Better pay and benefits and increased legal protection for the nation's federal firefighters are needed to help reign in the increasing costs of battling wildfires across the country, say proponents of a bill making its way through Congress. Compensating firefighters for all the time they spend at fire scenes and extending year-round health benefits to part-timers would help curb defections from the agency, they say. By strengthening its own ranks, the bill's supporters say, the Forest Service would have to rely less on costly assistance from local and state fire departments.
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