April 3, 2026 - WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Thursday, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate Wildfire Caucus, announced the Support Our Firefighters Act to provide federal wildland firefighters with mandatory rest and recuperation time and ensure they are paid for their work.
The Support Our Firefighters Act would ensure federal wildland firefighters receive three days of paid rest and recuperation leave after a 14-day period and four days of rest and recuperation following a 21-day period.
Federal wildland firefighters are subject to an annual compensation cap, which includes base pay, overtime, and premium pay. During peak fire season, many federal wildland firefighters work extensive hours while assigned to an incident. This often leaves our firefighters with an impossible choice: continue working to fight fires and protect communities or get paid. This cap is completely arbitrary and is blatantly unfair. To help address this issue, the bill would permanently waive the pay cap for federal wildland firefighters so that they are fairly compensated for their lifesaving work.
“As increasingly frequent and intense wildfires threaten our communities, recruiting and retaining a fully supported federal wildland firefighter workforce is essential. We owe it to these heroes to ensure they have adequate conditions to do their jobs safely and effectively as they conduct lifesaving work under high mental and physical strain,” said Senator Padilla. “Arbitrary pay caps force our firefighters to make an impossible choice: walk off the line or work for free. Our bipartisan bill would ensure that our federal wildland firefighters, who work around the clock when disaster strikes, are given the rest, recuperation, and compensation they deserve.”
“Our wildland firefighters work around the clock, 365 days a year to protect our communities from the threat of catastrophic wildfire. It’s well past time the federal government gives these heroic first responders the support and pay they deserve, and I’m proud to lead this bipartisan bill to accomplish exactly that,” said Senator Sheehy.
“It is critical that our federal wildland firefighters have time to recover and are fairly compensated for the grueling work they do to protect American communities,” said NFFE National President Randy Erwin. “We are proud to support this legislation that would guarantee rest periods for the dedicated public servants on the front lines of the wildfire crisis, along with lifting overtime pay limitations for hours worked during deployments. Addressing both of these issues will help ensure the workforce is adequately equipped to carry out its mission. Thank you to Senators Padilla and Sheehy for their leadership in supporting federal wildland firefighters.”
Despite risking their lives and traveling cross-country for months at a time to protect American communities and forests from wildfires, many of the more than 18,000 federal wildland firefighters live paycheck to paycheck, sometimes working overtime without fair pay. Wildland firefighters are required to work long hours in challenging and changing conditions, such as high temperatures and steep terrain. Federal agencies have continuously experienced difficulty with retention due to the nature of their work and compensation.
Padilla and Sheehy previously secured a permanent base pay increase for federal wildland firefighters in the FY 2025 Continuing Resolution. In the immediate aftermath of the devastating Southern California fires last year, Padilla and Senator Steve Daines (R-Mont.) introduced the Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act of 2025 to prevent the worst-case scenario for federal wildland firefighters and avert an automatic pay cut, protecting the pay raise secured for these firefighters in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
In 2023, Padilla introduced the Wildland Firefighter Fair Pay Act to permanently raise the caps on overtime premium pay for federal wildland firefighters. He and a bipartisan group of Senators urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-K.Y.) to avoid mass resignations within the federal wildland firefighter ranks by ensuring the prompt passage of their bipartisan legislation. Padilla and a bipartisan group of Senators also urged the Biden Administration to establish a special pay rate for federal wildland firefighters to prevent staffing shortages and strengthen wildfire response efforts in 2022. Following that request, the Administration announced a temporary pay raise.
A one-pager on the Support Our Firefighters Act is available here.
Full text of the bill is available here.
Source: Senator Alex Padilla
