In a meeting in the White House today with FEMA and other federal officials, the subject changed to wildfires, and the President expressed his opinion about the pay of federal firefighters.

From the Washington Post:

“There’s an old expression: God made man. Then he made a few firefighters. They have a higher incidence of severe injuries than police officers do. They are incredibly, incredibly brave at what they do. … And I just realized — I didn’t realize this, I admit — that federal firefighters get paid $13 an hour. That’s going to end in my administration,” he said. “That’s a ridiculously low salary to pay federal firefighters.”

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters earlier that Biden wanted to meet with federal emergency management officials to discuss preparedness and response efforts given the onset of peak wildfire and storm season.

Federal firefighters get paid a “ridiculously low” $13 an hour — that’s going to end in this admin, @potus tells us during meeting with FEMA. pic.twitter.com/p03FiYSnIg

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) June 22, 2021

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Tom.