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How the budget fight in Congress threatens federal wildland firefighters' pay

Feb 21, 2024
Federal firefighters make as little as $15 an hour. A permanent boost has bipartisan support, but it’s tied up in Congress' budget fight.
Federal firefighters starting out in their careers may earn as little as $15 an hour.
Ringo Chiu/AFP via Getty Images

Federal firefighters may soon face a pay cut

Sep 27, 2023
Funds earmarked for the force's temporary raise last year are running out, as firefighters deal with longer wildfire seasons and more severe fires caused by climate change.
Firefighters douse a blaze during a California wildfire in 2018. Federal firefighters may soon face steep pay cuts as funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law runs out.
Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

Crews train in Boise in case wildfires require military muscle

Jul 4, 2022
The U.S. Forest Service has a military team it uses as backup to fight fires.
A military C-130 Hercules aircraft flies near Boise's airport, preparing to drop thousands of gallons of water as part of a firefighting training exercise.
Madelyn Beck/Mountain West News Bureau

U.S. Forest Service is short thousands of firefighters amid pay raise delay

May 10, 2022
With a pay raise funded by the infrastructure bill stuck in bureaucratic morass, the agency is struggling to staff up to the full force it needs.
Many firefighters have sounded alarms about crews and forests being critically short-staffed, even as they prepare for what is expected to be another challenging summer.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Higher pay urged for federal wildland firefighters

Jul 16, 2021
The need for firefighters is greater than ever. But the federal government is having a hard time finding recruits.
The federal government is having a hard time finding firefighter recruits, in part because the $15-an-hour base pay is not competitive.
Sam Mooy via Getty Images

For 2 California volunteer firefighters, the losses hit home

Sep 14, 2020
Fire decimates the neighborhood where they both grew up.
Brandon North and Becca Brown-Dehner grieve the loss of their two family homes at Spanish Flat Mobile Villa in Napa County, California.
Lesley McClurg/KQED

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The rekindling of fire lookout towers

Oct 26, 2018
How one state is reinvesting in a century old method to fight wildfires.
A fire lookout tower in Pennsylvania.
Andrei Taranchenko/Flickr

As wildfires spread, the contractors are called in

Sep 17, 2015
Outside help is filling the gap between 'what we have and what we need.'