A mass exodus of wildland firefighters has been averted for at least 45 days.
The bill Congress passed late Saturday night and signed by President Biden to keep the government running included a provision to keep wildland firefighters' pay the same, according to Wildfire Today.
But firefighters aren't out of the woods yet. As with other federal agencies, the new cliff could happen on Nov. 17.
Agency officials are worried that if the paychecks are cut, thousands of firefighters will put down their tools and walk out of the woods.
The pay increase wildland firefighters received when President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was set to expire Sept. 30.
“We are very pleased to see the looming pay cliff for wildland firefighters has been averted for the next month and a half. We still desperately need a permanent fix on wildland firefighter pay, and we need it soon, but at least wildland firefighters can go to work tomorrow knowing their paycheck has not been cut in half,” National Federation of Federal Employees President Randy Erwin said in a statement.
When a bi-partisan measure was introduced, Erwin spoke of its importance saying federal wildland firefighters will endure a pay cliff of a 50% cut to their base pay up to $20,000.
He added that measure includes incident response pay to reflect the 24-hour, seven days per week commitment that wildland firefighters endure while deployed to incidents such as fires, floods, and other catastrophes.
On July 2 -- National Wildland Firefighter Day -- Biden lauded the sacrifices of the women and men in the forests across the nation and in Canada.
"I have directed my Administration to do everything possible to ensure wildland firefighters receive the wages, benefits, and other investments for health and wellness that are necessary to support and grow this critical workforce. We will continue work with Congress to get it done."
Susan Nicol | News Editor
Susan Nicol is the news editor for Firehouse.com. She is a life member and active with the Brunswick Volunteer Ambulance & Rescue Company, Oxford Fire Company and Brunswick Vol. Fire Co. Susie has been an EMT in Maryland since 1976. Susie is vice-president of the Frederick County Fire/Rescue Museum. She is on the executive committee of Frederick County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association. She also is part of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) Region II EMS Council. Susie is a board member of the American Trauma Society, Maryland Division. Prior to joining the Firehouse team, she was a staff writer for The Frederick News-Post, covering fire, law enforcement, court and legislative issues.
