Legislators ask for year-round staffing for Cal Fire firefighters
After a month of devastating wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes and ripped through countless acres of brush in California, state lawmakers on Tuesday unveiled a proposal to keep Cal Fire crews on year-round.
"With the unprecedented devastation in Los Angeles this month and eight out of ten of the most destructive wildfires in California history hitting the state over the past five years, this legislation will ensure that Cal Fire maintains a year-round, permanent firefighting force dedicated to protecting communities across the Golden State," said the group of California legislators requesting the changes on Tuesday.
The decision comes a horrific month in Los Angeles County, when several notable wildfires erupted — most notably the Palisades and Eaton fires. A month before that the Franklin Fire broke out in Malibu, and the month prior the Mountain Fire in Ventura County.
Though California is no stranger to wildfires, it's this recent trend that has many under the impression that "fire season" is no longer a thing.
"There's no more of that used to be called a fire season," said Gina Kaufman, a LA County resident who has watched the damage that fires can cause for years, like in 2018 when the Woolsey Fire torched nearly 100,000 acres. "It's all year round now."
As of now, Cal Fire firefighters are on seasonal employment, working for nine months out of the year before getting laid off in the winter months, including January.
The proposal aims to make 3,000 seasonal firefighters year-round employees.
"Work to create more fire breaks around neighborhoods, clear brush, remove dead and dying trees and create additional defensible space," said Senator Sasha Renee (D-Pasadena/Altadena), during a press conference on Tuesday.
She was one of many state legislators that were joined by a group of Cal Fire members.
"The old practice of hiring seasonal firefighters for nine months, then release them to save three months of wages, no longer makes sense," said Cal Fire San Bernardino Battalion Chief Liz Brown.
As the Golden State's primary firefighting agency, covering more than 100 communities spreading the span of the state, they typically respond to mutual aid requests in every city.
"We cannot nickel and dime public safety and expect anything other but catastrophic consequences," Brown said.
In 2024, a similar measure was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who warned lawmakers that they were trying to reclassify in a way that was unconstitutional. Their new proposal would provide almost $180 million annually for increased staffing.
That large lump sum is why some people have concerns with the measure, including Adam Hernandez, who fled his pizza shop in late-January when the Hughes Fire broke out in Castaic.
"Where is that money going to come from? If it's existing funds that'd be great, but I don't want to pay for it," Hernandez said. "I don't want a gas tax or another tax on residents of California to cover this."
Kaufman believes it's a perfectly fine use of tax dollars.
"I'd rather have it go there than someplace else," she said.
As the "Fight For Firefighters Act" makes its way through California Senate, a similar proposal has already been filed in the Assembly.