Murphy Woodhouse

1 week ago | boisestatepublicradio.org | Murphy Woodhouse

The National Firefighter Registry for Cancer, a congressionally mandated effort to better understand the relationship between several types of firefighting and cancer, has been shut down “indefinitely.”The move comes in the wake of massive Trump administration at the Department of Health and Human Services, the parent agency of the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which runs the program.

2 weeks ago | boisestatepublicradio.org | Murphy Woodhouse

Federal forecasters are predicting a very active fire season in large swaths of the West, beginning in the Southwest. Much of southern Arizona and New Mexico are expected to see above average potential for wildfire in April, according to the most recent four-month outlook. “We've had a very low snowpack, it's been very dry,” said Jim Wallman, a meteorologist at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise. “That's why we expect our early start to the season there.

4 weeks ago | knpr.org | Murphy Woodhouse

In recent decades, wildfires have gotten larger and more intense, and community-destroying blazes – like the Marshall and Camp fires – are an increasingly common occurrence. But new research looking at centuries of wildfires shows that compared with fires in the 19th and earlier centuries, today’s blazes pale in comparison – at least in terms of size. “The scale of fire today is not unprecedented.

1 month ago | knpr.org | Murphy Woodhouse

Wildland firefighter advocates are celebrating the permanent pay raises included in a larger funding bill passed by Congress late last week. For several years, federal wildland firefighters have regularly and anxiously watched Congress to see if legislators would pass permanent raises – or simply extend temporary raises again. But with the passage and signing of a continuing resolution last week, the Groundhog Day-like situation came to an end.

1 month ago | boisestatepublicradio.org | Murphy Woodhouse

Wildland firefighters have been pushing for permanent pay raises for years. A stopgap funding measure approved by the U.S. House of Representatives and now heading to the Senate would do just that. On Tuesday, the House approved a continuing resolution that would keep the government funded through September. Tucked inside is a measure that would provide raises to federal wildland firefighters – as much as 42% for the lowest paid workers. It would also provide for incident response pay.