per-diem as you would if you were at work but no flight pay, obviously. If one were to assume on/off at 38/7/38/7/38/done you'd be pretty close to right mostly 80% of the time every time. You could also end up 114/14 so go in assuming you are away fro 4 months and then home for 8 is best. Limits pouting and tantrum throwing.

[Admiral Benson]

Thank you for the excellent info everyone!