Biden claims he’s working to raise wildland firefighter payment to $29/hr

President Joe Biden claimed his administration is working to raise the minimum wage of wildland firefighters to $29 an hour at a press conference Tuesday morning.

“What I’d like to do is…raise the pay of $29 an hour. I’d like to make that permanent for these firefighters,” Biden said at an Oval Office press conference on the ongoing wildfire response. “I look forward to this briefing from key members of my administration, who’ve been working like hell on this, and two frontline governors.”

Biden did not share details on how he’d raise the wage, and ended the press conference right after the statement.

The raise would be significant for the nation’s wildland firefighting force, the members of which usually hired at GS-3/4 with an average base hourly wage at $15.47 an hour.

FWS firefighter art

A wildland firefighter pay raise, albeit not as substantial as Biden’s proposal, has recently neared reality after being rucked inside this year’s Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. The bill, which passed the House and was placed on the Senate’s calendar on Sept. 12, would boost wildland firefighter pay from 1.5% to 42%, with higher percentage increases going to workers lower on the pay scale, according to Boise State Public Radio.

Despite the lack of details, Biden’s statement stands in stark contrast to former President Donald Trump’s recent threat. If re-elected president, Trump said he’d cut all federal wildfire aid from California if Gov. Gavin Newsom did not agree with his policies.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Trump’s threat to withhold California wildfire aid angers state’s firefighting force

Watch Biden’s press conference here (he mentions the pay increase at ~1:08):

‘Watch our state burn’: Trump’s threat to withhold California wildfire aid angers state’s firefighting force

During a pseudo-campaign stop that functioned more as a golf course advertisement, former President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal wildfire aid from California if Gov. Gavin Newsom didn’t bow to his policies, infuriating firefighters throughout the state.

Trump made the declaration on Friday during a private fundraiser at his golf club in Rancho Palos Verdes. The statement was made after Trump ranted about a nonexistent “very large faucet” in Canada holding water back from California and causing the state’s drought.

“The automobile industry is dead, the water coming in is dead, and Gavin Newsom is going to sign those papers, and if he doesn’t sign those papers, we won’t give him money to put out all his fires,” Trump said. “And if we don’t give him the money to put out his fires, he’s got problems.”

Dixie Fire at Greenville, CA, 2021
Dixie Fire at Greenville, California — photo ©2021 Jay Walter.

The declaration, understandably, angered California’s wildland firefighting force. California Professional Firefighters President Brian K. Rice said the former president should be ashamed over the threat.

“Trump expressed that he would play with [Californians’] lives and their homes if he doesn’t get what he wants,” Rice said in a statement posted on Twitter. “He would rather watch our state burn in the name of his political games, than to send help if he were to become president again…It is a disgrace to our great nation and to every Californian that this man has a platform to threaten our livelihoods, safety, families and our state.”

Newsom also weighed in after Trump’s threat, calling it a warning to every American.

“Trump just admitted he will block emergency disaster funds to settle political vendettas,” Newsom posted on Twitter. “Today it’s California’s wildfires. Tomorrow it could be hurricane funding for North Carolina or flooding assistance for homeowners in Pennsylvania. Donald Trump doesn’t care about America — he only cares about himself.”

A fire whirl was spotted at the Park Fire in the early evening hours of July 25, 2024. ~ AlertCalifornia camera
A fire whirl was spotted at the Park Fire in the early evening hours of July 25, 2024.
~ AlertCalifornia camera

Denying disaster aid to California is a tradition for Trump. His 2020 administration initially denied a request submitted by the state during what would become its most-disastrous wildfire season on record. The administration would go on to approve the aid, but not before causing panic throughout the state driven by damage, cleanup, and rebuilding woes.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Trump administration reverses decision to deny California’s request for fire disaster assistance

Watch the full C-SPAN recording of Trump’s press conference here (he starts talking about water and wildfire funding at 1:05:00):