Wildfire overtime increased Cal Fire’s payroll by $91 million last year, a sharp increase from what was already an expensive year before it, underscoring the budget challenge the state may face if major fires are now the norm.
The department paid its workers about $855 million in 2018, up 12 percent from 2017, according to an analysis by The Bee. That included $207 million in overtime pay — the highest proportion of pay taken as overtime among state departments, according to the analysis.
Firefighters spent stretches of up to six or seven weeks battling the Camp, Woolsey and other fires, said Tim Edwards, president of union Cal Fire Local 2881.
“On some of these fires, the bigger ones, there’s no way out of it,” Edwards said. “That’s just what it takes to get these fires out, is non-stop working. But we don’t even have a relief crew to come in.”