Just heard the BDF lost 43 folks to cal fire. Also on my district we lost 4 off one single engine. Now we have 2 unstaffed engines. I’m sure there’s more coming too. Guess the retention bonus isn’t retentioning.
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Over what period of time did they lose 43 employees?
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Since April. Calfire is expanding the paid FF program at Pilot Rock Fire Center, Rainbow Fire Center & Fox Fire Center. All 3 programs need an additional 40FF each.
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Since April? Insane. I wish them all well. They picked a good department.
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Statewide, Calfire needs 240 new FF positions just for paid handcrews. This does not include the contract counties of
Kern, Los Angeles? Marin, Orangen Santa Barbara , Ventura.
Each of those countries received funding to expand their paid FF program on behalf of the state for the Calfire mission. In total, the current budget had an expansion of 600 paid positions just for hand crews. Calfire has added over 3,000 positions in suppression in the last 3 budget cycles. You can imagine how many of those positions have come for the federal LMA’s.
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Cal fire is getting a great deal from the forest service, highly skilled firefighters they don’t have to pay to train. Hopefully the powers to be can pull their heads out of the sand and stop the bleeding before there is no more blood to give
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No movement on Biden’s budget proposals for WFFs, no movement on the recently rewritten Tim Hart Act and agencies are still saying BIL retention payments end Oct 1.
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To add even more intriguing information USDA is on record that they will not be signatory to CFMA when the current agreement expires. This will only compound the staffing challenges on Federal Lands by Federal FF. There are currently 10 out of region T3, 4, & 6 engines covering the BDF and CDD. The Texas Engine that has been staffing Mormon Rocks has already had a crew rotation.
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Nothing will change. Jump ship to cal fire while they are still hiring!
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Hold Fast….!!!
Stick to what you love doing, even through tough times it is well worth it……!
“I love my Captain” Phil Driscoll 
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Is that verified regarding CFMA? Cause….wow. If that’s the case they are gonna have a real hard time fighting fires or we are all gonna be doing a lot of work out of the goodness of our hearts…
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You likely have way better info on this than me, however I will be stunned if they don’t sign. Does the FS have a list of the changes it needs to sign?
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The feds have dedicated folks who want to work and work hard but not for free it’s time to trade this wreck in I’m afraid
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The last CFMA was delayed and only signed at the last minute. The DOD agencies (Camp Pendleton, Vandenberg, etc) were all excluded by the Feds. As such those LG type employees cannot goto a fed fire due to the reimbursement rates paid. I have seen personally where DOD employees from Pendleton went to the “Calfire” side of the Dixie. But when it came to them working on the federal side, they politely refused. Remember, the Federal LMA only have a CFMA type agreement in one state. In the other 49 states. The Feds make deals directly with an agency that abutts the affected forest.
Finally, why else do you think there are 10 out of state engines covering the BDF when you have hundreds of LG engines in California that could be doing the job.
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What are they covering behind, this time of year?
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They don’t have the staff to cover the engines.
See this
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What about CFAA?
CFAA wasn’t discussed in the conversation. However considering the reimbursement rates are identical, I could see similar problems. I know the State & LG agencies will continue to participate through Calfire & OES. I can also see scenarios where places like the CNF in the south attempt to make local agreements with the larger LG agencies. But I don’t think the LG agencies would make the deal with the CNF. Sadly, this boils down to dollars and cents. Federal minimum wage being $7.25/hr and California minimum wage currently DOUBLE THAT and will continue to increase every January due to state law. This problem will continue to get worse and worse. With agencies such as OCFA increasing in size and getting 15% wage increases, and even Calfire getting approx 12% over 2 years. Then the local AFL-CIO trades of Labors, Teamsters, and Operating Engineers all getting $3-5/hr raise over 2yr. The federal LMA are in a gun fight using a plastic sport from an MRE.
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CFMA, an agreement between calfire and federal agencies, has been extended until 2024. I believe it’s March or April 2024.
Last I heard negotiations are moving forward.
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So sad to see the wildland firefighters with the U.S.Forest Service disappear before our eyes. But I guess this has been slowly happening for the past 20+ years. I have to stay I don’t blame them! When you don’t take care of your troops they will go elsewhere.The firefighters on the green team will never be paid or treated properly until they work for CalFire or a municipal agency.
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