Photo: RINGO CHIU/AFP/Getty Images
By: The opinion Posted Jul 16, 2023, 23:05 pm EDT
Thousands of federal wildland firefighters could leave their jobs if Congress does not pass a permanent wage increaseofficials and advocates warned in the midst of an already scorching summer that could lead to an explosion of wildfires later in the year.
According to NBC News, 30% to 50% of the approximately 11,000 firefighters fighting the Forest Service’s wildfires would be looking to leave their current employment.
“This is an absolute crisis,” said Max Alonzo, a federation organizer. “Most of the people I know already have their applications for other jobs and are just waiting.”
The situation has become so serious that the San Bernardino National Forest in southern California saw 42 resignations in 48 hours in Mayauthorities said.
Many of those firefighters went to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, which is considered a great job thanks to its generous wages, solid benefits and more stable work hours.
“Soon there will be no one left,” said Steve Gutierrez, who recently left the Forest Service after 15 years to advocate on behalf of firefighters through the federation, “We train them and Cal Fire takes them”.
Aaron Foye, who resigned from the San Bernardino National Forest last September to work as an engineer at Cal Fire, estimated that staffing shortages were so high when he left that only one in four fire crews had staff seven days a week. week.
“I felt like I was being selfish working in the Forest Service because I wasn’t really providing enough for my family,” Foye said. “All of our top talent with the Forest Service have bled dry in the last two years.”
Lawmakers have introduced bills this year in the House and Senate that would codify an existing pay increase under President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill, which temporarily increased wildland firefighter salaries by up to $20,000.
Earlier this week, a bipartisan group of six senators introduced the Wildland Firefighters Paycheck Protection Act, which would maintain the current pay increase and help ensure the federal government can recruit and retain a sufficient workforce to fight fires. in the following years.
Federal wildland firefighters have long warned that without a permanent pay raise, their ranks would dwindle even as wildfires continue to rise in both intensity and frequency across the country and beyond.
The expertise of federal firefighters is unrivaled by the experience of those who work for city and state agencies, which may not include trekking over rough and dangerous terrain or falling from helicopters in the middle of a forest.
Still, the Forest Service has struggled in recent years to fill jobs amid rising inflation and a severe drought, officials said. In 2021, during one of the most destructive fire seasons on record, the agency also faced reduced supplies of water, food, and communications, in addition to low staffing levels.
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