U.S. Senator John Curtis (R-UT) cosponsored the Support Our Firefighters Act, bipartisan legislation to provide federal wildland firefighters dedicated rest and recuperation leave following extended deployments to major wildfire incidents. The bill aims to improve workforce well-being, reduce burnout, and help agencies retain the experienced personnel required to respond to increasingly complex wildfire threats.
“As Utah and other Western states face increasingly challenging fire seasons, we need to ensure our dedicated firefighters have the support they deserve,” said Senator Curtis. “Providing time to rest and recover after extended deployments is a commonsense step that will help strengthen recruitment, retention, and readiness across the federal firefighting workforce.”
Background:
As wildfire seasons grow longer and more severe across the West, federal firefighters are increasingly spending weeks away from their families and communities while protecting lives, property, and public lands. The Support Our Firefighters Act would establish a formal rest and recuperation leave program for eligible wildland firefighters employed by the U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior after lengthy assignments on qualifying wildfire incidents.
The legislation would:
- Establish paid rest and recuperation leave for eligible federal wildland firefighters following deployments to qualifying wildfire incidents.
- Direct the Departments of Agriculture and Interior to develop uniform policies governing the leave program.
- Help address workforce retention challenges by recognizing the physical and mental demands placed on firefighters during extended fire assignments.
- Preserve continuity in federal wildland firefighter compensation by providing additional transfer authority related to firefighter pay.
- Permanently extend existing waivers of overtime pay caps for federal wildland firefighters.
The Support Our Firefighters Act was introduced by Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Tim Sheehy (R-MT).
The full text of the bill can be found here.
