Wildland firefighter numbers plummet because of cell phones
As has been reported in the news, there's been a steep decline in the wildland firefighting workforce [1] [2] [3]. These articles cover the obvious causes: low pay and long hours. But a talk I attended recently pointed out a factor that the major news outlets failed to mention: cell phones.
Robert Benik is a district fire management officer with the Sequoia National Forest. In a presentation in April of this year he said they have enough money to hire people, but they can't hire enough fire crews. It's a staffing shortage, simply not able to recruit enough people. It's not a budget issue. He says that they can't hire people because partly the wages don't compensate people enough for commuting. Firefighters are often stationed at outposts in rural areas some distance from population centers and the commute time can be significant.
But Benik also claims that another obstacle in recruitment is that the rural locations of many fire stations often don't have cell phone service. Young people are so hooked on their cell phones the thought of being disconnected from the internet is such an unfathomable hurdle that people won't consider that kind of job.
Firefighting can be very rewarding and performs a valuable public service. It's true the base wages are poor but with overtime and hazard pay it adds up to a decent summer salary. You'd think that college students who need a good summer job in the outdoors would jump on those. It's a discouraging sign when people are so hooked on their phones that they refuse a job where phone service isn't available.