Extremely dangerous, physically taxing job, that’s viewed as critical to the safety of people and property. Paid minimum wage. Gee, wonder why no one wants to do that job?
Structural firefighting is hazardous, but if you can get out of the building the risk can be minimal. Wildland firefighting is orders of magnitude more hazardous. Wind-driven wildfires can travel at 60 mph (100 kph) or more, not only can’t you outrun them it’s unlikely you could escape in a vehicle (assuming you even had access to one) due to the terrain. Paying them minimum wage is an insult and should be illegal but that’s the American Way.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/thirty-mile-crew-boss-charged-in-4-fire-deaths/
July 10, 2001: Firefighters Tom Craven, 30; Devin Weaver, 21; Jessica Johnson, 19; and Karen FitzPatrick, 18, die while battling the 9,500-acre Thirty Mile wildfire in a rugged area of the North Cascades.
These people, 3 out of 4 barely just adults, died because of negligence by their supervisor. Died inside their fireproof tents.
It’s been a long time coming. A lot of firefighting in the US is also done by prison and jail labor, which is paid even less.
Endless greed will be the undoing of this nation.
The fireproof shelters can protect you from getting burned for a while but large fires consume oxygen at an incredible rate. You can survive the heat yet suffocate if the fire is large enough. It’s a horrible way to die.
Later article:
Ellreese Daniels, 47, faced a maximum of six months in prison after he reached a deal with prosecutors. That deal dropped the charges he faced from manslaughter to two counts of making false statements to investigators.
I mean getting 4 people killed isn’t that bad, right?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/29/canada-wildfires-us-crews-shift-strategy
Not only this, compared to Canada they work their firefighters harder and longer in the U.S.:
While the tool is considered an essential “last-resort” protection by American agencies, Canadian strategies focus on ensuring firefighters aren’t put in situations where they might have to rely on the devices. The shelters aren’t always reliable, especially in the types of terrain where Canadian crews often fight fire.
“The overall goal is to save human life – and that includes their own firefighters not just the public,” Mueller said.
That ethos is also applied to working conditions.
Even though the 4.30am sunrise and 11.30pm sunset allowed for more daylight hours on the fire line, the American firefighters found they had to cut their typical shifts short.
“We were used to operating in a 24-hour environment,” Mueller said, but he and his crew had to head out after a 12-hour mark, in order to abide by Alberta rules, which mandate periods of rest to protect against stress and fatigue.
Wildfire ecologist Robert Gray said that on-the-ground realities dictate the difference in strategies between the two countries and this has led to incorrect assumptions that Canadian crews take fewer risks.
