FRONTIERS
WILD
This is what it’s like to make a living in Arizona’s roughest—and most beautiful—terrain.
A 9-to-5 isn’t for everyone. Some people answer to a different calling: the roar of a river, the crackle of wildfire, the hiss of a saw blade moving through salvaged timber.
For these adventurers, those are the sounds of clocking in—and the music that accompanies them on long field days in unforgiving terrain. The work isn’t easy. Neither is getting to the office. Whether they’re racing to stop a wildfire, towing handmade wooden dories to the Colorado River, or hauling lumber to cabin sites, these folks rely on intuition, experience, and a Nissan Frontier to navigate the dirt roads and rutted washes standing between them and their livelihoods.
In these lines of work, a capable truck isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity. Here’s a closer look at each of these jobs—and what it takes to get them done.
Wildland firefighting is a race against the blaze. Beating it takes grit and resolve—and a very dependable truck.
Shaping the Future of Fire
Mike Felts
Battalion Chief and Paramedic
Mike Felts knows all too well how destructive a wildfire can be. In 2022, he watched the Pipeline and Tunnel Fires ignite during 70-mph winds and tear through the Arizona Timberline area, burning down 36 homes. He never wanted to see that happen again. So, Felts founded Advanced Fire Defense, a company that uses plant-based fire retardants to defend homes and structures. “Many of the homes we protect are off-grid. You simply can’t reach them without a capable 4x4 vehicle,” he says. In firefighting, equipment matters, and the Frontier’s durable 3.8-liter V6 engine is one of the few that can handle the rigors of the work. “The vehicle isn’t just a truck,” Felts says. “It’s part of the team.”
Mike Allen
Fire Captain
Mike Allen has come to love many things during his 18 years in the fire service, but variety tops the list. “No two days are the same,” he says. Living in Flagstaff—one of the top adventure hubs of the Southwest—isn’t so bad either. Which is why Allen does everything he can to protect his community, from bringing his A-game to the office to using the best equipment and vehicles on the market. “In my profession, unreliability isn’t really an option, because we are being relied on,” he says—which is why he drives a Nissan Frontier.
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Find Your Next Frontier
Chase your own calling to its furthest reaches with the 2026 Nissan Frontier.
Frontier
Jobs
