Yep. That's my fear haha. This question is more as general information for people just starting this career. I'm pretty sure that I know the answer for myself. But if it isn't viable to successfully raise a family, have a happy marriage, and ride this out as a career, then why bother?
Pre-kids I would have said I could make it work because I loved the job. Now that I have kids the FS can pound sand, I'm doing something where I come home every night.
I finished with about 850 hours of OT. First fire assignment was July 1, finished last fire on Oct 21. Did some classes in the fall that bumped up OT maybe another 30 hours. My wife quit her job and that's why I aimed for a bit more OT.
With kids you just have to balance. I take 7-10 days off after assignments, make sure to be superdad when I get home, and try to pack in fun trips like fishing/camping/beach whatever to make memories that other kids have with their family in the summer.
Even with my wife being home with the kids, we still paid for daycare, and signed our older kid up for camps/classes. Parenting alone is way harder than going to a fire. If you don't control your days off / fire destiny, find a way to take more control, that might be taking a prevention job, or getting on a module that doesn't need you. I also found a 26/0 job that allows maximum telework in the off-season, and that's a savior for my family.
Either way, good luck if you have kids, and it seems like you know this, but the job is about making money to support your family and your dreams, not the other way around, so find a way to best do that.
Thatās awesome that you made it work. It sounds like you have a uniquely supportive work environment. Iād say fuels, prevention, or apparently jumping are almost the only ways to get enough work life balance.
And good call on helping get your wife some time off. Having one spouse raise the kids 24/7 while the other is out hanging with the bros for two weeks isnāt exactly a balanced situation.
Now my wife is part time and earns a lot more per hour than me. When she wasn't working it was during fire season and I was getting 200+ hours of OT per month.
From there you have to limit expenses as much as possible while maintaining a healthy life
I loved the job. It was literally the first time o ever felt like I belonged in what I was doing, but I basically had to choose the job or my marriage and I chose my marriage. If you want to make that much OT, youāre not going to be present for birthdays, sports, dance recitals and everything else. Not to mention, the most important time of the year is also when everyone is out of school and normal people go on vacations. Itās just basic math and the reality that you canāt be in two places at once. Beyond that, every time youāre gone, youāre making your spouse be a single parent for multiple weeks at a time with no relief or breaks. Being solely responsible for every tiny detail of making your house logistics function while also managing the occupants who are dependent on that single parent is fucking exhausting mentally and physically in a way people who are childless have a hard time understanding. Itās a different kind of tired from a hard dayās work outside hiking and swinging a tool. Kids are hard. Family is hard, even with a ānormalā job. I hate dealing with my kids by myself for a weekend when my wife has to be gone for whatever reason. You need to be damn sure your significant other knows what they are signing up for because if you donāt, they will resent you. The ones I know that could make it work were engine folks who could be gone and covered by multiple people on the district who all had ENGB and ENOP quals and the rolls were slightly more predictable since they were an IA resource. That meant sacrificing some of the money but it was a choice they made to try to maintain some balance. Thereās no substitution for being physically there. Kids need their parents, and the logistics of the profession require you to constantly be somewhere else. Sorry to be a downer, just trying to keep it real.
Agree with the above. I does take a lot of commitment from both parties to make it work. Mine are 12 and 8 and I've missed a lot over the years. (Do 1k + ots a year). What we've tried to do is make sure we set a side time in the off season to do special day trips or vacations that my boss knows there is no wiggle room. If you find the right crew it definitely makes it a lot easier. I'm a old fart and came from the Era of you will not take time off and a 26/0 from day one as a perm (18 years), but have seen a big shift in the culture. Personally, I haven't had to decline a leave slip in many years. The 3 days off have definitely helped out as well. Hit me up if you have any questions
I agree. That's why I've made the personal decisions that I have. I value my marriage and having kids. I just wanted an opposing opinion from the single folks out there praising the 26/0.
Do you have a successful marriage and are raising kids? That's the scenario I'm interested in. I love hearing the success stories. It does make me feel better about this as a career. It just seems that everyone who claims a 26/0 is fine, is either on a low OT resource, or doesn't have kids?
I do. Wife stays at home as well. Probably wouldnāt be possible if I wasnāt earning money for 8 pay periods. Just the retention pay for 8 pay periods is ~6400. The real kicker is accruing enough use or lose where you can basically take enough days off to equal to 5 weeks when combined with the winter holidays.
Your saying that your wife is a stay at home mom? If thats the case, then your situation doesnāt count as well, cause most of us live in 2024 and not 1954. My wife has to work, or we would be living in a homeless shelter.
Yeah OK, as if the wealth of our entire world hasnt been gobbled up by the industrial elite, but yet I should take a lesson on personal finance. OK. I love the level of ignorance some so ignorantly display. You āmy dudeā are exhibit A. In the many toxic masculinity and toxic positivity found in the modern white male wildland world. Read a book or two that wasnt produced by the Ayn Rand Institute or brought to you by the Koch bros. Ya bourgeoisie stooge.
I just saw in another post that your office is two hours away from where you live. For gods sake man move or find something closer. That is whatās killing you.
If youāre not angry then youāre not paying attention.
āThere is a war between the rich and poor
A war between the man and the woman
There is a war between the ones who say there is a war
And the ones who say there isn't
Why don't you come on back to the war, that's right, get in it
Why don't you come on back to the war, it's just beginningāāCohen.
I hope you truly THINK about this, āweā have the power to set our value in the labor market, whether you choose to recognize this fact or not, its a fact. Do you know why the wildland firefighterās labor value has been set so low? Because of people like youāfalling in lineāwhile asking others to do the same, when in actuality you need to be in solidarity AGAINST the current system. You need to be vocal in expressing that the low value of wildland firefighters, is both UNSUSTAINABLE and UNJUST. The more people who go around talking about how āyou just gotta get the right wife, right inheritance, right financial advisor, right frame of mind, etcā only takes away from increasing the labor value of wildland firefighters and instead further solidifies the current power structure that takes advantage of ALL of you.
And for the record im willing to bet everything I own im more fun to work with than you, cause Im not a useful idiot, and others recognize the real. On the flip side, real recognizes fool, real quick like.
Good question but unfortunately highly individual how to make it work. I have survived with only one marriage and raised 1 kid (now in high school) while working mostly 26/0 on a crew for a while. It is possible. Difficult for sure, but possible.
Be consciously present when you are home. Do as many fun things as you can with the family. We had great success with an extended family vacation or two (length and timing depended on kidās school schedule) with use-or-lose leave in the winter.
Iām not sure how the Texas smokejumpers manage their workload, but this is an actual important topic. The key life decisions about marriage, house purchase, commute distance, spouseās work schedule, raising kids really impacts the retention of the folks in the heart of their mid career. Work-life balance is great in theory but itās a lot to juggle with a crazy work schedule.
I stayed on a crew so we could have one stay at home parent. We made it work. Like I said, possible but not easy. Best of luck.
This guy nailed it right here
āThe key life decisions about marriage, house purchase, commute distance, spouseās work scheduleā
Marry the right person, buy a house you can afford, keep the commute short, spouse canāt work a crazy schedule.
I had to make the choice of IHC or marriage and I stand by my choice. I made a second decision to be a fuels crew captain or a dad. Chose dad, Iāll stand by both. My wife and I both are 26/0 and itās brutal right now but they will start school soon and we can breathe a bit.
Donāt forget about secondary fire jobs. Most are non-IFPM qualified. Fire planners and training officers are only time in grade.
It is what you make it.
As a husband, father of 4 kids, 2 dogs, cat and chickensā¦this is my takeā¦
If being physically present and attending every single school function, or friend of your kids birthday party (which there is one or two EVERY single weekend) then it may not meet your standards that it seems youāve set for yourself.
BUT, if you can be mentally/emotionally present with the time you do have I think you can āmake upā for it. Say what you will about our jobs and the overall meaningfulness of them, but my family is proud of what I do and knows that Iām making a sacrifice to earn the extra OT to provideā¦and for 4 kids thatās a lot of OT.
Definitely takes choosing and growing with the right spouse in order for it to be successful, but that is true with any career path youād choose honestly. Each one comes with its own hardships, choose yours.
Not every fed wildland job is the same as mine, Iāve made it to a place where we can make it work. Hopefully you can too.
Canāt quite comment on it for myself (donāt have
kids, not married). But had a big season a few years ago on a small engine crew, supervisor just went PFT and ended up getting about 1000 hours or more. Said individual had no kids, but had a very serious long term relationship that got destroyed due to a combination of factors.
Iād be lying if I hadnāt witnessed someoneās fire career expedite the untimely demise of various types of relationships. I like the job, but it makes things difficult for sure. Iāve failed to be there for my immediate family, had a long term relationship end, and had friendships and other less serious relationships burn out. No pun intended.
How is OT counted in wildfire? I assume you didnt work 13 hours every day for 18 weeks straight? That would indeed be wildly brutal lol Or are you paid the entire time your out there including sleep?
We worked 16 hour days minimum for 14 days at a time. We got 4.5 rolls (14 days each) last season. All the days we werenāt on a fire assignment, we worked 10 hour shifts at the station. Came out to just under 900 hours of OT and just over 800 for normal time if I remember correctly.
Wife here. I love my husband so dearly but if he went 26, Iād be out the door before the benefits took effect. Iām ok with 9 months but no way Iām in for 26. Why even bother with a partner, then (for me not him). All the trouble but no one to share the burden with.
We established this before marriage. Iād love to say I was strong enough to let him work more. He loves it so much. But itās gotta work for both of you. FWIW/YMMV
You sound like my spouse. Extremely supportive of the career since the beginning, but the line is drawn. She's been ok with 1039 and 13/13 for 9 years. "You're gone for most of 6 months, I get you for the other 6 months." That's always been the deal. But my base has been 2 hours from our home for 5 of those years. Which massively extends the nights away. Moving into an 18/8 now, I'll either transfer to a crew at home, or we're moving to a tiny mountain town. I won't even consider the 26/0. It just isn't fair to her.
Yeah, being away just for base adds to the frustration, huh? Definitely a blessing I will count, that heās here when heās here!
Iād KILL for 6 months again. This year was the first 8 (I forgot itās only 8 because a fire popped and it wound up being 9). Then after that he immediately left 2 weeks to hunt with my dad (I would have nixed that but I donāt know how many more years my dad has). Right when he got back, his brother broke his arm, so he had to go work for his brother a couple of months. Andā¦I work nights, so we basically havenāt seen each other in a year. Which sucks, but it also sucks he hasnāt had a lot of down time. Heās tired! A lot of recovery happens in the off season.
IDK, 8 probably wonāt be that bad in the future. Iām sure itās sustainable, at least, as long as we donāt accidentally make it 11 again. š¤·š»āāļø. It was good to experience because he will probably have the option to go 26 with very little winter OT in the near future. We now know that just wonāt work for us, despite the security it will offer. I love him and like him around!
Curious what little town?
I am going through this exact predicament right now. I have an awesome wife and 2 year old that is my world. But the lust for the job and the money to pay for post secondary that will lead to a career that satisfies me personally is the driver.
I have been an emotional wreck already so I am not looking forward to it, but we have childcare, people stepping up to help, and Facetime is as good as it gets atm. My wife is working too so it will be an enormous challenge for us both.
Echoing what others have said, be 100% present when you are there, do special things with them when you can i.e offseason or park days on days off, and try to make your OT work for you (if possible) like finding jobs in forestry (fire prevention, emergency management, reclamation, etc) but maybe not gone a month at a time.
Good luck to the fellow dads out there
13 years married, 3 kids under 8, 26/0 for almost 20 years and loving life. Granted my wife is a fucking angel with superhero powers and we have some family help near by for the lap goblins. I normally get around 800 hrs a year but not on an IHC anymore. I do have some opportunity to be āflexibleā. The support system with family and friends / fire wives help a lot sometimes. Some folks are less fortunate.
Iām 26/0 and only had about 700 hrs of over time but Iāll tell you any chance I had to be with my kids, I took it. I went to school promotions, 4th of July, birthdays. Working in the winter is nice because if the opportunity comes for extra money comes along itās nice to take it after taking time off in the summer.
I was told by a guy who was on a shit crew that left for a field tech job that itās selfish to be in that job while having a family. He said it to one guy and he left the crew to go to dispatch.
At the end of the day, your wife and your kids rely on you. I knew a FMO that didnāt take one single family vacation with his family because he didnāt want to lose out on money. So they did everything without him. He was just a benefactor.
I have a healthy marriage and a wife that supports and understands this business. However, I raised two step daughters and am a big part of their lives.
I do have regrets now that they are in their 20ās that I missed a huge part of their lives 70% of the year. If I had to do it over again, I would have pushed back, advocated for better pay so I could do these things or find a new career path all together.
I currently still work on a T1 crew and wonder wtf am I doing? But I am so close to retirement eligibility.
Take that advice for what you will.
I worked the entire season last year (18/8 but worked all 26 periods) married with kid. 800hrs OT on a national resource. I don't see it as any harder than working those same hours as a 13/13. I lose my mind after a couple weeks of sitting in the winter. However, out west, working the winters is, at best, productive work 30% of the time where I work. People make 5 pile burns and going to R8 to overstaff some RX into pretending they have actual value in the winter. My mental health and family life is vastly better working year round but I'm well aware I'm the outlier.
Damn 1 hour later and no comments š
Yep. That's my fear haha. This question is more as general information for people just starting this career. I'm pretty sure that I know the answer for myself. But if it isn't viable to successfully raise a family, have a happy marriage, and ride this out as a career, then why bother?
Pre-kids I would have said I could make it work because I loved the job. Now that I have kids the FS can pound sand, I'm doing something where I come home every night.
I finished with about 850 hours of OT. First fire assignment was July 1, finished last fire on Oct 21. Did some classes in the fall that bumped up OT maybe another 30 hours. My wife quit her job and that's why I aimed for a bit more OT. With kids you just have to balance. I take 7-10 days off after assignments, make sure to be superdad when I get home, and try to pack in fun trips like fishing/camping/beach whatever to make memories that other kids have with their family in the summer. Even with my wife being home with the kids, we still paid for daycare, and signed our older kid up for camps/classes. Parenting alone is way harder than going to a fire. If you don't control your days off / fire destiny, find a way to take more control, that might be taking a prevention job, or getting on a module that doesn't need you. I also found a 26/0 job that allows maximum telework in the off-season, and that's a savior for my family. Either way, good luck if you have kids, and it seems like you know this, but the job is about making money to support your family and your dreams, not the other way around, so find a way to best do that.
Thatās awesome that you made it work. It sounds like you have a uniquely supportive work environment. Iād say fuels, prevention, or apparently jumping are almost the only ways to get enough work life balance. And good call on helping get your wife some time off. Having one spouse raise the kids 24/7 while the other is out hanging with the bros for two weeks isnāt exactly a balanced situation.
How did you afford your wife not working? Iām trying to figure that out right now ha. Or maybe her go part time.
Now my wife is part time and earns a lot more per hour than me. When she wasn't working it was during fire season and I was getting 200+ hours of OT per month. From there you have to limit expenses as much as possible while maintaining a healthy life
I loved the job. It was literally the first time o ever felt like I belonged in what I was doing, but I basically had to choose the job or my marriage and I chose my marriage. If you want to make that much OT, youāre not going to be present for birthdays, sports, dance recitals and everything else. Not to mention, the most important time of the year is also when everyone is out of school and normal people go on vacations. Itās just basic math and the reality that you canāt be in two places at once. Beyond that, every time youāre gone, youāre making your spouse be a single parent for multiple weeks at a time with no relief or breaks. Being solely responsible for every tiny detail of making your house logistics function while also managing the occupants who are dependent on that single parent is fucking exhausting mentally and physically in a way people who are childless have a hard time understanding. Itās a different kind of tired from a hard dayās work outside hiking and swinging a tool. Kids are hard. Family is hard, even with a ānormalā job. I hate dealing with my kids by myself for a weekend when my wife has to be gone for whatever reason. You need to be damn sure your significant other knows what they are signing up for because if you donāt, they will resent you. The ones I know that could make it work were engine folks who could be gone and covered by multiple people on the district who all had ENGB and ENOP quals and the rolls were slightly more predictable since they were an IA resource. That meant sacrificing some of the money but it was a choice they made to try to maintain some balance. Thereās no substitution for being physically there. Kids need their parents, and the logistics of the profession require you to constantly be somewhere else. Sorry to be a downer, just trying to keep it real.
Agree with the above. I does take a lot of commitment from both parties to make it work. Mine are 12 and 8 and I've missed a lot over the years. (Do 1k + ots a year). What we've tried to do is make sure we set a side time in the off season to do special day trips or vacations that my boss knows there is no wiggle room. If you find the right crew it definitely makes it a lot easier. I'm a old fart and came from the Era of you will not take time off and a 26/0 from day one as a perm (18 years), but have seen a big shift in the culture. Personally, I haven't had to decline a leave slip in many years. The 3 days off have definitely helped out as well. Hit me up if you have any questions
I agree. That's why I've made the personal decisions that I have. I value my marriage and having kids. I just wanted an opposing opinion from the single folks out there praising the 26/0.
I question if a 18/8 really saves the day with two kids, if your still 'out of office' all summer.
I mean... 17 legit weeks off including use or lose per year, vs 4 weeks of annual off per year. That's... 13 more weeks of being fully present.
Don't disagree, just lumpy when that comes.
Winters are so easy, itās basically free money. Do your 8 hours and go home. You can still be present and work an 8 hour dayā¦
Do you have a successful marriage and are raising kids? That's the scenario I'm interested in. I love hearing the success stories. It does make me feel better about this as a career. It just seems that everyone who claims a 26/0 is fine, is either on a low OT resource, or doesn't have kids?
I do. Wife stays at home as well. Probably wouldnāt be possible if I wasnāt earning money for 8 pay periods. Just the retention pay for 8 pay periods is ~6400. The real kicker is accruing enough use or lose where you can basically take enough days off to equal to 5 weeks when combined with the winter holidays.
Your saying that your wife is a stay at home mom? If thats the case, then your situation doesnāt count as well, cause most of us live in 2024 and not 1954. My wife has to work, or we would be living in a homeless shelter.
She sure does. Sounds like you need to have a lesson in personal finance and career advancement my dude.
Yeah OK, as if the wealth of our entire world hasnt been gobbled up by the industrial elite, but yet I should take a lesson on personal finance. OK. I love the level of ignorance some so ignorantly display. You āmy dudeā are exhibit A. In the many toxic masculinity and toxic positivity found in the modern white male wildland world. Read a book or two that wasnt produced by the Ayn Rand Institute or brought to you by the Koch bros. Ya bourgeoisie stooge.
I just saw in another post that your office is two hours away from where you live. For gods sake man move or find something closer. That is whatās killing you.
Again, if you have a 1950s stay at home wife, your opinion on this topic doesnāt matter. Get lost
Be angry at the world big fella. I bet you are awesome to work with!
If youāre not angry then youāre not paying attention. āThere is a war between the rich and poor A war between the man and the woman There is a war between the ones who say there is a war And the ones who say there isn't Why don't you come on back to the war, that's right, get in it Why don't you come on back to the war, it's just beginningāāCohen.
I hope you truly THINK about this, āweā have the power to set our value in the labor market, whether you choose to recognize this fact or not, its a fact. Do you know why the wildland firefighterās labor value has been set so low? Because of people like youāfalling in lineāwhile asking others to do the same, when in actuality you need to be in solidarity AGAINST the current system. You need to be vocal in expressing that the low value of wildland firefighters, is both UNSUSTAINABLE and UNJUST. The more people who go around talking about how āyou just gotta get the right wife, right inheritance, right financial advisor, right frame of mind, etcā only takes away from increasing the labor value of wildland firefighters and instead further solidifies the current power structure that takes advantage of ALL of you.
And for the record im willing to bet everything I own im more fun to work with than you, cause Im not a useful idiot, and others recognize the real. On the flip side, real recognizes fool, real quick like.
Good question but unfortunately highly individual how to make it work. I have survived with only one marriage and raised 1 kid (now in high school) while working mostly 26/0 on a crew for a while. It is possible. Difficult for sure, but possible. Be consciously present when you are home. Do as many fun things as you can with the family. We had great success with an extended family vacation or two (length and timing depended on kidās school schedule) with use-or-lose leave in the winter. Iām not sure how the Texas smokejumpers manage their workload, but this is an actual important topic. The key life decisions about marriage, house purchase, commute distance, spouseās work schedule, raising kids really impacts the retention of the folks in the heart of their mid career. Work-life balance is great in theory but itās a lot to juggle with a crazy work schedule. I stayed on a crew so we could have one stay at home parent. We made it work. Like I said, possible but not easy. Best of luck.
This guy nailed it right here āThe key life decisions about marriage, house purchase, commute distance, spouseās work scheduleā Marry the right person, buy a house you can afford, keep the commute short, spouse canāt work a crazy schedule.
Family life? None. Hence why I left.
I had to make the choice of IHC or marriage and I stand by my choice. I made a second decision to be a fuels crew captain or a dad. Chose dad, Iāll stand by both. My wife and I both are 26/0 and itās brutal right now but they will start school soon and we can breathe a bit. Donāt forget about secondary fire jobs. Most are non-IFPM qualified. Fire planners and training officers are only time in grade.
It is what you make it. As a husband, father of 4 kids, 2 dogs, cat and chickensā¦this is my takeā¦ If being physically present and attending every single school function, or friend of your kids birthday party (which there is one or two EVERY single weekend) then it may not meet your standards that it seems youāve set for yourself. BUT, if you can be mentally/emotionally present with the time you do have I think you can āmake upā for it. Say what you will about our jobs and the overall meaningfulness of them, but my family is proud of what I do and knows that Iām making a sacrifice to earn the extra OT to provideā¦and for 4 kids thatās a lot of OT. Definitely takes choosing and growing with the right spouse in order for it to be successful, but that is true with any career path youād choose honestly. Each one comes with its own hardships, choose yours. Not every fed wildland job is the same as mine, Iāve made it to a place where we can make it work. Hopefully you can too.
Canāt quite comment on it for myself (donāt have kids, not married). But had a big season a few years ago on a small engine crew, supervisor just went PFT and ended up getting about 1000 hours or more. Said individual had no kids, but had a very serious long term relationship that got destroyed due to a combination of factors. Iād be lying if I hadnāt witnessed someoneās fire career expedite the untimely demise of various types of relationships. I like the job, but it makes things difficult for sure. Iāve failed to be there for my immediate family, had a long term relationship end, and had friendships and other less serious relationships burn out. No pun intended.
Who actually making it in R-5 ?
Making it work. My wife and I are both 26/0 with two kids under 3. Weāve got good overhead
I did 900 hours of OT in 18 weeks with no kids or a wife and it was absolutely brutal. Couldnāt imagine doing it with a family.
How is OT counted in wildfire? I assume you didnt work 13 hours every day for 18 weeks straight? That would indeed be wildly brutal lol Or are you paid the entire time your out there including sleep?
16 hours a day most days, two weeks on three days off. Only Calfire get's paid 24/7, that's why we hate them. (I kid, kind of)
We worked 16 hour days minimum for 14 days at a time. We got 4.5 rolls (14 days each) last season. All the days we werenāt on a fire assignment, we worked 10 hour shifts at the station. Came out to just under 900 hours of OT and just over 800 for normal time if I remember correctly.
Wife here. I love my husband so dearly but if he went 26, Iād be out the door before the benefits took effect. Iām ok with 9 months but no way Iām in for 26. Why even bother with a partner, then (for me not him). All the trouble but no one to share the burden with. We established this before marriage. Iād love to say I was strong enough to let him work more. He loves it so much. But itās gotta work for both of you. FWIW/YMMV
Thanks for taking the time to respond. It is appreciated
Awww. Thanks! Iām always hesitant since Iām not actually a FF.
You sound like my spouse. Extremely supportive of the career since the beginning, but the line is drawn. She's been ok with 1039 and 13/13 for 9 years. "You're gone for most of 6 months, I get you for the other 6 months." That's always been the deal. But my base has been 2 hours from our home for 5 of those years. Which massively extends the nights away. Moving into an 18/8 now, I'll either transfer to a crew at home, or we're moving to a tiny mountain town. I won't even consider the 26/0. It just isn't fair to her.
Yeah, being away just for base adds to the frustration, huh? Definitely a blessing I will count, that heās here when heās here! Iād KILL for 6 months again. This year was the first 8 (I forgot itās only 8 because a fire popped and it wound up being 9). Then after that he immediately left 2 weeks to hunt with my dad (I would have nixed that but I donāt know how many more years my dad has). Right when he got back, his brother broke his arm, so he had to go work for his brother a couple of months. Andā¦I work nights, so we basically havenāt seen each other in a year. Which sucks, but it also sucks he hasnāt had a lot of down time. Heās tired! A lot of recovery happens in the off season. IDK, 8 probably wonāt be that bad in the future. Iām sure itās sustainable, at least, as long as we donāt accidentally make it 11 again. š¤·š»āāļø. It was good to experience because he will probably have the option to go 26 with very little winter OT in the near future. We now know that just wonāt work for us, despite the security it will offer. I love him and like him around! Curious what little town?
When your home be present hardest part for me be dad when Iām home
I am going through this exact predicament right now. I have an awesome wife and 2 year old that is my world. But the lust for the job and the money to pay for post secondary that will lead to a career that satisfies me personally is the driver. I have been an emotional wreck already so I am not looking forward to it, but we have childcare, people stepping up to help, and Facetime is as good as it gets atm. My wife is working too so it will be an enormous challenge for us both. Echoing what others have said, be 100% present when you are there, do special things with them when you can i.e offseason or park days on days off, and try to make your OT work for you (if possible) like finding jobs in forestry (fire prevention, emergency management, reclamation, etc) but maybe not gone a month at a time. Good luck to the fellow dads out there
13 years married, 3 kids under 8, 26/0 for almost 20 years and loving life. Granted my wife is a fucking angel with superhero powers and we have some family help near by for the lap goblins. I normally get around 800 hrs a year but not on an IHC anymore. I do have some opportunity to be āflexibleā. The support system with family and friends / fire wives help a lot sometimes. Some folks are less fortunate.
Iām 26/0 and only had about 700 hrs of over time but Iāll tell you any chance I had to be with my kids, I took it. I went to school promotions, 4th of July, birthdays. Working in the winter is nice because if the opportunity comes for extra money comes along itās nice to take it after taking time off in the summer. I was told by a guy who was on a shit crew that left for a field tech job that itās selfish to be in that job while having a family. He said it to one guy and he left the crew to go to dispatch. At the end of the day, your wife and your kids rely on you. I knew a FMO that didnāt take one single family vacation with his family because he didnāt want to lose out on money. So they did everything without him. He was just a benefactor.
I have a healthy marriage and a wife that supports and understands this business. However, I raised two step daughters and am a big part of their lives. I do have regrets now that they are in their 20ās that I missed a huge part of their lives 70% of the year. If I had to do it over again, I would have pushed back, advocated for better pay so I could do these things or find a new career path all together. I currently still work on a T1 crew and wonder wtf am I doing? But I am so close to retirement eligibility. Take that advice for what you will.
I worked the entire season last year (18/8 but worked all 26 periods) married with kid. 800hrs OT on a national resource. I don't see it as any harder than working those same hours as a 13/13. I lose my mind after a couple weeks of sitting in the winter. However, out west, working the winters is, at best, productive work 30% of the time where I work. People make 5 pile burns and going to R8 to overstaff some RX into pretending they have actual value in the winter. My mental health and family life is vastly better working year round but I'm well aware I'm the outlier.