Support Wildland Firefighters
Donation protected
Hi, my name is Quadzilla. I am raising funds and awareness for two great wildland firefighting organizations during my Calendar Year Triple Crown hike. Grassroots Wildland Firefighters and Veterans in Fire.
The mission of Grassroots Wildland Firefighters: "The Grassroots Wildland Firefighter Committee is dedicated to promoting and advocating for Federal Wildland Fire personnel titled Forestry Technicians and Range Technicians. Our mission is to advocate for proper classification, pay, benefits and comprehensive well being. Our mission is to educate the public, generate support and provide solutions to our federal representatives through policy reform."
Veterans in Fire is helping veterans continue to serve and re-integrate into civilian life by placing military veterans into wildland fire jobs. To date they have placed over 300 veterans into wildland fire jobs.
I worked as a wildland firefighter on the Sawtooth Hotshots in 2020 and saw first hand how dangerous the job is and how little firefighters are compensated for the public service that they're asked to perform.
A few of the issues that need to be addressed for wildland firefighters:
- Federal wildland firefighters are classified as "forestry technicians" and because of this do not receive the benefits that designated "real" firefighters receive under the federal government. Benefits like healthcare and increased pay because of the hazards that those jobs classified as firefighters face even though wildland firefighters face just as much danger and hazards.
- Many federal wildland firefighters are hired as seasonal employees and thus do not qualify for benefits.
- Federal wildland firefighter pay lags massively behind other state and local wildland firefighting organizations. A Calfire firefighter can expect to earn 100% more then a federal wildland firefighter working in California. https://www.grassrootswildlandfirefighters.com/pay-disparity-cal-fire
- Wildland firefighters face extreme risk of bodily harm on the job. Smoke inhalation, falling dead trees, and being burnt over are just a few examples.
- Firefighters face high levels of mental illness, depression, and suicide due to the stressors of the job. The federal government provides zero support in this arena with seasonal firefighters having no option for healthcare coverage in the off-season and no resources for mental-health support.
- Firefighters are asked to leave their lives and families for the entire fire season in what amounts of state-side deployments. Firefighters will be on incident 14-21 days at a time and then only receive 2-3 days off before returning back for another 14-21 day assignment. This will last 4-6 months for most crews.
This is absolutely one of the most under-paid professions that exists today. I served for 6 years in the Army as an infantryman and I faced more risk to my health and life in one season of firefighting then I ever did in the Army. While the pay in the Army isn't great at least I received healthcare, education, and retirement. None of those are present for seasonal employees fighting wildfire doing an arguably more consistently dangerous job and certainly more physically demanding. I have never worked as hard as I have in wildland fire. It wasn't uncommon to spend 16+ hours doing non-stop manual labor. A hard day on the fire-line is equivalent to hiking 30+ miles in the mountains.
We need to do everything we can to help get firefighters the pay and benefits that they deserve.
Donations to this GoFundMe will be split 50% to Grassroots Wildland Firefighters and 50% to Veterans in Fire.
Organizer
Jack Jones
Organizer
Springfield, MO
