Survey of more than 700 wildland firefighters identifies 10 strategies for improving working conditions

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“Recruitment and retention of qualified firefighters is a critical issue for national security”

Morning briefing on the Calf Canyon - Hermits Peak Fire
Morning briefing May 8, 2022 on the Calf Canyon – Hermits Peak Fire as firefighters break out into Divisions. USFS photo.

A survey of 708 federal wildland firefighters found that they reported dissatisfaction with recruitment and hiring processes, insufficient base salaries, poor mental health outcomes, elevated risks to health and safety, and significant effects of wildland firefighting on family status.

It was conducted by Robin M. Verble, Rachel Granberg, and Seth Person, the latter two of which are federal wildland firefighters. On their wildlandfiresurvey.com website all three are seen in photos wearing Nomex fire clothing.

“Given the ever-increasing length, extent, and intensity of wildfire season, recruitment and retention of qualified WFF is a critical issue for national security,” the researchers concluded. “Concentrated legislative, organizational, and agency efforts are needed to systemically address the issues identified in this survey: Our survey provides specific actionable items that can improve retention and recruitment, as prioritized by current federal WFFs.”

The majority of respondents  had a bachelors degree or higher, had a mean base salary of $28,545 to $37,113, and 75 percent worked for the US Forest Service.

Here are a few of the survey’s many findings:

  • 92% of the respondents stated that they needed more than 300 hours of overtime work annually to pay their bills. 27% needed over 900 hours of overtime work annually to pay their bills.
  • Most of the respondents disagree or strongly disagree that they have affordable childcare options.
  • Approximately 67% of respondents reported that they have experienced an injury or illness as a result of their work in wildland fire.
  • Wildland firefighters divorce at a rate 2.5 times the national average.
  • Approximately 60% said they have missed out on jobs because of mistakes that Human Resources made.
  • Conservatively estimated rates of suicidal thoughts and ideation among WFFs is 16.5%.
  • Respondents report rates of ADHD at approximately 4 times the national average.

Based on the survey, the researchers listed ten strategies that federal agencies can implement to improve working conditions for wildland firefighters. In the report each one is explained in detail, but here are the topics:

  1. Provide the right pay for the right job
  2. Recognize the strain on families
  3. Increase mental health care accessibility and resources
  4. Combat unhealthy and unsustainable work-life imbalance
  5. Rectify issues with workplace safety (rates of injury, violence, and sexul assault)
  6. Improve health insurance benefits and timely injury compensation
  7. Reimagine the hiring process
  8. Address chronic mismanagement at the Albuquerque Service Center (human resources and hiring)
  9. Promote a new deal for diversity
  10. Build organizational trust through empowering local units

 

Data from Granberg, R., Pearson, S., and Verble, R. 2022. Survey of federal wildland firefighters: working conditions, safety, morale, & barriers to recruitment & retention. Report. Available online at wildlandfiresurvey.com 

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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.

36 thoughts on “Survey of more than 700 wildland firefighters identifies 10 strategies for improving working conditions”

  1. Old DHRS,

    Curious as to what the “some very obvious reason why we do not have the diversity we would like to see.” are?

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  2. Not real sure that my name really matters, but just this once I will put it out there, it kinda nice to speak with some anonymity……it’s no big deal….Jeff Koenig……
    just now 3 years retired from the NPS……
    Please keep that to your self….lol……Peace….

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  3. OK Range Tech, I will at least consider for a moment that I am way off my centerline with some of my comments, first and foremost I do agree with most if not all of your comments, pay is the single most important issue, if they can find a way to address pay then they can find a way to fix the rest…..should be easy….

    I spent a third of my career on shots, filled all positions, I only mention this because I do have a real good idea of the job, I am a little tired of hearing that it has changed so much, fundamentally it will always be the same, most would agree w/ me if they had received the pay they deserve , I do not recall any easy fire seasons, before MEL shot crews were at a premium, well I guess they still are, it always felt like they were trying to grind us into pulp….”Best Job Ever “-Fury….
    There are other things in the survey I disagree with but I will not go there, that would be a can of worms to big to hassle with….
    Outside efforts/surveys will never be well received by the Brass, who knows though, it could be the boot that finally kicks the door wide open…..I guess it can not hurt……Costa Rica you can live like royalty on a few bucks a day . Peace…..

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    1. Old DRHS
      Curious, how long have you been retired? Also, why not use your real name?

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  4. Great, another nearly/mostly useless survey, again stating the obvious…..It would be great to see the DOI/USFS do another survey (Mostly Useless)….when I worked for the DOI it felt like i was doing one a week…….and maybe they worked a little……some people do care and do try to make changes, it’s great when you work for a great NPS Park Supt that gets it, I was fortunate to have worked for two that really got it…..
    Back in the 90’s R-5 could see the writing on the wall (Hiring/Retention), I recall surveys for workplace improvement, being invited to Sacramento to be on the ground floor to make real change, what a waste of time, back in the 90’s we jumped on board with WFSA-Casey Judd, we even paid dues, nothing…..and I mean nothing, it was just as hard then trying to make a living as it is now…it’s always been hard, we all thought that we would see real change, what a rip off……We did get true OT and a local bump in pay.
    Provide the right pay for the right job-Yep, folks know that it stinks, but will they do something about, it’s starting to again look like they will kick the can just one more time….How sad….
    Recognize the strain on families-Really, every one recognizes the strain on families, how would you propose to fix that, maybe they could just choose to stay home, or maybe hire twice as many FF’s, or find something (New Job) that does not put a strain on your family.
    Increase mental health care accessibility and resources-Yes this is critical, enough is enough…..this needs to be fixed, but who will do it…..WHO! Way to many suicides….I could have even benefited from something a little better that EAP, I had to call them once, that was enough…..
    Combat unhealthy and unsustainable work-life imbalance-What is this…seriously….what…is this just filler……I did it for 38 years I was able to keep it some what balanced, how do you address this……Find another job. yea the job really sucks at times….And it will do lasting damage….maybe there is a cure, a lot of us will carry PTSD for the rest of our lives, fighting fire for some is very nearly like going to war…We learn to cope….
    Rectify issues with workplace safety (rates of injury, violence, and sexual assault)-Violence and sexual assault are these issues systemic in the work place, please show me the data supporting this claim, again in my 38 years it was rare to see real violence and sexual assault not to say that it does happen, assault and harassments are two different things, there certainly is an harassments issue….no doubt….
    Improve health insurance benefits and timely injury compensation-Yep, it should be available for free to all fed ff’s.
    Reimagine the hiring process-What? How….
    Address chronic mismanagement at the Albuquerque Service Center (human resources and hiring) This was a bad idea from the very first time someone thought about it, a disaster.
    Promote a new deal for diversity- A new deal…what is this, a new deal…what kind of new deal, I think this deserves it’s own survey (Kidding), there are some very obvious reason why we do not have the diversity we would like to see.
    Build organizational trust through empowering local units-what is this-local units do have autonomy, have you ever worked in a NPS park a national forest…… 700+ FF surveyed, most had degrees, I would expand your survey to capture a larger group, my experience is that most within my career did not have degrees, I could be wrong, maybe I did not pay attention…….I am very sorry, but we do not need more surveys, we need real action, the issues you raise have been real issues for a very long time, some can be fixed and some can not. I am just an old retired guy who still cares……Pease…….
    Everyone ( Top Brass) already knows that their work force is not happy and they choose to not fix things, this has been a fact for decades…..

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    1. OldDRHS
      I do agree that we do not more useless surveys, however this one does not seem useless at all. It seems like hits a lot of pertinent topics and speaks to many of the current issues. I applaud everyone involved with it and it adds to the momentum that’s is building. I’ve always enjoyed your perspective, as I started my career in the late 90’s I see how you come to the conclusion of most of your points. For as much as old timers try to downplay the current low-wage discussion the fact is Forestry Tech jobs in the 90’s we’re decent paying blue collar jobs. We were in the ball park with Cal-Fire in those days, we were also in the ball park with the construction labor market, and the local utility districts. We’re not in the ballpark anymore, not even close…while all the other blue collar job markets have adjusted for annual inflation, Federal fire has not. This has coincided with fire seasons getting longer and the average fire assignment getting more stressful. I remember even 5 years ago we’d spend half a tour busting our ass to catch a fire and the other half the tour milking it, (mopping it up, and occasionally spending the day in creek or river drainage dipping our feet in whatever creek we were lucky enough to have at the bottoms of our division.). Those days are gone, if your lucky enough to be on a fire that gets caught, than your quickly shipped off to the next fire to help tie that line in. Today’s firefighters are definitely more educated, I would say 40% of my crew has a college education, more of them are veterans, and I would say they are much more dedicated than we were in the 90’s because they are doing the job for less than minimum wage. I lived life well as a seasonal in the 90’s and early 2000’s, I was able to dig myself out of debt and accumulate a savings that allowed me to travel the world for 5 months, everyone collected unemployment in the winter….My crew today cannot afford to live like that..my crew today can not even afford to go the bar on a Friday night, they definitely can’t afford a plane ticket to Costa Rica in the off-season let alone backpacking the country for a month. Most the seasonals on my crew work the winters, often times in jobs that pay more than their summer jobs with the Feds.

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    2. Hi Jeff– Thanks for your thoughts on our survey.

      Wanted to make it very clear for all those reading that we are not sponsored by or endorsed by any agency. I work at a university, but the other two authors did this on their free time without USFS funding.

      I agree that firefighters absolutely need real action, but sometimes you need data to support those actions, and that is what we are offering– data, as provided by wildland firefighters about their experiences, so we don’t have to rely on the suppositions and assumptions of the ‘Top Brass’ about what firefighters want or need.

      I’d encourage you to take a look at our full data set in the full report, as this might help contextualize some of the recommendations, which are supported by the data we collected.

      Best wishes for a happy retirement!

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  5. Thank you for all the hard work and dedication to put this into words, proud to see how far this projects gone. The “Behind the scenes” of something like this is surely a monumental and benevolent task.

    There’s lot of talk about what’s best for us firefighters but no one’s asked us what we think or how we feel. This gives us a voice and qualitative data to work with, and will help navigate the windfall of new policy that is coming our way. Without data like this it would be a bunch of wild a** guesses and lack of understanding from those we’re trying to convince.

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  6. Poor me bro, I am with you! Let’s all stop complaining. We will do it the old way. We will eat some MREs and stand in line to use the pay phone with our calling cards. We could fill in some carbon copy red dogs, cut line with FSS pulaskis and Worry about teaching a new squad boss how to split shift the crummy.
    While we are doing things the old way, I need on site housing for my entire crew. I would like the superintendents quarters also on-site. I need the wages to reflect the temps Camaros, lifted trucks and corvettes In the parking lot. I would like alcohol back in the barracks, after project work, and delivered after the line is tied in, one can per man of course. I want the commissary to come back to camp with cigs, cope and boots and there shouldn’t be any reason why I can’t stand in chow line wearing a yellow, a bandana, a tin lid hat and a radio bra and gorge myself on the salad bar and steak. Oh yeah, everyone smokes. We ain’t going to live long anyways.
    I want no ag learn. No payckecks8 or travel. No usa staffing, no “this is who you think I am” and no Jaelith saying that fire runs downhill 16x faster according to the 10’s and 13’s when she was in “the forestry”
    I want my next promotion to be discussed over a beer and cigar and blessed over a night cap with my FMO.
    I will provide the pencils for my temps to fill in their apps and gladly hand deliver them to our HR Lady with a “he already started so just make this happened.”
    My wife would be happy if I was gone 80 days straight without any contact other than the pay phone, a bunch of signed blank checks and I could die happy in my retirement at 62. The crew might name a hike after me and I would live in infamy for 2 years as a helmet decal on the back of my crews helmets.
    Let’s suck it up? Again and again.
    Not too hard or to accept good change.

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    1. Supt. Sandwich, you make excellent points. I wish you were my sector boss when I was laying hose from the tanker at the Laguna Fire.

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    2. Gawd, there’s actually someone out there that’s as old as me!
      A few more additions to your comments: orange fire shirts, paper sleeping bags and Meals in fishnet, cooked in a garbage can. Especially good were the pancakes with syrup for Dinner.

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      1. Real brass on the hose, brush hooks, one community shower at camp (or the lava soap with the plastic bowl and cubie). Step test. You know, the good ‘ol days.

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        1. Aluminum hard “hats” (caps) and fire shelters in the orange bag with integrated white belt…..

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  7. This is great! And although the results seem similar to at least one previous study, it should be noted that unless an agency, or corporation, do the research or sponsor it themselves, it is often ignored or not taken seriously enough to result in any sort of related policy change.

    However, I still support that this study and others be circulated as much as possible. After having worked for a congressman I can tell you first-hand that the more letters, references in the letters to such studies, anecdotal as well as first-hand and demonstrable experience weighs heavily with your representative. All emails, letters and calls are recorded as to their topic and stand on the topic. Also, pointing out previous votes by your representative on related topics (whether pro or con) makes an impression. Letters to editors, guest opinions, links to Wildfiretoday.com ALL make a difference. Even references to Change.org petitions are noticed and often noted. MAKE SURE TO REQUEST A RESPONSE – that places your letter in a different category.

    One thing to note… We gave special attention to repeat letters that asked why the representative did NOT respond to an earlier letter. So even if you think it is too soon to expect a response, handwrite a note on a copy of your previous letter asking “Why won’t you respond to my request for help?!” or “Why aren’t you responding to my request for help?!”

    It always made a HUGE impact when there was a letter writing, emailing or calling campaign in a short time period. As someone who has been on the line and in the air with the USFS and BLM since 1983 – and I don’t see that changing in the near future – it has always “impressed” me with how disorganized and un-unified we are as wildland firefighters, so consequently it’s not a surprise to see current conditions. We have no unity, or at least not enough to make a unified and concerted effort, so we are to a degree a product of the level of our organization (or disorganization). The pessimist in me has always thought that the higher-ups count on this disorganization. Can you imagine how powerful we would be if we were unified and focused?? However… it’s important to remember that few, if any of us, planned on this as part of the job.

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  8. Agree Old Guy…I didn’t think becoming a NAVY SEAL I would be put in harms way or potentially have to take another persons life…I didn’t think becoming a wildland firefighter I would have to work on Saturdays…C’mon on man! This is getting ridiculous, been doing fed firefighting for 20+years, get over your selves and poor me attitude. It’s hard work and long hours and you need to be physically and mentally/spiritually prepared for this marathon of a career, or just do it for a few years too fund your winter overseas trip ang get it over it and move on.

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    1. From the standpoint of a self-interested individual, this is pretty good advice and I agree.

      From the standpoint of an administrator who’s ultimately responsible for ensuring that an agency can carry out its mission, that’s how you end up without enough guys to actually get the job done.

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    2. Except that the value of the dollar is down almost 50% since 2000, home prices/rent are inflated by 73%, and groceries are up 74%. Your comment is laughable, have you ever worked on a handcrew for multiple seasons racking up close to or more than a thousand hours in a row? You probably AD 2 or 3 times a summer to pad your retirement life. People like you are part of the reason change is taking so long to occur.

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    3. Salty Poor me Bro

      After 4 years on the military you are also entitled to lifelong health benefits, and your compensated fairly for any medical impairment rating if your injured. I know Veterans that got hurt in boot camp and they are taken care of for life…Comparing the two is stupid. This isn’t about a few people complaining , this is about agencies being able to recruit and retain a work force, which they are not currently able to do to meet the demand of their mission. The Military adapted, they take care of their workforce dramatically better than than land agencies.

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    4. You have to love it when the guys who probably got their moves paid for them and their homes bought want to begrudge today’s workers a living wage! I don’t think anyone here is asking for anything over the top- no one should have to work 1000 hours of OT just to make it…and they’re not. Dedicated, knowledgeable people are leaving in droves for greener pastures. How’s the job going to get done then? The old fart contingent really needs to stand down because it’s getting really old.

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    5. Cool story, Poor Me Bro. If the pay raise actually shows up, be sure to give yours back to Uncle Sam to show us all how tough you are.

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    6. I think what is fascinating is not ONE response in the entire set of data that I am analyzing mentions that they don’t like hard physical labor, that they mind working weekends, or that they want their jobs to be any less “tough.” In fact, a big gripe is that people want more training and opportunity to work. There’s a difference between asking for fair pay, mental health care, and a work-life balance that can support a healthy family life and whining about your job. It doesn’t make you weak to believe you should be treated with dignity and respect.

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      1. Perfect response, Robin. Thank you so much for your work on the survey and for your comments.

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  9. What can the average lay person do besides send money? I love our firefighters and want to know who can I write. My congressperson is Grace Napolitano . should I write her? Will that do any good?

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    1. Writing or calling Ms. Napolitano would help. It doesn’t seem like it at times, but the more evidence that your congressperson has helps them make a case at a hearing.

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    2. Yes! please contact all elected officials you can. You can even email the White House. Contact the agencies and express your concerns too. There are many ways to do this but going to their website and emailing is the easiest. You can also go to the Grassroots Wildland Firefighters website and there are tones of options and information. Also, spread the word to family and friends. Thanks for your support. I’m sure others will chime in too.

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  10. We did a survey 3 years ago, back in 2019. It showed pretty much the same thing. What concerns me about a survey is the meta data (e.g. names, e-mail addresses, ect.) that is collected. If the FS conducts a survey they can use the data to fire or not rehire those that don’t agree with the agency. If someone else does the survey, then the agency can sue the person or persons who conducted the survey for that data. It is a horrible experience to sue or to be sued by the FS. Trust me, it sucks!!! With all that said, I totally agree with the 10 topics, especially 8, if you fired Jessie Standridge and Mark Greene it would really improve moral. Just saying!!!

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    1. Excellent point, SR. We were careful not to pair identifiers to responses to protect our respondents from retaliation because of issues like this.

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  11. Lots of complaints and very little specificity. If they want real results then they must be more direct with what solutions they see that can be done.

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    1. A big problem with our profession is that we are disorganized and spread across the country. This shows a lot of the problems, brings us together, and does provide needed reforms. Bravo.

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    2. I too like the survey… it’s just that, a survey. Our agencies will be looking at this and deciding what kind of administrative changes can be made and will hopefully use this as an anchor to come up with solutions – kinda like crowdsourcing I guess – it’s a useful tool. What this does help with is to affirm the things we intuitively know but don’t know how wide spread/important it is to the larger fire community. This helps the agencies also anchor their administrative changes and out year budget requests to address some of the more systemic problems. Thank you to the dedicated folks who put their own time and effort into this survey… good stuff!

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      1. I agree that the survey is useful, especially the responses the challenge issues. I think a very helpful next step would be to have the results peer reviewed (in an academic sense) and published. To be honest, there is a huge difference in credibility between anecdotal surveys and legit research.

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      2. Hey Kelly,
        Have you heard of any potential announcements from DOI or USDA regarding the BIL and Pay Supplement roll out? at BLM we have had 2 firechat fridays canceled due to “lack of new information from DOI regarding pay incentives etc “. Next scheduled Fire Chat Friday is 6/24. Thank you for all that you and GRWFF are doing for us

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        1. I don’t have all the information, so my guess is you will get the best information from the “Fire Chat” next week. We have been advocating pay supplements shall be distributed nationwide without deference to geographic “hard to recruit and retain” geographic areas. As you know that term “hard to recruit and retain” is VERY subjective so there is really no good ‘objective measure’ as to what would be considered in or out. I’m hopeful you and everyone else will receive the “base pay supplement” in the next 2 weeks – I think the FS and OWF are close – stand by to stand by….. But you can also ask about the long term “pay fix” and ask what hourly wage increase efforts are underway for the agencies to get this into the 2024 Budget.

          We are advocating for “hire to retire” job series for ALL primary and secondary firefighters. Since Dozer Operators working as a WG primary fire “should” be included as well – better to ask the WO but I think we are all on the same page regarding primary and secondary regardless of GS or WG.

          Here is the USFS Budget Justification for 2023 so you can get an idea of what was presented to Congress for FY23. https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/30a-2023-FS.pdf

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