How much do firefighters get for fighting fire in California

The Mendocino Complex Fire, the largest recorded fire in California history, began in late July and grew out of two fires, the River Fire and the Ranch Fire. According to forecasts, it is unlikely to end before September. The fire has covered 1214 square kilometers just now, and the end is not yet in sight. By comparison, the previous largest fire, the 2017 Thomas Fire, had destroyed 1133 square kilometers by the time the fire was contained.

Фото: Depositphotos

California firefighters are fighting several forest fires across the state, and officials fear that 2018 may be the most devastating year for the region. The fight against fire in the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho also does not subside, writes Go Banking Rates. How much do firefighters get for their exploits in the battle with fires destroying land and property worth billions of dollars?

Firefighters Salaries

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2017, the average salary of a fireman in the United States was 49 080 dollars at an hourly rate of less than 30 dollars. This figure varies depending on the place of work of the fireman and the institution where he works. For example, the average fireman in California earns about 49 thousand dollars a year. The Los Angeles fireman earns 75 thousands of dollars a year, by comparison, firemen fighting Cal Fire bring home all 37 000 dollars a year. The annual salary of an Oregon fire brigade employee is about 62 thousand dollars, with a starting amount of 32 thousand.

Firefighters face grueling long hours, dangerous conditions, and physical training schedules. And it's not just career-related concerns that they should pay attention to. In addition to overall low pay, they have to deal with an alarming rate of suicide—in 2017, more firefighters died by suicide than from on-duty accidents, and the profession has a 6% divorce rate.

Approximately 14 thousands of firefighters are now battling California's blazing forests, not to mention the total number of professionals fighting forest fires across the country.

Фото: Depositphotos

The current main fires according to data on Friday 8 August and the degree of their localization (percentage of the area on which the spread of fire stopped):

• Mendocino Complex Fire (Ranch Fire and River Fire)

Location: Mendocino and Lake District
Acres: roughly 300,000 (1214 sq. Km.)
Localization: 46% for Ranch Fire, 81% for River Fire
Destruction: at least 221 design

• Carr fire

Location: Shasta District
Acres: 173,522 (702 sq.km.)
Localization: 47%
Destruction: 7 deaths by 5 August, around 1600 houses destroyed

• Ferguson fire

Location: along the Merced River, west of Yosemite National Park
Acres: 94,992 (384 sq.km.)
Localization: 43%
Destruction: 2 death to 29 July, 10 designs destroyed

• Donnell fire

Location: Stanislaus National Forest
Acres: 13,814 (55 sq.km.)
Localization: 5%
Destruction: 26 designs destroyed

• Holy fire

Place: Cleveland National Forest
Acres: 4,129 (16,7 sq.km.)
Localization: 5%
Destruction: 12 designs destroyed

The most expensive fires in US history

The costliest fires in United States history were the 2017 wildfires, which resulted in approximately 9 billion insurance claims. Fires in 2018 are expected to cost billions of dollars. California isn't the only one burning: Oregon, another forest state, has already identified more than $180 million in firefighting costs, up $30 million from last year. In 2017, costs for the Oregon wildfires rose to $454 million.

Other costly fires in the history of the United States:

• Oakland Hills Fire, 1991, $ 2.7 billion
• Witch Fire, 2007, $ 1.5 billion
• Cedar Fire, 2003, $ 1.4 billion
• Old Fire, 2003, $ 1.3 billion
• Great Smoky Mountains Fire, 2016, $ 938 million

With the exception of the fire in the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, all of these fires occurred in California.

Read also on ForumDaily:

It became known how long the forests of California will burn

California's largest fire area is ten San Francisco

In California, there is nothing to breathe: the smoke from forest fires became dangerous to health

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