there is a recording [HERE]
there is a recording [EVENT:
The Big Burnout: Wildland Firefighters and the West
As record-setting blazes grow more common, poor compensation is spurring an exodus of wildland firefighters, thinning America’s last line of defense against fires. For residents of fire-prone areas, the stakes could not be higher. In partnership with Source New Mexico and Outside Magazine, ProPublica will host an online forum examining these issues.
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Speakers include:
- George Broyles, former wildland firefighter who led the Forest Service’s smoke research program between 2008 and 2014
- Yolanda Cruz, learning hub coordinator at Santa Fe Community Foundation
- Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico reporter and ProPublica Local Reporting Network member
- Antonia Roybal-Mack, attorney and founder and managing partner of Roybal-Mack & Cordova PC
- Abe Streep, journalist and author of the book Brothers on Three: A True Story of Family, Resistance and Hope on a Reservation in Montana
- Kit Rachlis, ProPublica senior editor (moderator)
Model the military time of service, 20 years any age, full retirement with benefits. We all know fire is a young person’s game anyway (the line diggers). Get your job at 18, be done at 38 or hang on and fill the IMT positions. Get out while you’re young, and don’t prolong yourself to any more smoke and dust.
Rate of pay isn’t a deal breaker for many young people. The USFS could recruit based on the life experience of line firefighters, if the cost of living in the region is affordable. I was a timber pre-sale forestry technician on the Mount Hood Ranger District in the mid 1970s, and was called out to many wildfires and prescribed burns. I still have PTSD from those days but I wouldn’t have it any other way.