In the firefighter world a “good’ season is a season with a lot of fires and overtime…not that any honest firefighter wants to see a healthy forest burn. An unhealthy forest is another matter. But just to keep things real, teams go out on two week assignments and if the fire continues on beyond two weeks – and these days they usually do – the team can stay for 21 days before a required 2-day break, after which they can go out again. $15.00 an hour on a 21 day assignment with over-time factored in translates to a $6,600 paycheck. And if the firefighter was on the front lines, which they typically are, hazard pay equals an additional 25%, bringing that three week check up to $8,325 for the lowest paid firefighter. Is even that enough? Probably not, but it’s more than the $15.00 an hour number implies.

Sinema’s bill doesn’t raise wildland firefighter pay nearly enough. It’s a slight decrease from what they’ve been earning the past few years. And what they’re earning now isn’t enough. About half of the seasonals on my last crew lived in their cars.

Call your senators and representative about Tim’s Act. The status quo isn’t good enough.