Biden to push firefighter wages above $13 as U.S. braces for record wildfire season

[GregariousGroundhog]

17. New hires without education actually start at GS-3

Assuming the "rest of U.S." locality adjustment, they make $13.45 an hour.

A firefighter enter as GS-4 if they have a two year degree related to fire science, otherwise they need one year of experience at GS-3 to get to GS-4. That will bring them up to $15.10 an hour.

A firefighter can enter GS-5 if they have a four year degree related to fire science, otherwise they can move to GS-5 after one year of experience at GS-4. That would bring them up to $16.90 an hour.

A firefighter can move to GS-6 if they have one year of experience at GS-5. That would bring them up to $18.84 an hour. They would then earn step increases with the GS-6 level, which would be 62 cent increases at the 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 16, and 19 year marks.

Personally, I wouldn't object to starting them at GS-5 and ending them at GS-9.