Wildland Fire Responder pay range
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania · class code 54030
- Class code
- 54030
- Pay scale group
- ST 03
- Pay unit
- Year
- Bargaining unit
- J1
- State
- Pennsylvania
- The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania published pay range for Wildland Fire Responder is $36,831 to $54,162 per year.
- Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of Administration keys this classification as class code 54030.
- This is the range the plan authorises, not the salary of any individual employee.
Class specification
The Commonwealth job specification for this class is published by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of Administration. The passages below are quoted from it as published, not paraphrased, and cut to their opening sentences; the full specification is the authority on duties and qualifications. It was last revised 07/31/2025.
What the state says the job is
This is wildland fire prevention, detection, and suppression work in a state forest district. An employee in this job patrols wildlands, detects and locates wildfires, initiates and participates in wildfire response and suppression efforts, serves as a crew leader during prescribed burns and wildfires, and conducts standard wildland fire trainings. Work also involves performing semiskilled maintenance and repairs on vehicles, equipment, and tools used in wildfire patrol and suppression activities. Work is performed independently and reviewed in progress and upon completion for adherence to guidelines.
Examples of the work
• Performs wildfire suppression activities using a variety of tools and operating power equipment and fire engines. • Reports wildfire activity and assembles forestry staff and volunteer crew member resources upon the detection of a wildfire. • Locates and protects the origin of wildfires and collects and documents wildfire response details. • Serves as a Pennsylvania forest fire warden and executes duties within the requirements of the law which may include initiating firefighting response efforts on public and private lands and providing direction to other staff and volunteers during an active fire.
Minimum qualifications
• Six months of experience in entry-level fire prevention, detection, or suppression work; or • Six months of unskilled experience in construction; equipment operations; or equipment, automotive, grounds, or facility maintenance work; or • An equivalent combination of experience and training.
Special requirements
• All employees must complete the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) Firefighter Type 2 (FFT2) training within six months from the date of hire.
Quoted from the Commonwealth job specification, read 2026-10-21.
Where this comes from
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of Administration publishes this figure in Classification and Pay Plan (online, current annual salary ranges). Every number on this page is read from that document; nothing is estimated, modelled or averaged.
The Commonwealth also links this class code to its own job title and specification. That page is the official description of the classification; this page publishes its pay range.
The listed pay scale is available in the Commonwealth's current ST schedule.