wildland firefighter

office administrator

administration executive

accounts payable / accounts receivable clerk

Grayback-Forestry

I can't think of anything positive to say about this company. The only thing may be that, in the world of contractors, Grayback has a somewhat better reputation than most in the eyes of the fire world. I have no idea why.
You should only work here if you really want fire experience and can't get a job anywhere else. And if there isn't much work or it's a slow season - you will not be able to survive on this job alone. The pay is terrible compared to what you will get with literally any agency. The expectations are through the roof despite poor, shortened training. You will be expected to run as someone with far more qualifications than Grayback will ever give you. They will tease you with qualifications and training constantly, then never deliver and eventually give those quals and training to the lowest performer if they need to fill a position. There is no guarantee of hours, as there is with agencies. If you do stick around long enough to become full-time, your benefits will be kept far, far away from you until you demand access to your information. Even promises of becoming full-time will be pushed back or ignored. If you want anything from this company you have to go beg for it. Unlike every other employer that is very open and quick about these things... legal gray area? Grayback hires anyone with a pulse, so it's a motley crew always. Some great people, some terrible people. Leadership is based entirely on small-town politics. No matter how horrible a crew boss may be, they will stay put because they've "been there too long" and are local to the town. If Grayback has a culture, it's "work harder not smarter." Among the excited, starry-eyed men and women that come to Grayback, never have I seen morale and mental well-being dwindle so quickly. It is possible you may have a good first year, with your head kept well down, and you may enjoy the experience overall. But I promise you - never, ever, ever, come back. Take your experience and run to an agency where you are paid fairly, treated like a human being, and actually learn to do your job properly.

This company should be used as a stepping stone to something better. If you use this experience to obtain certifications and then use them to find better paying work, you'll be best off. The work itself is amazing in its own ways, and so variable that it's impossible to predict. If you're a single individual with no kids, it could be alot of fun, as long as you can handle 16 hour shifts doing difficult and dangerous work, sometimes at night, for 2 weeks straight and only 2 days off. The people you work with might be great, but the heads of the operation are there to crunch numbers and make as much money as possible, getting rid of experienced employees so they can pay rookies low wages. The year I quit they were paying rookies Oregon State's minimum wage, and had a loophole that made their overtime less than time and a half. A high turnover rate is good in their eyes, and they will make you use outdated equipment that is uncomfortable to wear, leaks, doesn't work properly etc. In one year, over 20 individuals decided to work for a different company all at once.

Grayback forestry is one of the top contract firefighting crews in the nation. It’s a great place to work if you’re looking for hard work and a nice sized paycheck. Typical fire assignment is minimum 14 days, but can expect to be extended up to 21. Typically working near or just over 200 hours per 2 week pay cycle. Get accustomed to being away from family and regular life for extended periods of time. If you have experience fighting wildfires expect some hot head rookies to think they’re all that and a bag of chips. Just show em how it’s really done and don’t be afraid to put em in their place. This field is no place for egos. There is serious danger out there. If you’re looking for a long term type of thing, might not be a good spot for ya. Fire season usually goes from June to October, and then there is some project work after that but only for maybe a month, then you’re not working until March of the next year. Overall a great place to get experience and move on to Forest Service, BLM, or DNR.

For individuals with solid work ethic, unshakeable positive attitude, eagerness to prove ones worth, and the ability to become a student of fire Grayback forestry can prove a great starting point for young fire fighters.  Fire personnel working for Grayback regularly impress line supervisors and earn exceptional evaluations.  New fire fighters are trained well in how to manage work loads, complete assigned tasks safely and maintain positive attitudes during deployment.  Fire fighters are lead on the line by very qualified overhead on these crews and engines.  Staff regularly tell of how their crews become like family.  
This organization has an issue with employee retention due to lack of career development and adequate pay. 

My experiences working for the Missoula base was a nightmare. Management is extremely poor with a "Do as I say, not as I do" attitude. They continue to use and issue faulty equipment.  They withhold training and learning opportunities. The only way to grow in the Missoula base is by brown nosing your way up or by drinking and doing drugs with the higger ups. The only squad bosses that I felt safe with on the line were the few who actually cared about their job and their squad. However, those ones usually got treated like dirt by their higher ups. My experience working in the Oregon locations have been filled with nothing but incredible experiences, growth, opportunities and camaraderie.  I would recomend working for an Oregon base to anyone pursuing this career path. I do not recommend Missoula.

A typical day at work, we would either way to get a fire call or if we already got a fire call we would get up about 6:00 A.M., eat breakfast, stock the truck up (like lunches, water, Gatorade, ice, etc.) and head up the mountain and hike in to where there was fire or drive around and look for hot spots and put them out. Take a lunch break around 12:00 P.M. and eat are sack lunch and just keep hiking/driving and looking for hot spots and put them out. Once it got about 7:00 P.M. we would head back to fire camp and eat dinner and then rest up for the next day. The co-workers were pretty nice and helpful, especially if they saw that someone was struggling or did't know what to do. The hardest part about the job, I would have to say being able to hike a long ways.

This is a great place to work during the off season, it is an average paced administrative job. During the summer months when it's fire season you are on call 24/7 and sometimes don't get a day off for weeks. You dispatch fire crews and it can be extremely stressful. The management is amazing, and so are the employees. You definitely don't get paid enough for what you do, though. I worked there for 4 years and only received $1.26 in raises.

Grayback is a solid company. My crew was great at keeping consistent with staying busy and working hard. Company has good benefits after your first year especially. If you’re Not from Oregon that’s alright they have a lodge that holds two to three hand crews. And an engine or two. 

If you take fighting fire seriously and want a chance to get some amazing experience, come work for Grayback!. They offer year round work and plenty of certification opportunities. You get what you give. You can move up quick and make decent money cutting/being a squaddy if you take care of yourself, others and constantly strive for improvement.

With the traveling and the views from a top of  a mountain I loved this job and had a great time with the rest of the crew. I learned a lot of fire fighting techniques and a lot about fire fighter safety. Hardest part of the job was the hours really took a toll on the body but eventually you got used to it.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Wildland firefighter 5 salaries reported	$23.24 per hour
Office administrator 1 salary reported	$19.87 per hour
Administration executive 2 salaries reported	$16.85 per hour
Accounts payable / accounts receivable clerk 1 salary reported	$24.00 per hour

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