Federal Firefighters Pay Scale

Firefighting is one of those occupations that is difficult, underpaid, and comes with all types of risks. It does have some benefits for the people who engage in such occupations and of course it does have benefits for the communities that they serve. Pay and compensation generally has not kept up with inflation or the market value such services would cost.

Part of the reason for the problem is that budgets are not balanced in other arenas and places. Leaders often struggle with budgeting because there are lots of demands but not enough resources and that is having an impact on occupations like firefighting where something like one quarter of jobs are vacant. We could go down a rabbit hole in discussion on the importance of fiscal responsibility but that isn't the purpose of this blog article.

Below you will find some resources on pay increases for firefighters at the federal level. These men and women put themselves at risk because as global warming rises we find increasing frequency and intensity of forest fires.

Somewhere along the line we will need to attract new firefighters as well as put to work new immigrants thereby creating some new opportunities. One possible avenue is to exchange residence for a certain amount of service in occupations such as firefighting. One idea out of many....

I engage in some firefighting and understand some of the concerns.

Federal Firefighter Equity Pay Act HR1235 "Specifically, the bill adjusts the method of determining the average pay of a federal firefighter by adding one-half of a firefighter's basic hourly rate multiplied by the number of overtime hours included as part of such firefighter's regular tour of duty. It also requires the Office of Personnel Management to issue regulations that cap the number of hours in a regular workweek, which may not exceed 60 hours per week."

U.S. Department of Interior Pay Increase: $75 million being allocated to increase wildlife fire pay. 

US Forest Service Pay Rate 2024: 5.2% pay increase across the board for government employees.