A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has introduced the Wildland Firefighter Health and Safety Act, legislation aimed at addressing the significant long-term health risks faced by the men and women on the nation's wildland fire lines. The bill — introduced by Senators John Curtis (R-UT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tim Sheehy (R-MT), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) — has gained attention as Congress grapples with the human cost of an increasingly intense fire era after a punishing 2026 season.

What the Bill Would Do

The Wildland Firefighter Health and Safety Act targets several critical gaps in how the federal government protects, compensates, and supports its wildland fire workforce:

  • Wildland respirator pilot program: Establishes a federal pilot program to develop a respirator designed specifically for wildland firefighting conditions. Standard respirators are largely impractical in the brush, extreme exertion, and heat of wildfire suppression — leaving firefighters routinely exposed to dense smoke particulates and toxic compounds without adequate respiratory protection.
  • Paid decontamination time: Allows firefighters paid time to properly decontaminate their personal protective equipment after fire exposure. This directly reduces the risk of carrying home carcinogenic smoke particulates, PFAS chemicals from fire-retardant-treated gear, and other toxic fire byproducts.
  • Workers' compensation reform: Improves the workers' compensation process for firefighters who are injured or fall ill — addressing longstanding complaints from firefighter unions and advocates that the current system is burdensome, slow, and inadequate for occupationally acquired cancers and respiratory conditions.
  • Health and Wellbeing Program: Codifies and authorizes funding for a Federal Wildland Firefighter Health and Wellbeing Program to monitor long-term health outcomes across the wildland fire workforce.

Death Benefits: A Long-Overdue Fix

In a companion measure, Senators Merkley and Curtis are co-leading legislation to expand death benefits for fallen wildland firefighters. Currently, the maximum death benefit available to the family of a fallen federal wildland firefighter is $10,000 — a figure that advocates have called not just inadequate but insulting, given the dangerous nature of the work. The proposed legislation would raise that benefit to up to $100,000, aligning it with the death benefit provided to fallen members of the U.S. military.

Legislative Context

These proposals come as Congress is considering a broader set of wildfire policy measures. The Wildfire Emissions Prevention Act passed out of the Senate committee in September 2026. The Senate Farm Bill — containing multiple forestry and wildfire-related provisions including new Categorical Exclusions to streamline fuels reduction project approvals — cleared the Senate Agriculture Committee on September 16 and awaits a full Senate floor vote.

The Council of Western State Foresters' September 2026 policy update highlighted the firefighter health legislation as a top priority, reflecting the urgency felt across the western fire management community after a season that required record resource mobilization.

Firefighters face long-term risks "we can't ignore anymore," advocates have told members of Congress. For PNW-based senators Merkley of Oregon and their colleagues, the bill represents a direct response to the workforce that spent the summer protecting their constituents' communities and forests.