Regulations VIPR Contractors Could Not Possibly Comply With

 Possibility for 100% Compliance in Emergency Services:

If applied to wildland fire contractors, the MSPA would require disclosing where and for how long firefighters would be gone even before ever getting dispatched to a fire. It would require pre-certification by a state or local health authority or other appropriate agency, including a Federal agency, that any facility or real property used to house firefighters overnight meets applicable safety and health standards prior to being occupied by a firefighter, which would prove impossible on a wildfire incident. In some cases, it would be a violation of the MSPA for firefighters to travel to a fire in their own engine. Ultimately, it is impossible to recruit firefighters and respond to wildfires while being 100% compliant with the MSPA.

Applicability to Wildland Fire 

Fact Sheet #63 – Not Applicable 

29 CFR 500 – Not Applicable 

29 USC 1801 et seq. – Not Applicable 

Bresgal V. Brock – US District Court Oregon – Not Part of Trial 

Bresgal V. Brock – 9th Circuit Court of Appeals – Not Discussed 

Consistent Application of Agricultural Laws – No Consistency 

Possibility for 100% Compliance in Emergency Services – Not Possible 

 29 CFR 500.75(b) requires, at the time of recruitment, disclosure of the place of employment, the period of employment, the housing to be provided, and the crops and kinds of activities on which the worker may be employed.  When firefighters are recruited prior to fire season, there is no way to know any of this information, or even if any orders will ever be placed for the resource under agreement.

 29 CFR 500.135(a) states that “except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, a facility or real property to be used for housing a migrant agricultural worker shall not be occupied by any migrant agricultural worker unless either a State or local health authority or other appropriate agency, including a Federal agency, has certified that the facility or real property meets applicable safety and health standards.” When on a wildfire, there are often split-second decisions made as to where firefighters will be permitted to sleep between shifts. These decisions are based upon safety factors including proximity to the fire, minimizing smoke impacts, limiting pre- and post-shift driving, ability to provide meals, water, Gatorade, showering facilities, medical facilities, etc. Requiring prior certification with the DOL, which is impossible in emergency responses situations, would prioritize administrative technicalities over safety. 

 29 CFR 500.105(b)(3)(vi)(D) requires seats to be not less than 16 inches nor more than 19 inches above the floor and 29 CFR 500.105(b)(3)(vi)(F) requires the top and the clear opening of exits to be at least 60 inches high. Based on this, it would be illegal to transport firefighters in the cab of any fire engine built on a widely-available RAM 5500 or Ford F550 cab and chassis, which have seats 13 inches off the floor and exits only 48 inches high.