Anyone know what the long term plan for the CalFire fuels crews are? Region handed the program over to the units and they all seem to be understaffed. Now they they have FF1 hand crews on 24s to do project work with twice as many people…
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Ya, def see your POV. They seam like a expensive stepping stone to get hired as a FF1. I haven’t heard of any with long term employees. But the governors mission of pushing treated acres probably keeps the payroll coming.
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The fuels crews are fund by CAP & TRADE and not the general fund. (They aren’t going anywhere anytime soon) .
When the positions were originally created, the personal assigned were only LT till they attended the FFA. This is because every perm employee in suppression is required to attend FFA. That requirement was removed from the Position Description. Since then, the staffing challenges for the fuels crews has continued with not much difference than the rest of the fire service.
With the continued de-population of the overall CDCR system. The number of grade eligible inmates for the camp system continues to worsen.
The job (fuels, grade projects) still have to be done. Until the "great badge giveaway " ends, there is no end in sight to these staffing challenges.
Cheers (for you Woody)
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A lot of the perm forestry techs on the fuels crews work as FFI as well so they are gone more than they are there.
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Thanks, the funding explains a lot!
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Correct.
But it is 2 different funding sources and job classifications.
They are allowed to take a LOA from the fuels crews to become a FF1 and then return to their permanent position on the fuels crew.
They never have a break in service for the calculation of PERS and they continue to earn normal raises for each different classification.
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Thank you @Ehoss84 for educating all of us on the specifics of this program. Its super helpful! CAL FIRE is lucky to have you.
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