As wildfires burn in Canada and Mexico, U.S. fire officials are concerned about the upcoming wildfire season.
Upwards of a quarter of the government’s wildland firefighting jobs are vacant. Pay is low — especially for rookies — and the risks are high.
Forests are overgrown, and rising heat and drought add to the dangers. Many who take the firefighting jobs can’t afford to live in the places they’re working.
The labor shortage isn’t new, especially since the pandemic, NPR’s Kirk Siegler says. The federal government will likely continue using private contractors or borrowing crews from Mexico and Canada — strategies Siegler says are “not ideal.”
**https://view.nl.npr.org/
The Bag Lady 
These are people who should not be underpaid.
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Agreed. My oldest son is a fire fighter and my next oldest son is a volunteer for the fire department. The oldest did wild land fighting a couple of years ago. It’s very dangerous.
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