Scorching temperatures. Drought across 90 percent of the West. To these dangerous conditions as the fire season is underway, add a looming crisis of burnout among wildland firefighters.

Increasingly intense fire seasons are taking a physical and mental toll. Last year was among the worst on record: Flames blackened an area larger than the entire state of Maryland in 2020. Fire seasons start earlier and last longer.

President Joe Biden recently said the federal government would give firefighters bonuses and retention incentives to make sure they earn at least $15 an hour. The U.S. Forest Service and Interior Department will also hire more temporary and full-time workers. These are important steps. But without more direct attention paid to their mental health, burnout could still decimate the ranks of firefighters who protect lives and property across the West.

Job burnout coincides with mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and PTSD, as well as higher rates of substance abuse and suicide. A 2018 study of wildland firefighters found that 55 percent of them reported clinically significant suicidal symptoms. The job also puts a strain on their home lives. As a group advocating for better working conditions put it: We “miss our kids birthdays, friends' barbecues, aren't around to help put the kids to bed or make dinner, and this takes a toll on us. This causes us to lose social connections and friendships, to feel distant from our loved ones, and increases our divorce rates because we aren't present to support our partners.”

Long hours are baked into the job. Wildland firefighters are expected to work 12, 16, even 24 hours on fires—and often take only two days off for every 14 days of straight work. And they do this for little very pay. Without the recently announced bonus pay, the starting salary for federal wildland firefighters is $26,150 annually, or $13.41 an hour (PDF) (less than California's minimum wage). One 14-year veteran firefighter summed his situation up this way: “When I go on an assignment, the babysitter makes more per hour than I do on a fire.”

Read the full article about burnout over fire season by  Grace Hindmarch, Aaron Clark-Ginsberg, Jay Balagna at RAND Corporation.