House Bill 588 passed the house and senate. It would pay wildland firefighters 25% above their hourly wage while working at an active fire.
BOISE, Idaho — They can't clock a regular 9 to 5 timecard - Monday through Friday - and expect the week to be over.
Wildland firefighting isn't like other jobs.
"I've put in 52-hour shifts before," Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) Fire Management Bureau Chief Josh Harvey said. "I'm not gonna say you're on call all the time, but when the phone rings, the expectation is you're gonna answer it and you're gonna respond."
Recruiting people to answer those calls is getting harder, according to Harvey. Partly because Idaho wildland firefighters currently make $12.55 per hour.
"People do have that choice. I can make 14 dollars an hour flipping burgers working a pretty set shift and not have to worry too much about getting burned up. If they got a little more of an adventurous side to them, those are the ones that come out and decide to fight fire," Harvey said. "But there's not as many as there used to be."
Years ago, 40 applicants may be competing for five to six jobs. Today, IDL gets closer to ten applicants. They can't be as selective as they'd typically want to be, Harvey said.
The state legislature addressed this problem in House Bill 588. The bill seeks to pay state wildland firefighters an extra 25% percent on top of their hourly wage when assigned to an active fire. The bill calls this incentive "hazard pay."
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