Thousands of federal wildland firefighters have been on the edge of their seats in recent years, waiting to see if substantial temporary raises run out or if Congress would enact permanent raises. Now a measure that would do the latter has passed what some feel was the most significant hurdle: the U.S. House of Representatives.
On Wednesday, the House passed its annual Interior and Environment Appropriations bill. Tucked inside of the massive funding measure are increases to wildland firefighter base pay, as well as incident response pay. Base pay would increase from 1.5% to 42%, with the higher jumps going to those lower on the pay scale. Incident response pay would be capped at $9,000.
“We've seen this workforce just getting depleted because people cannot stay, they just can't afford to do this work anymore,” said Max Alonzo, secretary treasurer for the National Federation of Federal Employees, which has been pushing for the reform. “This is going to help retain the folks that we have, and it's going to help us build up this workforce again.”
He said he’s hopeful of ultimate passage because of bipartisan support for the pay increases.
“I do believe it's going to stay in the budget,” Alonzo said. “It's really going to be up to Congress to decide if they're going to pass a budget.”
The Senate version has similar pay measures, along with additional funding for wellness and housing. Without permanent raises – or at least another temporary extension – Alonzo predicted mass resignations, and communities across the West would be left vulnerable to wildfires.
“If we don't have that workforce out there protecting these communities, we're going to see communities burn, we're going to see lives lost,” Alonzo said. “So it is extremely important that we make sure that we keep these folks working.”
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
