Fire Truck Contract Work

I'm pretty sure this isn't part of TruckingTruth.com but, I didn't know where else to start.

I'm in the Pacific Northwest and it's fire season here. I know there are agencies that hire contractors to spray water on fires and I was wondering how old a truck you can do this type of work with.

Looking at picking up a fire truck from an auction, hooking a camper to the rear bumper, and going where the fires are.

Does anyone know anything about this type of work?

I know it's not full time but, if it pays good enough, one might think you could make decent money doing it.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

If you're wondering only about the age of the vehicle, I would surmise that as long as it passes inspection, because you're going to have to drive it on public roads to get it there, and can do the job required of it, age shouldn't matter. If it's big, can hold lots of water, and put it on the fire, and is road legal, I don't think they'd care how old it is.

Sounds like an incredibly risky business... are you sure there aren't any other requirements other than being able to provide your own fire truck? Training? Endorsements? Qualifications?

As someone who spent many years on fire departments, I can guarantee you it's not just 'have truck, will spray'. At the very least they're going to require Wildland Firefighter I. I imagine you'll also need quite a bit of personal insurance for yourself as well as for the truck(which is going to be extremely spendy... you're putting it in a fire, after all).

As for the age, I'd look more at reliability. That's not a truck you want breaking down on the job.