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Underpaid Firefighters, Overstretched Budgets: The US Isn't Prepared for Fires Fueled by Climate Change
Written by Sarah Kaplan, The Washington Post
Saturday, 24 July 2021 12:25
Kaplan writes: "On the heels of one of the worst wildfire years on record, the federal government is struggling to recruit and retain staff as firefighters grapple with low wages, trauma and burnout from increasingly long and intense fire seasons."
Firefighters from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's Placerville station battle the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, in Doyle, California, on July 9. (photo: Noah Berger/AP)
By Sarah Kaplan, The Washington Post
Biden announces more resources for tackling wildfires, but experts say a new approach is needed
n the heels of one of the worst wildfire years on record, the federal government is struggling to recruit and retain staff as firefighters grapple with low wages, trauma and burnout from increasingly long and intense fire seasons.
Heat waves have toppled temperature records across the nation, and firefighters are actively battling 48 large blazes that have consumed more than half a million acres in 12 states. But land management agencies are carrying out fire mitigation measures at a fraction of the pace required, and the funds needed to make communities more resilient are one-seventh of what the government has supplied.
"We're burning up, we're choking up, we aren't just heating up," California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) told President Biden at a meeting with Cabinet officials and Western governors Wednesday. "Across the board we have to disabuse ourselves of the old timelines and the old frames of engagement. … We can't just double down."
Yet fire experts say the escalation of wildfires, fueled by climate change, demands an equally dramatic transformation in the nation's response — from revamping the federal firefighting workforce to the management of public lands to the siting and construction of homes.
"As our seasons are getting worse and worse … it feels like we've reached a tipping point," said Kelly Martin, a wildfire veteran and president of the advocacy group Grassroots Wildland Firefighters. "We need a new approach."
The West's hot, dry start to summer has already been devastating, to people as well as trees.
On Thursday, authorities across the Pacific Northwest and western Canada said they were investigating at least 500 suspected deaths from heat illness that occurred amid the week's record-shattering temperatures.
Thousands of residents had to be rapidly evacuated from the sprawling Lava Fire, south of the Oregon-California border, when extreme heat and strong winds caused the blaze to explode.
Many people are still missing after a fast-moving wildfire overwhelmed the tiny mountain village of Lytton, British Columbia, on Wednesday — just a day after it notched Canada's highest-ever temperature of 121 degrees Fahrenheit.
"This is becoming a regular cycle, and we know it's getting worse," Biden said Wednesday. "In fact, the threat of Western wildfires this year is as severe as it's ever been."
'Always doing more with less'
When Martin started her career with the U.S. Forest Service more than three decades ago, the agency had a "warlike" approach to handling wildfires. Crews used bulldozers and other equipment to cut through vegetation and create barriers that could contain an approaching front. Helicopters and big air tankers dropped retardant from high above the flames. Although land managers knew fire was an important part of most Western ecosystems, they were also under pressure to stop blazes before they reached the area's growing population centers.
"And we were very successful at it," Martin said. To this day, more than 95 percent of fires are suppressed before they reach communities.
But by the time Martin retired as chief of fire and aviation at Yosemite National Park last year, climate change had fundamentally altered the nature of wildfire, making the blazes that did escape containment increasingly costly and dangerous to fight.
In most forest types, the proportion of fires that are "high severity" (killing the majority of vegetation) has at least doubled in recent decades. Firefighters are seeing more and more "extreme fire behavior" — whirling "fire tornadoes," crown fires that spew embers into the wind and blazes that move so fast and burn so hot they create their own weather.
In 2018, a veteran Redding, Calif., firefighter was killed when a vortex the size of several football fields swept down upon him as he evacuated residents ahead of the catastrophic Carr Fire.
"Watching what the current wildland firefighters are faced with, last year and this year, it is exponentially greater in terms of risk and trauma," Martin said.
The U.S. government is the nation's biggest employer of what are known as "wildland" firefighters. Most are temporary workers, their salaries as low as $13.45 per hour for a starting forestry technician. They spend summers traveling the country, working 16-hour days, 12 days at a time, often relying on overtime and hazard pay to make ends meet.
For decades, they've relied on a months-long offseason to rest and recover.
But now there is no offseason; one fire year simply bleeds into the next, as winter rain and snow is delayed and diminished by climate change. About 100 families had to be evacuated from the Santa Cruz mountains in January — usually California's wettest month — when winds re-ignited the embers of a fire that started last August.
The National Interagency Fire Center last week raised the nation's "preparedness level" to 4, indicating more than half of the country's firefighting resources are already committed.
"We're always doing more with less," said one smokejumper — a highly trained firefighter who parachutes into remote blazes. The 13-year veteran of the Forest Service spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear for his job.
During last summer's deadly blazes, he would request backup only to find that 10 other fire managers also needed help. Many firefighters worked more than 1,000 hours of overtime.
The strain is untenable.
"My body is just beat up," he said. "I feel probably 10 years older than I am. But the mental part is even crazier: Almost everyone I know on fire knows someone who has committed suicide, or has had to talk a friend off the ledge."
His federal colleagues are leaving the government to work for utilities or state agencies such as CalFire, which offers double the starting salary. Almost a third of California's 49 federal hotshot crews — elite groups that battle the hottest parts of forest fires — are so short-staffed that they will not be able to activate as a full unit, the smokejumper said.
Grassroots Wildland Firefighters estimates 20 percent of permanent firefighting positions at the Forest Service are unfilled.
Even if these open positions are backfilled by seasonal hires, Martin said, the temporary employees won't be as knowledgeable or experienced as the firefighters they replace.
Forest Service spokesman John Haynes said the agency does not track the number of unfilled positions and declined to comment on the specific shortages reported by the smokejumper and Martin. Haynes said the Forest Service has about 10,000 full-time and seasonal firefighters working across the country this year, similar to years past.
At his meeting Wednesday, Biden called wages for federal firefighters "unacceptable" and announced he would be issuing bonuses that effectively raise their minimum salary to $15 an hour. He also said the government would be training National Guard members to provide "surge capacity" this fire season and would offer retention incentives to convert seasonal firefighters into full-time employees.
In addition, the draft infrastructure bill proposed by a bipartisan group of senators last week would increase the base salary for most federal firefighters by $20,000 a year.
"It's a step in the right direction," Martin said, but improving pay is just the start. Grassroots Wildland Firefighters advocates the creation of a National Fire Service with an expanded workforce and full-time benefits, including mental health services.
In addition, the country has to shift away from the "war on fire" mentality, Martin said — taking fewer risks with firefighters and spending more time preparing the landscape to reduce the chance of catastrophe when fires inevitably occur.
When forests become fuel
The need for more fire in Western forests compared with those elsewhere isn't new. Since the 1970s, scientists have known that the West's "fire-adapted" ecosystems depend on periodic fire to clear out debris and remove ailing vegetation.
The increase in fire risk wrought by human-caused warming only underscores that need. A recent study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found human-caused climate change was drying out fuels and increasing the number of days in which forests were at high risk of fire. As a result, the scientists concluded, twice as much forest burned between 1984 and 2015 as would have under normal conditions.
The shortsighted practice of stopping all fire, experts say, is no longer an option.
In a Zoom meeting with federal wildland firefighters last month, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the only way to reduce catastrophic wildfire was to "significantly increase the level of management on our forests" — including thinning out vegetation and intentionally setting fires that mimic the effects of natural burns.
Federal budgets haven't always reflected that priority. Last year, the federal government allocated $3.6 billion to fighting fires and $590 million for vegetation management.
Biden's latest budget request seeks to close that gap, dedicating $2.5 billion to fighting fire and $1.7 billion for hazardous fuels management and forest resilience projects.
Yet improved forest management is not a cure-all, scientists caution. For one thing, some ecosystems, such as the cool, rainy forests of the Pacific Northwest, are naturally dense and full of debris. These landscapes were so wet they only burned every few centuries, when a rare sequence of events — extreme heat and prolonged drought combined with high winds and an unlucky lightning strike — came together to set the forest ablaze.
The problem now, said Sheehan, the environmental scientist, is that climate change is making those once-rare events far more likely.
"The potential for fire goes from almost never to, you know, every several years," he said.
Even in systems where fire suppression is responsible for fuel buildup, such as mixed conifer stands in the Rockies and Sierra Nevada, fuel treatments can't always affect the course of a fire. This is especially true during the most severe fires, which have become even more intense as the West warms and are the cause of most deaths and destroyed homes.
Beginning in 2001, Paradise, Calif. surrounded itself with dozens of miles of fuel breaks. But when the wind-driven Camp Fire came roaring down a nearby canyon in November 2018, it burned straight through those protective barriers, killing 86 people and destroying the town.
"We as society and our political institutions have this very ingrained assumption that we can be saved from wildfires through proper treatment of the forest," said Kimiko Barrett, who studies wildfire and community resilience at Headwaters Economics, a Montana-based environmental think tank.
"But given the severity of climate change and the scale at which fires are occurring," she added, "how long are we going to continue to try that, without bringing in the role of human decisions?"
'Why are these houses here?'
A growing body of research suggests the best strategy to minimize wildfires' harmful effects is to focus on the things that people are most able to control: the location of homes, the materials used to build them and the preparedness level of the people inside.
For example, an analysis of 5,500 California structures that had been damaged or destroyed by wildfire since 2001 found the position of homes — far from roads on steep slopes or in wind-funneling canyons — was the strongest predictor of whether they would burn down, no matter the state of the forest around them.
National Institutes of Science and Technology research has found houses themselves provide some of the most significant fuel for wildfires once they move into a community. In one of Colorado's most destructive blazes, the fire spread from structure to structure in a "cascade" of ignitions that destroyed almost 300 houses. Construction with flameproof materials, the agency said, could slow fires when they reach communities and make buildings less likely to burn.
Even small improvements to existing structures can make them safer: clearing debris from roofs, rain gutters and yards. Installing mesh screens over vents to stop embers from getting inside. Creating a perimeter of "defensible space" between the house and thick vegetation. Replacing roofs and wooden fences with materials that don't burn.
Last year's wildfires destroyed more than 17,000 buildings and cost the nation $16.6 billion, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.
Yet there is little regulation of where and how people build in what's known as the "wildland urban interface." Just four states have specific building codes for new construction in these areas, even though an estimated 40 million U.S. homes are located there. Only California and Oregon require wildfire risk to be disclosed to new home buyers, and no state has laws mandating fire-safe upgrades to existing structures.
Federal spending on community protection is even less than the budget for forest management — and far less than the demand. In 2020, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program was allocated $500 million to fund local efforts to avert all manner of disaster: fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes. The agency wound up receiving requests for $3.6 billion in applications from cities, states and tribes.
"It's very hard to find the resources," said Megan Fitzgerald McGowan, program manager for Firewise USA. The voluntary program, run by the National Fire Protection Association, provides guidance to communities looking to protect themselves from worsening blazes. But McGowan said the grants needed to fund this work are scarce, and often the communities most in need don't have the wherewithal to apply.
Improvements wouldn't just save homes — they could also save lives, said McGowan, a former wildland firefighter.
"You'd get into communities, going up a narrow dirt road, and think, 'Why are these houses here?' " she said. "Like, this is not safe for me or my crew to be here."
That's what inspired McGowan to switch from firefighting to advocacy.
"Wildfires are happening, they're getting worse, and there's things we can do to make the whole thing safer," she said. "It just takes people seeing themselves as part of the bigger community and owning their part of the wildfire solution."


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Tag Archives: Herself
Lisa Marie's Possibly Pointless Oscar Predictions For March
Posted on March 31, 2020 by Lisa Marie Bowman
I've been going back and forth on whether or not I should even bother to continue my monthly Oscar predictions. With the current Coronavirus pandemic, it's not unreasonable to wonder if there will even be an Oscar ceremony next year. Many completed films have been taken off the schedule so that they can be released at a time when people aren't scared to leave their house. Meanwhile, production on several other films — some of them expected to be Oscar contenders — has been suspended. New films are continuing to premiere on the streaming services but the Academy has always insisted that films also play in a theater if they want to contend for an Oscar. That's going to be difficult with the majority of the country's theaters currently being closed.
Unlike a lot of people, I'm not necessarily apocalyptic or even that pessimistic in my outlook. I think that, one way or another, we will eventually be able to leave our homes again and that at least some of the movie theaters will reopen. So, I think that we will be able to have some sort of Oscar ceremony. For that reason, I'm going to make my predictions for March but, needless to say, take all of these with an even bigger grain of salt than usual.
If you're curious to see what my Oscar thinking was in the months before the world went crazy, check out my predictions for January and February!
(I've tried to take the fact that the Coronavirus led to the suspension of many ongoing productions while making out my list below. As far as I know, filming wrapped on all of the films listed below before the outbreak.)
Hillbilly Elegy
Isaac Lee Chung for Minari
Paul Greengrass for News of the World
Christopher Nolan for Tenet
Steven Spielberg for West Side Story
Florian Zeller for The Father
Tom Hanks in News of the World
Anthony Hopkins in The Father
Bill Murray in On the Rocks
Gary Oldman in Mank
Will Smith in King Richard
Amy Adams in Hillbilly Elegy
Clare Dunne in Herself
Jennifer Hudson in Respect
Frances McDormand in Nomadland
Kate Winslet in Ammonite
Tom Burke in Mank
Richard E. Grant in Everybody's Talking About Jamie
Mark Rylance in The Trial of the Chicago 7
Forest Whitaker in Respect
Steve Yeun in Minari
Abigail Breslin in Stillwater
Glenn Close in Hillybilly Elegy
Vera Farmiga in The Many Saints of Newark
Saoirse Ronan in Ammonite
Helena Zengel in News of the World
Posted in Film | Tagged Abigail Breslin, Academy Award, Academy Awards, Ammonite, Amy Adams, Annette, Anthony Hopkins, award, awards, Bill Murray, Christopher Nolan, Clare Dunne, Dominic Cooke, Everybody's Talking About Jamie, Film, Films, Florian Zeller, Forest Whitaker, Frances McDormand, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close, Helena Zengel, Herself, Hillbilly Elegy, Ironbark, Isaac Lee Chung, Jennifer Hudson, Kate Winslet, King Richard, Lee Isaac Chung, Lisa Marie Bowman, Mank, Mark Rylance, Minari, movie, Movies, News of the World, Nomadland, On the Rocks, Oscar, Oscars, Paul Greengrass, Respect, Richard E. Grant, Saoirse Ronan, Steve Yeun, Steven Spielberg, Stillwater, Tenet, The Father, The Many Saints of Newark, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Tom Burke, Tom Hanks, Vera Farmiga, West Side Story, Will Smith | 12 Comments
Lisa's Way, Way, Way, Way, Way, Way, Way Too Early Oscar Predictions For February
Posted on February 5, 2020 by Lisa Marie Bowman
It's a fool's errand to try to predict next year's Oscars nominees this early but we're all about taking risks here at the Shattered Lens. So, with that in mind, here is my latest set of monthly predictions.
If you look over these names, you'll see a lot of familiar ones. That's because it's early in the year and familiarity is really the only thing that a lot of these unreleased films have going for them. Some of the films mentioned below were hits at Sundance. From what I've read, I really do think Minari could be a contender because, along with being loved by critics, it sounds like it's very much of the current cultural moment.
But the important thing to remember is that, last year at this time, no one expected Joker to become the film of the year. No one had even heard of Parasite. Most people were still predicting the Oscars would be dominated by Harriet. So, my point is — take this stuff with several grains of salt.
To be honest, I think a lot depends on how the presidential election goes. If Trump is reelected, I think you'll see the Academy voting for angry, political films, if just as a way to get back at Trump and the people who voted for him. (Think about the otherwise baffling love that was previously shown to a movie like Vice.) The Trial of the Chicago 7 sounds incredibly tedious to me but I could imagine people voting for it and thinking to themselves, "This is so going to piss off the Republicans." If Trump is defeated, I imagine the Academy will be a bit more upbeat in their selections.
If you want to see how my thinking has evolved, check out my predictions for January here! (It's only been a month so my thinking hasn't really evolved at all. Still, we could always use the clicks.)
Happiest Season
Hillybilly Elegy
Ironbark
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Ron Howard for Hillybilly Elegy
Denis Villeneuve for Dune
Benedict Cumberbatch in Ironbark
Matt Damon in Stillwater
Olivia Colman in The Father
Angelina Jolie in Those Who Wish Me Dead
Bo Hopkins in Hillbilly Elegy
Merab Ninidze in Ironbark
Steven Yeun in Minari
Mary Steenburgen in Happiest Season
Posted in Film | Tagged Abigail Breslin, Academy Award, Academy Awards, Amy Adams, Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins, award, awards, Benedict Cumberbatch, Bo Hopkins, Clare Dunne, Denis Villeneuve, Dune, Film, Films, Forest Whitaker, Glenn Close, Happiest Season, Helena Zengel, Herself, Hillbilly Elegy, Ironbark, Isaac Lee Chung, Jennifer Hudson, King Richard, Lisa Marie Bowman, Mark Rylance, Mary Steenburgen, Matt Damon, Merab Ninidze, Minari, movie, Movies, News of the World, Olivia Colman, Oscar, Oscars, Paul Greengrass, Respect, Ron Howard, Steven Spielberg, Steven Yeun, Stillwater, The Father, The Many Saints of Newark, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Those Who Wish Me Dead, Tom Hanks, Vera Farmiga, West Side Story, Will Smith | 13 Comments

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Production duo Levi & Suiss are making noise in the Progressive House world. Keeping the momentum moving into 2015 they've just released their latest entitled, "London Bridge," with the help of Sabrina Terence and vocals done by Anne Marie Bush. An uplifting and emotional song, the melody is beautiful allowing the vocals to shine through. You can pick up your copy through Beatport now.