If Congress does not take action to stop a government shutdown that would impact millions of workers before the Christmas holiday, federal wildland firefighters are preparing to forfeit their $20,000 retention bonuses.
In a profession where some firefighters get as little as $15 per hour for risky, backbreaking work, firefighters have been fighting for years to establish a permanent pay fix.
According to Bobbi Scopa of the advocacy group Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, it’s like constantly raising false alarms.
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As congressional leaders race to find a solution before the government shuts down at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday if an interim financing agreement is not reached, their fight for greater pay is in jeopardy.
In 2021, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law increased the salaries of 11,200 federal firemen by either $20,000 or 50% of their base pay. In the years that followed, Congress prolonged the incentives through seven continuing resolutions, failing to make the wage hikes permanent.
Federal firemen will not get their bonuses if Congress does not adopt another resolution this week.
Steve Gutierrez, a member of an elite hotshot crew who departed the U.S. Forest Service after 15 years to represent firefighters with the National Federation of Federal Employees, stated, “We will lose everybody.” These people ought to be paid a living wage. The road ahead is going to be difficult.
The higher pay rates would remain in place until mid-March if Congress can strike an agreement before the deadline.
A request for response from the U.S. Forest Service was not answered.
Firefighters and union leaders fear their opportunity to change the pay scale is evaporating as President-elect Donald Trump’s administration prepares to take office in a month.
After devastating wildfires destroyed millions of acres of public land during his first term, Trump blamed the Forest Service for poor management, which led to him clashing with Western state governors. He recommended in 2018 that California do a better job of raking its leaves.
Despite the fact that climate change is making fires more deadly and extending the fire season into the year, his incoming administration is already advocating for reduced government spending.
Tim Sheehy, the Republican senator-elect for Montana and the former CEO of an aerial firefighting company, recently wrote an opinion piece for Fox News arguing that, if we want to reduce the amount of damage caused by wildfires, we should use private resources, which are typically the fastest and most efficient response option.
According to him, the private sector has always produced and will continue to deliver greater outcomes and new inventions more quickly and affordably than the government. The same is true when responding to wildfires. We have to accept this reality.
However, even local firefighters acknowledge that they rely on federal funding, particularly in areas close to national forests.
Federal firemen go through extensive training that goes beyond what is taught by private, state, and local companies. They are the most sought-after hires by civilian departments due to their proficiency on the front lines, which makes them essential in the field.
You can’t find better workers than those. You are aware of their hunger. According to former hotshot Brian Fennessy, fire chief of the Orange County Fire Authority in California, they’re incredible. Seeing a once-proud agency disintegrate in this way is heartbreaking.
For decades, firefighters and those who support them have been caught in a never-ending game of cat and mouse with lawmakers. Although politicians continually punched legislation, many believed that President Joe Biden would bring about a permanent solution.
The inclusion of a permanent wage fix in the House appropriations bill earlier this year by Republican Representative Mike Simpson of Idaho, who chairs the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, gave union leaders a brief sense of hope.
Simpson criticized the existing compensation structures as insufficient and pushed for a change to be included in the budget for the fiscal year 2025 in an Augustop-edhe co-written with Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore.
According to the op-ed, the courageous men and women fighting these devastating fires are being praised as heroes more and more as wildfire seasons lengthen and intensify. Nevertheless, despite their vital role in preserving animals, towns, and lives, federal wildland firefighters are routinely paid inconsistently. Recognizing their vital contributions by providing much-needed certainty to pay is long overdue.
The House proposal, which was later shelved due to spending disputes, called for a permanent pay fix and allocated $330 million for a pay raise to replace the expiring salary increase.
For now, firefighters’ best bet is to keep their existing salary through the spring.
“We’re screwing with these people,” Scopa remarked, “because they’re gone for months, earning low wages, and working in hazardous conditions.” It’s simply not acceptable.
Federal firemen have been leaving the U.S. Forest Service for higher pay in state and municipal units due to persistent issues. Despite another wave of fireman exoduses this summer, dozens of federal fire engines were still unmanned.
Firefighters’ advocates have cautioned time and again that attrition rates may deprive the organization, which safeguards millions of acres of public property nationwide, of its most seasoned and proficient personnel.
Gutierrez stated, “It’s already quite bleak.”
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