As of Friday, the Idaho Department of Lands and Timber Protective Association have sent 221 employees to other Western states to assist fighting fires in the field, according to a press release from IDL.
Firefighters have been deployed to New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Alaska, California, Washington, Arizona, Montana and Wyoming. They’re also assisting the U.S. Forest Service and the Nez Perce Tribe.
The slow start to Idaho’s fire season has made it possible to send firefighters away to gain experience and training while building relationships with the surrounding states, according to the release.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little said in the release that this was an opportunity for firefighters to gain experience on the dime of other states and the federal government, which gives Idaho taxpayers a bit of a break. The Department of Lands will be reimbursed by the other jurisdictions for the wages and expenses incurred by Idaho firefighters while they are on off-district assignments.
During the 2021 fire season, President Joe Biden increased the federal minimum wage for firefighters to $15 per hour. New firefighters in Idaho are paid $15 per hour to start.
The Idaho Legislature approved a budget that includes the Department of Lands spending over $1 million to make fire-billing, reporting, invoicing, accounting and cost-sharing more efficient by switching from a paper system to the electronic Gold’s Business System. This system is being universally adopted by the Western states, according to the release, and reimbursement from the federal government is typically seen in less than a year rather than up to five years it takes to see it with the current system.
