First I served in the Army in Afghanistan. Since then, I’ve fought 16 wildfires in eight states.
In the military, I felt that my country had my back, and I’ve felt that way as a firefighter — until now. During this pandemic, it seems that Congress has forgotten about those of us trying to protect our communities. Their refusal to provide necessary funding for state and local governments has threatened the livelihoods of tens of thousands of first responders and the safety of all Americans.
The time for action is now. With wildfire season in full swing, state and local governments are staring at massive budget holes and slashing services to make ends meet. Congress needs to provide at least $500 billion in funds for state and local governments to weather the pandemic and keep supporting first responders as they tackle this crisis.
Even before the coronavirus, firefighting was dangerous. In fact, it’s so dangerous that before the Affordable Care Act banned the practice, some private health insurers refused to cover anyone who served as a firefighter. I’m still struggling to find affordable health insurance after dealing with lung issues from fighting fires.
Now, firefighters are facing the usual dangers combined with a global pandemic. Since we travel to fight wildfires, we need to protect ourselves and the communities we work in, but there are already warnings that we won’t have enough COVID-19 tests and personal protective equipment to keep everyone safe.
State and local governments often bear the responsibility of fighting fires, but the coronavirus left many of them in a financial crisis that, without help from Congress, has already forced some, and will force many more, to cut first responder budgets. Nevada is facing a $1.2 billion budget shortfall, and most states are in a worse budget position than they were during the Great Recession.
County governments across the nation will face — at the very least — a $144 billion hit to their budgets, and more than 2,100 cities are preparing for budget shortfalls.
Right now, local governments are slashing budgets across departments, and first responders are no exception. Governments have already laid off 1,000 firefighters, with at least 29,000 more layoffs expected by the end of the year. These departments have less capacity even as fires are increasing in size and fire seasons last longer.
Too many of our elected officials seem to think there’s no hurry to pass more COVID-19 relief funding, but fires don’t stop for a global pandemic, and the fire season started a month ago. Nevada has already seen six wildfires that have destroyed over 45,000 acres. A wildfire in Northern Nevada caused the evacuation of neighborhoods around Gardnerville. Nevada fires burn on average over a million acres in a year, and their destruction has increased dramatically in the past decade. The fewer resources first responder departments have, the more likely wildfires will cause even worse destruction.
Since wildfires often occur in rural areas, local governments may not have the resources to handle an influx of COVID-19 cases from fire crews traveling to their hometowns. And though Congress has allocated some money for firefighting on federal land, states and local governments are responsible for fires on private and other public lands.
If Congress does not act quickly, state and local governments will not receive the funds needed in time to prevent or reduce first responder layoffs and obtain personal protective equipment and COVID-19 tests. The Nevada congressional delegation should be unified behind state and local government relief.
We need to amplify the voices of Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, who have called for immediate relief funding to local governments, and push Congress to make this the priority issue. Other members of Congress across the country must understand that the states out West are already burning, from this pandemic, the economic devastation it has wrought and from wildfires.
It’s time they have our backs. Congress must act, and it must do so now.
Matthew DeFalco is a resident of Henderson.