This has led to severe difficulties in hiring and retaining firefighters, resulting a large number of vacant positions at all levels. One of the latest well-researched pieces about the decline of working conditions for federal firefighters was published today, written by Alex Wigglesworth, a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times. It is titled, “Hellish fires, low pay, trauma: California’s Forest Service firefighters face a morale crisis.”In addition to documenting and elaborating on the issues above, their research found:“Only 62% of federal firefighter positions [in California] are filled, according to a source within the agency. “I wanted nothing more than to be a hotshot, to be a leader, to care for the land and to be of service. Classification, pay, work life balance, mental health, presumptive disease coverage, and injury/fatality support.

Source: Los Angeles Times June 15, 2022 20:11 UTC