Tim Hart Biography

Tim graduated high school from Zion Benton High School in Zion, Illinois.  He continued his educational career attending Southern Illinois University where he studied Forestry and Natural Resources.  He graduated cum laude from Southern Illinois and pursued a master’s degree in Natural Resources Management and Forestry from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point.

In 2006 he began his wildland firefighting career on the Coconino National Forest and then the Fremont-Winema National Forest as an Engine Crew Member.

In 2009, he joined the Shoshone National Forest as a Lead Forestry Technician on an Engine and in 2010 detailed to the Ashville Interagency Hotshot Crew as a Lead Firefighter.  Following this detail assignment Tim decided to join the Ashville Crew permanently and moved to North Carolina.

In 2013 he moved to Elko, Nevada to work for the Bureau of Land Management on the Ruby Mountain Hotshot Crew. 

He decided to join the smokejumper program in 2016 and re-located to Grangeville, Idaho as a Rookie. In 2019, his wildland firefighter journey took him to West Yellowstone, Montana as a Smokejumper Squad Leader and in 2020 as a Spotter.

He married his wife Michelle in Cody, Wyoming in 2019 where they lived with their dog Dash.  He and Michelle shared a love of music – Tim’s instrument of choice being the banjo.  With his Illinois roots he was a huge Chicago Cubs and Chicago Bears fan.

His thorough approach, kindness, sense of humor, and leadership skill were an instrumental component of the West Yellowstone Smokejumper Base.  He will be greatly missed.