Tag: opinion

CNN has joined the chorus of news organizations covering the deteriorating status of Federal wildland firefighting crews. A lengthy article published today describes the pay discrepancy between federal crews and personnel in other jurisdictions as “staggering”.

The CNN reporters interviewed several current and former federal wildland firefighters. Aaron Humphrey, who is known as “Hump”, quit after 25 years, leaving the position of Superintendent of the Eldorado Hotshots, becoming “just the latest mentally fried, underpaid hotshot veteran to leave, at a time when California wildfires are at their worst.”

From CNN:

I needed to be home with my family,” Hump told CNN. “The level of stress I was bringing home (from massive fires) — I didn’t even recognize myself anymore.”

Hump, a married father with three children — ages 12, 10 and 8 — now works for Pacific Gas and Electric, as a lead on the utility’s safety infrastructure protection team.

Hump says he’s paid at least $40,000 more annually than what he made before as a hotshot supervisor. The money comes with peace of mind, as he now attends all of his children’s events, even coaching some flag football.

CNN also interviewed a Captain on the El Dorado Hotshots, D.J. McIlhargie.

“I have five irons in the fire right now,” McIlhargie told CNN. “I’m looking for something that will work for my family more. And my wife knows that I’m tired of waiting for the Forest Service to give me a commensurate salary to what other departments pay.”

The father of two boys, 7 and 10, McIlhargie lives an hour outside Sacramento. He described feeling “wiped out” and “frustrated” by battling the recent streak of super fires.

McIlhargie, 39, says there are just not enough firefighters to take on massive blazes such as the ones that ravaged Northern California last year.

The article also states “15 California Interagency Hotshot Crews don’t have enough members to activate as a full firefighting unit. CNN obtained a CIHC document that confirms that number.”

Four Senators, Dianne Feinstein, Alex Padilla, Kyrsten Sinema, and Steve Daines, wrote a letter asking a subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee to include language in its fiscal year 2022 funding bill directing the Office of Personnel Management to implement a plan to raise federal firefighter pay. They are requesting that the following language be included in the bill:

“The Director of the Office of Personnel Management ….not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, submit to Congress a plan to establish comparable rates of pay payable to wildland firefighters employed by the Federal Government, as compared to the rates of basic pay payable for similar work by wildland firefighters employed by State and local governments in each jurisdiction identified by the Departments of Interior and Agriculture…Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, fully implement any necessary regulation or OPM authorized changes to establish the new position classification and qualification standards—for employees across the Federal Government, the job responsibilities of whom involve wildland firefighting; which shall reflect the comparable rates of basic pay established in the plan submitted.”

Opinion

When CNN, NBC, LA Times, and USA Today point out that the pay structure of Federal wildland firefighters is far out of line with what it should be, maybe there is a problem that needs addressing. Senators write letters and ask softball questions of Forest Service officials testifying in hearings, but nothing is getting done to improve the working environment of Federal wildland firefighters.

They need a new Wildland Firefighter job series with pay commensurate with those in agencies and organizations that are poaching trained and experienced employees from the Federal land management agencies.

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

By Jonathon Golden

“It’s like having gasoline out there,” said Brian Steinhardt, forest fire zone manager for Prescott and Coconino national forests in Arizona, in a recent AP story about the increasingly fire-prone West.

Now something else is happening — and at the worst possible time.

Federal firefighters are leaving the workforce and taking their training and experience with them. The inability of federal agencies to offer competitive pay and benefits is creating hundreds of wildland firefighting vacancies.

Vacancies, of course, limit how much federal firefighters can do. If Western communities want to be protected, they need to ensure that their firefighters receive better pay and benefits.

In my 11 years of work as a wildland firefighter, I’ve managed aircraft, trained people and run fires myself, but I also did outreach and recruitment for the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. I know how hard it is for hiring managers to make 2,000 hours of grueling work, crammed into six exhausting months, sound appealing when the pay is $13.45/hour. The pay doesn’t come close to matching the true demands or everyday dangers of the job.

Federal wildland firefighters, by necessity, are transient workers. During the fire season — now nearly year-round — they must be available to travel anywhere in the United States at any time. And to advance in their career, they have to move to other federal duty stations to gain more qualifications.

Finding affordable housing has always been a problem for career firefighters on a federal salary. To make matters worse, federal agencies revoked the “Transfer of Station” stipend for career employees, which helped offset the cost of moving. Just recently, a national forest supervisor also revoked a “boot stipend.” It might sound minor, but it isn’t: When you’re in the firefighting business, boots tough enough to save your life can easily cost you $500.

Some states aren’t relying on the government to act quickly. “We aren’t just waiting for the next crisis to hit,”said California Gov. Gavin Newsom, in establishing an $80.74 million Emergency Fund that delivers an additional 1,256 seasonal firefighters to boost CALFIRE’s ranks. This Emergency Fund is in addition to the governor’s $1 billion budget request for California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan.

In Washington, state legislators unanimously passed a $125 million package that will enable the state’s Natural Resources Department to hire 100 more firefighters. The legislation furthers the state’s efforts to restore forest health and creates a $25 million fund to ensure community preparedness around the state.

Utah’s House Bill 65, recently signed into law, appropriates money to help Utah’s communities offset the cost of wildfire suppression. Most importantly, it commissions a study to evaluate the current pay plan for firefighters within Utah’s Natural Resources Department.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Casey Snider, was amazed to learn that frontline wildland firefighters make more money at McDonald’s: “These positions are critical,” he said. “They are the first ones on fires.” This year, Utah has already had five times the number of wildfires it normally experiences in a year.

And firefighters are organizing and speaking up. The Grassroots Wildland Firefighters is working to halt the exodus of firefighters from federal agencies by advocating for pay parity with state and local fire protection agencies. The group also supports initiatives to assist the physical and mental health of firefighters and their families. The statistics they highlight are shocking: Wildland firefighters have a suicide rate 30 times higher than the average. They also experience high incidences of cardiovascular disease and lung cancer.

There is talk on the federal level of creating a permanent, year-round firefighting workforce. I think this is a necessary step, but it won’t fix the workforce capacity issue unless increased pay and benefits are used to encourage the recruitment and retention of federal firefighters.

We all know that today’s wildfires are longer, more damaging and more frequent than ever before. We also know that men and women are putting their lives on the line for less than they’d earn at a McDonald’s.

Our firefighters do all this to protect our lives, our forests and our communities. We owe them at least a living wage and a chance for a healthy life. I hope more states and legislators will start paying attention. This is a debt that needs to be paid.

Jonathon Golden is a writer for Writers on the Range, a nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. He lives in Park City and has 12 seasons as a wildland firefighter. He resigned in 2019 to prioritize his family and find a sustainable career. In 2020 Jonathon started Golden Group, LLC, a consulting company that focuses on domestic and international conservation initiatives as well as national security.

The President raised the minimum wage for Federal contractors to $15/hour, which is more than the starting pay for Federal wildland firefighters