Firefighters know the importance of working together and protecting each other. That's part of why South Dakota firefighter John Lauer of the Tatanka Hotshots, based in Custer, started a petition to get Uncle Sam to offer federal health insurance to around 8,000 seasonal wildland firefighters. Last week, President Obama announced he'd do that. Good work, John!
Unfortunately, the Obama Administration's action only applies to federal firefighters. South Dakota may find it harder to recruit flame-jumpers, because federal health insurance is just so darn good:
Jay Esperance, the head of the wildland firefighting agency in South Dakota says this makes recruiting and retaining state firefighters more difficult.
He says each year the state hires about 80 seasonal firefighters. Esperance stresses that seasonal state firefighters maintain a high level of professionalism and are very skilled and dedicated to their dangerous work.
At the same time he says the state can't compete with the federal government when it comes to pay and health benefits, so Esperance says the state often loses firefighters to other organizations [Charles Michael Ray, "Federal Seasonal Firefighters Get Healthcare, State Seasonal Firefighters Don't," SDPB, 2012.07.17].
Esperance keeps his sour grapes on low, saying that overall, extending healthcare benefits to federal firefighters is good news for the national wildfire-fighting force.
Get with the program, South Dakota: government health insurance doesn't just protect people from medical bankruptcy; it helps us fight wildfires!
International Association of Fire Fighters, AFL-CIO:
http://www.iaff.org/
Bill McKibben sez global warming, drought and mega-fires the new normal: Rolling Stone.
House Subcommittee holds testimony on the end of the world tomorrow:
http://naturalresources.house.gov/Calendar/EventSingle.aspx?EventID=302930