Career Explorer Protective services
Human edge, growing
Forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists
Enforce fire regulations, inspect forest for fire hazards, and recommend forest fire prevention or control measures. May report forest fires and weather conditions.
Among the most resilient careers: more resilient than 99% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it moderate), and US jobs are projected to change by +13.1% by 2035, much faster than average. The work leans on ethical judgement and emotional intelligence.
AI struggles with much of this work, and US employers are expected to hire more people into it than average.
- Median pay (2025)
- $56,870
- Job growth to 2035
- +13.1%
- Openings a year
- 400
- People doing it (2025)
- 3,000
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then moderate on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Provide information or assistance to the public
- Maintain safety or security
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Notify others of emergencies or problems
- Direct security or safety activities or operations
- Monitor environmental conditions
What the work looks like
- Relay messages about emergencies, accidents, locations of crew and personnel, and fire hazard conditions.
- Conduct wildland firefighting training.
- Estimate sizes and characteristics of fires, and report findings to base camps by radio or telephone.
- Direct crews working on firelines during forest fires.
- Locate forest fires on area maps, using azimuth sighters and known landmarks.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- More of these jobs, as increasingly destructive wild land fires will increase the demand for fire prevention.
Also known as: Fire Management Officer, Fire Prevention Technician, Forest Officer, Forest Patrolman, Fire Operations Forester, Fire Prevention Officer, Fire Technician, Forestry Patrolman.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.