Firefighter retirement age rises to 57

Federal firefighters will be able to stay on the job until they are 57, under a law President Bush signed on Monday. Under a previous law, the mandatory retirement age for firefighters was 55. Firefighters must serve for 20 years to receive full retirement benefits. Until now, the Forest Service and the Interior Department wouldn't hire new permanent wildland firefighters older than 35 because of the mandatory retirement age. The maximum entry age frustrated many long-term, temporary firefighters who applied for permanent firefighting employment this year. Under a congressional mandate to improve the nation's firefighting force after the massive fires of 2000, the land agencies hired more than 2,000 new, permanent firefighters this spring. When the agencies opened up the permanent positions, many long-term, temporary firefighters applied, only to find that they were too old to be hired. Under the new law, agencies could fill some vacant, permanent positions with experienced firefighters who missed the age cut-off earlier this year. Some firefighting managers supported the previous limit, contending that a younger firefighting workforce is more effective. But Bobby Harnage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said the change "does not compromise the federal government's firefighting capability as firefighters must annually meet stringent medical standards." The law is H.R. 93.