BETA
Updated: Feb 6
BETA
Updated: Feb 6
Evolving
Last Update: 11/21/2025
Your role’s AI Resilience Score is
69.4%
Median Score
Changing Fast
Evolving
Stable
What does this resilience result mean?
These roles are shifting as AI becomes part of everyday workflows. Expect new responsibilities and new opportunities.
AI Resilience Report for
Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists
They protect forests by checking for fire hazards, ensuring safety rules are followed, and teaching others how to prevent wildfires.
Summary
The career of a Forest Fire Inspector and Prevention Specialist is considered stable because, while AI tools like drones and sensors can quickly detect and map wildfires, many crucial tasks still need human expertise. Inspectors are essential for sending emergency messages, directing firefighting crews, and handling equipment, which aren't easily replaced by machines.
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View analysisChat with CoachLatest newsMore career infoSummary
The career of a Forest Fire Inspector and Prevention Specialist is considered stable because, while AI tools like drones and sensors can quickly detect and map wildfires, many crucial tasks still need human expertise. Inspectors are essential for sending emergency messages, directing firefighting crews, and handling equipment, which aren't easily replaced by machines.
Read full analysisContributing Sources
AI Resilience
All scores are converted into percentiles showing where this career ranks among U.S. careers. For models that measure impact or risk, we flip the percentile (subtract it from 100) to derive resilience.
CareerVillage.org's AI Resilience Analysis
AI Task Resilience
Stable76.7%
76.7%
Microsoft's Working with AI
AI Applicability
Stable86.9%
86.9%
Will Robots Take My Job
Automation Resilience
Stable83.0%
83.0%
Medium Demand
Labor Market Outlook
We use BLS employment projections to complement the AI-focused assessments from other sources.
Learn about this scoreGrowth Rate (2024-34):
14.6%
Growth Percentile:
96.3%
Annual Openings:
0.3
Annual Openings Pct:
2.2%
Analysis of Current AI Resilience
Forest Fire Inspector
Updated Quarterly • Last Update: 11/11/2025
State of Automation & Augmentation
Forest fire inspectors still do many hands-on tasks, but new tech is helping some of them. For example, drones, planes and satellites now use AI to spot and map wildfires much faster than humans alone. In one case, a Pentagon program used drone video and machine learning to draw a fire’s boundaries in minutes [1].
Similarly, NASA flew an infrared sensor over a blaze and sent a detailed fire map to firefighters’ phones in just a few minutes [2]. New sensor networks like Dryad’s “Silvanet” even claim to detect fires in minutes by sensing smoke or heat [3]. These tools help with the task of locating fires on maps.
By contrast, many core tasks still rely on people. Official job guides list duties like relaying emergency messages, directing crews, and putting out small fires [4], but we found no widespread AI systems that do these. Record-keeping is mostly just done on computers or in logbooks without smart automation.
In short, detection and mapping are getting computerized, but calling in crews, actually fighting small fires, and fixing equipment remain manual.
Sources
AI Adoption
Why might AI be used here, or held back? On the plus side, these tools are becoming available and could save time. Reports note that AI can give firefighters real-time updates and faster alerts [5] [5].
For example, AI-made maps can be ready far quicker than old methods [1], potentially reducing the human effort needed to track fires [1]. These benefits – catching fires early and using resources better – are strong incentives to adopt AI.
On the other hand, wildfire work is hard and expensive to automate. A recent government review warned it takes lots of good data and effort to train AI, and mistakes could be dangerous [6]. Remote forests often lack reliable internet or power, so smart sensors and drones may not work everywhere [5].
There are also legal and social concerns: systems must respect privacy and local rules. In practice, agencies are testing these tools (like sensor cameras in Hawaii [6]), but broad rollout may be slow because of costs, training needs, and the challenge of trusting AI in emergencies [6] [5].
Sources
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More Career Info
Career: Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists
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Employment & Wage Data
Median Wage
$52,380
Jobs (2024)
2,900
Growth (2024-34)
+14.6%
Annual Openings
300
Education
High school diploma or equivalent
Experience
Less than 5 years
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2024-2034
Task-Level AI Resilience Scores
AI-generated estimates of task resilience over the next 3 years
1
Direct crews working on firelines during forest fires.
2
Extinguish smaller fires with portable extinguishers, shovels, and axes.
3
Direct maintenance and repair of firefighting equipment, or requisition new equipment.
4
Restrict public access and recreational use of forest lands during critical fire seasons.
5
Estimate sizes and characteristics of fires, and report findings to base camps by radio or telephone.
6
Administer regulations regarding sanitation, fire prevention, violation corrections, and related forest regulations.
7
Inspect camp sites to ensure that campers are in compliance with forest use regulations.
Tasks are ranked by their AI resilience, with the most resilient tasks shown first. Core tasks are essential functions of this occupation, while supplemental tasks provide additional context.
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