Firefighter shortage the focus of forum

SACRAMENTO >> California has been facing unprecedented, devastating wildfires for years now and at the same time dealing with a major shortage of firefighters. While the state has made some gains in staffing, massive progress is needed, so it took North Coast Senator Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, introducing critical legislation on Friday to support the health and safety of those professionals to help make communities more fire-safe through a simple solution: fixing the firefighter scarcity.

“We can’t wait another year to fix it. We’re proposing the hiring of 356 new full-time firefighters to get the full staffing on fire engines. We’re also advancing a mandated minimum for firefighting hand crews,” said McGuire who added the legislation would mandate 16 additional hand crews of 48 firefighters, each to provide on the ground support during fire season to proactively move on defensible space in fire prevention projects and to protect vulnerable communities.

In total, up to 1,124 firefighters would be added to the ranks of CalFire, said McGuire, who is also going to propose a modern day staffing plan for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “The legislation would mandate a staffing study that will ensure the agency and staffing infrastructure needs in this new reality we live. The completion of this study would be delivered to the legislature into the Governor no later than 12 months after the bill is signed.”

The “Fight for Firefighters” conference united firefighters and members of the legislature on the North Steps of the State Capitol. McGuire explained during his speech that the deficit in question is putting current staff at risk. In many cases, Cal Fire firefighters are expected to work up to 40 days in a row in incredibly dangerous and traumatic environments. “Working long overtime hours, away from their families, is leading to significant stress and mental

health challenges among Cal Fire firefighters. Over the last four years, more than 54,000 calls have been made by firefighters to state mental health hotlines,” he added.

“Fire knows no political lines. It destroys homes of Republicans and Democrats. It puts millions of toxic fumes into our airs. It affects everybody, but most importantly, it affects the men and women of Cal Fire, who are spending

40 to 50 days in that smoke, away from home, trying to protect the residents of California. We are appreciative of the Governor, of what he’s done so far. We know he wants to do more. We are trying to empower him to step up and do more,” said Tim Edwards, president of Local 2881, which represents all Cal Fire firefighters, over 7,200 uniformed personnel. “That may sound like a big number, but we protect anywhere from Oregon to Mexico, from the Pacific to Nevada borders. We control over 30 County fire departments, over 120 city fire departments

and we protect over 33 million acres. We do that with 7,200 people. That’s not enough,” he said.

“This job is twice as busy and twice as violent as it was 10 years ago, and obviously the fire season has proven to be several times more powerful than we’ve ever seen in the past. We need help — and that help is staffing CAL Fire to an appropriate professional level,” said Brian Rice, president of the California professional firefighters, the largest statewide organization representing over 32,000 firefighters in California.