Federal wildland firefighters assigned to prescribed burns will be eligible for additional compensation after the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) finalized a rule extending hazardous duty pay and environmental differential pay to planned wildland fire operations.
The final rule adds prescribed wildland fire duties as covered activities for Hazardous Duty Pay for General Schedule employees and Environmental Differential Pay for Federal Wage System employees. It authorizes a 25% differential for eligible employees serving as members of a firefighting crew on the fireline during the implementation and control of prescribed wildland fires.
The regulation is effective September 14, 2026, and applies on the first day of the first pay period beginning on or after that date. OPM said it received 92 comments after issuing its proposed rule in April, with public comments largely supporting the 25% differential.
The change is intended to bring prescribed fire assignments closer to the pay treatment already available for firefighters working on uncontrolled wildfire firelines. OPM said the hazards that justify the differential are tied to the active fire environment and its immediate aftermath, including exposure to open flame, heat, smoke, unstable terrain, fire-weakened trees, combustion byproducts, and biological hazards.
The rule does not extend the differential to pre-ignition preparation work. OPM said coverage is limited to employees participating on the fireline in duties directly involving the implementation and control of prescribed wildland fires.
Prescribed fire is widely used to reduce fuel loads and lower wildfire risk, but the work can expose crews to many of the same hazards encountered during suppression operations. Previous research has linked prescribed burn assignments to exposure to carbon monoxide, trace metals, and particulate matter, while firefighter protective equipment has also been scrutinized for potential chemical and carcinogen risks when exposed to high fireline temperatures.
The U.S. Wildland Fire Service described the final rule as a “well-deserved win” for firefighters and said it follows other compensation changes, including incident response premium pay and permanent pay reforms.
