Dude, I don't know where to start with this one, and I'm so tired, I probably cant make a cogent point.My hats off the the guys on the line.
I'm wondering what the front line guys think of this? I think the guys on the line's opinion will be MUCH more informed than my own. I tend to write my elected reps when something I care about comes up.
H.R. 5118—[Wildfire Response and Drought Resiliency Act]
COMMITTEE ACTION: REPORTED BY A RECORD VOTE of 9-4 on Friday, July 22, 2022. FLOOR ACTION ON H. RES. 1254: Agreed to by record vote of 218-201, after agreeing to the previous question by record vote of 217-193, on July 26, 2022 MANAGERS: Neguse/Burgess 1. Structured rule for H.R. 3771. 2...rules.house.gov
It's basically politics. Even though the Fed Firefighters are specialists, and fire is all they do, their official job title is Forestry Tech. So they can get away with paying them peanuts. But when there are fires, the Forest Service changes the definition of their job title (seems to be a theme lately) to Firefighter, so they get them coming and going.
The other issue with morale is that there doesn't appear to be a finish line or light at the end of the tunnel. Fires just keep getting worse and more numerous. When you sacrifice huge chunks of your life to try and make things better and then you realize things will continue to worsen despite everyone's best efforts, what's the point of your sacrifice? When I started in the fire service in the late 90s, fires like this were rare. Now they are expected.
Anyhow, it's still the best job in the world, even with it's short comings.
So, just came off the line this AM. Got to work up in some higher elevations in the sequoias yesterday and last night.
We are making progress. It was zero percent containment when we arrived. This AM it was at 46%.
Hopefully be home in time to get my oldest moved back up to Cal Poly in a week and a half.
Alright. I'm going to sleep.