Reporter covering the firefighter staffing issues interviewed by NPR

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wildland firefighter with hose
Wildland firefighter. NWCG photo.

On Monday National Public Radio’s flagship station in Southern California, KCRW, interviewed Brianna Sacks, a Buzzfeed News reporter who has been covering the hiring and retention problems faced by the U.S. Forest Service and other federal agencies that have wildland fire responsibilities.

“The burnout is really real for these firefighters who are making no money. They make their living doing thousands of hours of overtime and they still can’t afford to make ends meet,” Sacks tells KCRW. “They’ve been leaving en masse, hemorrhaging firefighters to go to CalFire, PG&E, or private sector jobs. And they’ve also been part of the great resignation with the pandemic.”

You can listen to the entire 8-minute interview by clicking below.

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

19 thoughts on “Reporter covering the firefighter staffing issues interviewed by NPR”

  1. Usual tangles, same old web. Starve the GS people to create crisis that must be solved by outside contractors who may pay a little more in the beginning (until the Federal Forces are no more), and reap great profits plus “expenses” plus profits. SNAFU.

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  2. While ourselves, families, communities, agencies suffer – STOP ALL ACTIONS ON WILDFIRES unless the WO, VILSACK, and CONGRESS step up and get their A$$es on this! That IS the only way this gets solved. Make it make news.

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    1. As much as I’d love for us all to come together and take some kind of stand…not putting out fires is not the answer. The public doesn’t deserve that kind of inaction. Its not their fault. They’ve also had the wool pulled over their eyes…they’ve been told we’ve gotten a raise (the $15/hr min and the BIL), they’ve been told we’re on target to be fully staffed…they’ve been fed just as much empty BS as we have.

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  3. Sadly, the outfit did not get where it’s at overnight. This pot has been bubbling for many years. Cal Fire (CDF IN my day) saw it coming. The leadership lead (novel concept),they formed a Union and took off in all respects.
    The Federal bureaucrats threw their hands in the air and claimed it “could not be changed. ” Can’t, never could do nuthin.”
    In my mind, it’s a problem that has reached the limit of tolerance . I wish the best for the young men & women in the Fire ranks of the USFS. I also encourage them to run as fast as they can to another Agency that is not “Change Resistant. “

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  4. Working for this agency is both frustrating and overwhelming. I’d say a rough 20% of us are barely hanging on in the hopes we see a 20k pay raise. If it doesn’t come, then those of us who are only here for that chance are gone and fire season will be even harder than it’s already going to be. I do not understand why the money has not been added to our income. It’s completely separate of the series rewrite, and has already been approved. They absolutely have the funds to start implementing now. I am not happy to see changes from the bottom to start firefighters as GS 5’s when that absolutely does nothing for those of us who’ve been around for a lot longer, GS-7’s, 8’s and 9’s. If a GS 3 or 4 salary is not a livable salary then up the pay scale. Starting rookies as GS 5’s is a slap in the face to the rest of us. GS 5’s should be seasoned. Should have completed both academies and be experienced, they should be FF T1’s and ICT 5’s. Not raising everyone’s salary is barbaric. It destroys moral. Why should we step up to lead if rookies are getting pay raises but leaders are not? The gap is being closed from a rookie to a supervisor. For all of us in Region 5, we know what its like to be the underdog. We are the lowest paid. All of our competitors make double or more and have portal to portal. Half or more of our team members are OES. Cal Fire is hiring numerous hand crews. We already lost our brand new seasonals and THEY made the BEST choice. Starting pay is 60k.

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  5. All of the previous comments are 100% on target. The FS censoring its employees is BS. Propaganda at its finest coming out of their testimony. Every employee ought to email their representative and tell them the truth. I guess that is easy to say since I am retired, but the “leadership” is so out of touch with their employees. And the fact that they don’t give a damn is the worst part!

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  6. Have you ever created the world’s most robust, skilled and organized Wildland Firefighting force virtually overnight and then, due to your own bureaucratic incompetence, failed to manage all of that talent and energy in the long-term which led to its ultimate demise? ..**Looking at you, USFS**… I’m reminded of the stories you hear of the little chicks in the industrial poultry farms. They pump them full of everything they need to get huge and strong early in life but eventually their little legs collapse under the weight and they can’t even walk anymore.

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  7. One of the things that’s always suprised me with USFS Wildland fire staffing issues is the fact that despite USFS having HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of followers on social media, they REFUSE to advertise wildland fire positions on them! Yet they’ll post for hirings in other positions in Recreation, Timber etc…

    You literally have small Wildland fire communities on social media like Hotshot Brewery with 30k followers almost spam posting for positions across the nation, they’ll keep Drew Stroberg and Rachel Smith who retaliated against me and blacklisted me which only encourages others in Management realizing there’s no consequences.

    It’s almost like USFS Management have a vendetta against wildland firefighters.

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  8. Good job Brianna! My fed buddies in So Ca say This is who we are- FS- Letting your voice be heard via a don’t talk to the media. Aha. Hall- Rivera needs to be relocated. Obviously not qualified for the job. Has no clue. Who hired her? Or maybe just her staff is incompetent. Glad I work local gov. Sorry to see the Old green collapsing. You FS guys used to rock it. Hotshots still do. Unstaffed no doubt. Maybe some others still do. But this Hall- Rivera person ?? We need more SEATs and VLATs to help catch fires because we don’t have any staffing or anyone who tells the truth in USFS.

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  9. Did you see this event tomorrow? Adapting to Staffing Transitions peer learning session
    • Hear remarks from Jacqueline Emanuel, Director, National Partnership Office of the U.S. Forest Service, on staffing transitions and efforts to build staffing capacity;
    • Have an opportunity to ask questions;
    • Participate in breakout room discussions regarding the challenges of staffing transitions and helpful strategies to overcome those challenges; and
    • From breakout room report-outs, learn new tactics for adjusting to staffing transitions.
    Time
    May 5, 2022 12:30 PM in Mountain Time (US and Canada)
    https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAvce2hqz8oGtzRPy-ggD3H_FmZcSWCGstp?mc_cid=46a0d5f395&mc_eid=020f9d493c

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    1. I have been in contact with her and numerous other members of the press. F— that “be quiet” email from the WO. Brianna is awesome!!! You have to fight the good fight, sometimes clandestinely.

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  10. I guess NPR didn’t get the email from the WO about running “all inquiries on this topic…through the WO Press Desk”. Messaging has always been controlled, but between the Regions telling FS employees they can’t talk to the press about a known, real and demonstrable hiring and retention crisis and the new “Disinformation Board”, there are some genuinely Orwellian vibes coming out of the current Administration.

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    1. I put a application in no response, I always wanted to be a smockjumper, I dont have the certificates but if they hired entry leval i be down,

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