Increasingly Used Many federal and state fire managers are calling in private contractors to help fight fires on public property. Contract workers make up 90 percent of the fire-fighting crews in Oregon.
Private crews have even been called in from Canada to fight U.S. fires, officials report.
Experts say that during a slow fire season the government saves a lot of money when it doesn't have to pay firefighters to sit around waiting to be dispatched. Each engine comes with a three-person crew. At most fires, crews work ten-hour shifts or longer.