Montana’s seasonal firefighters are getting a pay bump. State officials hope the roughly 12% immediate raise will help recruit and retain more wildland firefighters.
The $1.70 per hour wage increase brings state firefighters’ minimum base pay to $15.50.
Gov. Greg Gianforte and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation made the announcement Monday.
They say it marks the first pay adjustment of its kind for the state’s seasonal firefighting workforce.
A press release from the governor’s office says the pay bump makes the State of Montana competitive with other regional fire protection agencies.
The pay increase takes effect immediately and comes on the heels of a season in which fire scorched almost a million acres in the state by October.
Rare December wildfires burned thousands more acres in central Montana.
