“It almost feels as though we’re out there doing the very best we can, but it’s not enough,” Chris Mariano said. “And that’s tough, to know that you’re giving everything you have, and communities are still being lost.”
Chris Mariano became a federal wildland firefighter because he wanted to help protect the Northern California landscapes and communities he’d grown to love.
The work — backbreaking physical labor that pays an average starting wage of $15 an hour, not including hazard pay and overtime — is tougher than ever as fires grow in size and severity. But pay raises promised in last year’s infrastructure bill remain in limbo. Low wages have also combined with skyrocketing housing costs to ensure that many firefighters can’t afford to live in the places they work.
The recruitment and retention problems are in areas “where state and private firefighter wages are outcompeting federal firefighter wages, housing costs are not affordable, and positions are in remote locations,” the agency said in a statement. Some longtime firefighters say the problem is a direct consequence of low pay, noting that even Target stores announced they will pay up to $24 an hour for some starting workers — almost $10 more than the Forest Service pays for many entry-level roles.
Forest Service firefighters are generally classified as forestry technicians and typically start at the third grade of the government’s, which had an annual base salary of $24,749 to $32,174 this year.
Many of those fleeing are mid-career professionals whose expertise is needed to run engine and hand crews.