Dear HCN,
In the article, “Wet
summer a bust for firefighters,” Thomas Power, an economist with
the University of Montana, said, “These are some of the best-paying
jobs for unskilled labor in Montana” (HCN, 9/15/97). Calling forest
firefighting an unskilled job is condescending as well as untrue.
Anyone who has worked on a hot-shot crew or watched a smoke-jumper
crew attack a fire would attest to the shared competence and skill
involved.
I suspect that if you took Mr. Power
out on the line, the only unskilled person in the area would be Mr.
Power.
Brian
Hensley
Orofino,
Idaho
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Firefighters embody skill.
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