Will Full-Time Firefighters Solve California's Wildfire Crisis?
2/20/2025 | 2mVideo has Closed Captions
California lawmakers propose full-time firefighters to improve year-round wildfire readiness.
California lawmakers are considering making seasonal firefighters full-time to ensure year-round readiness as wildfires become a year-round threat. The plan would keep all 356 Cal Fire engines operational, closing the staffing gap when 3,000 seasonal firefighters are laid off for three months. Estimated to cost $175 million annually, the plan could improve wildfire readiness.
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SoCal Matters is a local public television program presented by PBS SoCal
Will Full-Time Firefighters Solve California's Wildfire Crisis?
2/20/2025 | 2mVideo has Closed Captions
California lawmakers are considering making seasonal firefighters full-time to ensure year-round readiness as wildfires become a year-round threat. The plan would keep all 356 Cal Fire engines operational, closing the staffing gap when 3,000 seasonal firefighters are laid off for three months. Estimated to cost $175 million annually, the plan could improve wildfire readiness.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipSenate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire proposed that state firefighters work full-time in place of the seasonal workforce the agency currently staffs for nine months each year.
McGuire's proposal is aimed at addressing California's growing fire season, but is now considered to be from May through December, according to Cal Fire.
According to research from the University of California, Irvine, the extended season is driven in part by a hotter and drier climate.
Cal Fire has about 6,100 permanent employees in addition to the 3,000 seasonal firefighters who are typically laid off between January and March.
Tim Edwards, president of the union representing Cal Fire firefighters, said For three months out of the year, we downstaffed one-third of our engines because of an inadequate way of staffing Cal Fire in today's world.
There is no fire season in California.
Fires year-round.
As we just witnessed, it can happen at any given time of the year Under McGuire's proposal, the seasonal firefighters would be transitioned to year-round employees, and the agency's 356 fire engines would be operational all year.
While the governor vetoed a prior version of the proposal, McGuire said at a press conference that his new plan addresses the governor's concerns around the legality of transitioning from seasonal to full-time by creating a new employee classification.
There is also the cost question.
McGuire said the effort would be funded by the state's general fund and would require negotiations through the budget process.
The increased duty for about 3,000 seasonal firefighters is estimated to cost at least $175 million each year.
McGuire's proposal is the latest in the legislature's effort to help those impacted by the wildfires in Southern California.
Cal Fire did not have a comment on McGuire's proposal, but Jesse Torres, a battalion chief and spokesperson for the agency, said while more staffing wouldn't necessarily have helped the Southern California fires due to the high winds that caused flames to spread quickly, the agency supported the idea of having more full-time staff.
For CalMatters, I'm Sameea Kamal.
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SoCal Matters is a local public television program presented by PBS SoCal