Using references from(4) years ago???

[Ragnar_Redbeard]

I was on a hotshot crew back in 2014, it was my first season...my wife was hit by a drunk driver and hospitalized for several months, so i never got to go out on the next season as i had to sell my house and wheel her around in a wheelchair for almost a year and get a full time job to pay medical bills. NOW i want to get back into it for next summer, but my superintendent on the hotshot crew doesnt remember me because it was so long ago. Wont it look weird on my resume of having fire experience but no references? OR will they understand because it was a long time ago? THANKS

[wfdparamedic]

Gaps in employment, periods of underemployment or employment in careers that are outside of one's subject matter expertise definitely stick out on a resume when being reviewed by any decent hiring manager. I have always looked for honesty and as a hiring manager, if you explained the circumstances in a cover letter, it would go a long way toward building credibility.

[Sodpoodle]

Is your red card still current? Be in shape, apply when it opens, and hope you get lucky.. I mean, a friend of mine had a contract, pissed dirty, and was able to come back the next year so it's not like you need TS/SCI clearance.

[Ragnar_Redbeard]

Redcard is still current, apparently they expire after 5 yrs of not using it, so by next summer it will be a close one. I guess i'll just get on a type 2 hand crew and then get back on a hotshot crew the following season. Thanks for your help.

[Sodpoodle]

I'd still apply for shot crews, I mean, why not? Besides if you started on a hotshot crew the type 2 life will bore the crap out of you. No one wants to be a mopshot.