Update (1:41 p.m.): Rod Nichols, an information officer for the Oregon Department of Forestry, responded to the e-mail I sent Jim Walker. He said the story I linked to is inaccurate. The main points:
1) There is no Spanish language requirement for private firefighting crews or supervisors. The department relies heavily on private contractors, who make their own decisions about how to meet the department’s requirements. Nichols said the deparment has “found it necessary to require that all crewmembers speak English. The requirement that leadership positions – crew boss and squad boss – speak English is sufficient.”
2) No Oregon Department of Forestry employees have been fired or demoted because they can’t speak Spanish. The person who made the claim in the article, Jaime Pickering, isn’t and has never been a department employee, and isn’t a certified fire crew boss, according to the department’s records.
However, this doesn’t preclude Pickering’s employment with a private contractor.
3) I asked if the department checks employees’ immigration status. Nichols said the contractors have the “primary responsibility” to check status of its employees, and the department believes “most” of the crew are in the United States legally. In adherence to federal law, the department records and files I-9 info on everyone hired, including temporary employees for emergencies.
Bottom-line: It sounds like the Department of Forestry uses only private contractors to fight fires, but I’ll confirm in a follow-up e-mail. If there are Spanish language requirements or illegal “immigrant” issues, it’s the private contractor’s fault, apparently. Nichols said a few more things, but I’ll reserve those quotes for a column I may write about similar stories. I’m making an effort to report news instead of simply regurgitating and nitpicking it on the blog.
In other news, Dallas County plans to bill Mexico for treating its uninsured citizens. The U.S. is too kind for its own good. Illegal aliens get free treatment, and working American citizens get the shaft.
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Tell me if this makes sense. American firefighters are being fired because they don’t speak Spanish. In America.
In the United States, native Americans are treated unequally because they speak only the language of their country of their birth. Seems about right!
Eighty-five percent of the Oregon Department of Forestry is “of Hispanic decent” and “do not speak English.” That people working in an American governmental agency can’t speak the language of the government is “a concern,” says Jim Walker, of the Oregon Department of Forestry. Well, he doesn’t put it quite that way. I e-mailed Mr. Walker, requesting a brief interview. If he responds, I’ll update the post. If he doesn’t, I’ll update the post.
The old me would have ranted and raved about how George Bush’s amnesty plan makes this kind of crap worse. But the new elite-thinking me climbed atop a more objective perch and considered a few ideas.
Should we assume that the department hires non- and poor English speakers because there aren’t enough qualified English speakers applying for the jobs? One would think that poor English would disqualify applicants, but that’s obviously not the case. Also, civil service tests have been dumbed down in the last 20 years so that fire and police departments can hire more blacks. (See Denver and Maryland) How do poor English speakers fare on the employment test?
Wow. Taking a dispassionate view of the matter produces far less stress. 
For my Spanish-speaking readers, I’ve provided a rough translation of this post after the jump. ¡Gracias para leer LBC!
Los Bomberos hispanohablantes de América
DÃgame si esto tiene sentido. Los bomberos americanos son despedidos porque ellos no hablan español. En América.
En los Estados Unidos, los Indios Americanos son tratados no igual porque ellos hablan sólo el idioma de su paÃs de su nacimiento. ¡Parece acerca del derecho!
El ochenta y cinco por ciento del Departamento de Oregon de la Silvicultura es “de hispano decente” y “no habla inglés.” Que personas que trabajan en una agencia gubernamental Americana no pueden hablar el idioma del gobierno es “un concierne,” dice que Jim Walke, del Departamento de Oregon de la Silvicultura. Bien, él no lo pone bastante esa manera. Mandé correo electrónico Sr. Walke, solicitando una entrevista breve. Si él responde, actualizaré el poste. Si él hace no, actualizaré el poste.
El viejo mà habrÃa despotricado y habrÃa delirado acerca de cómo plan de amnistÃa de George Bush hace esta clase de la mierda peor. Pero el élite-pensando nuevo que mà subà encima de una percha más objetiva y consideré unas pocas ideas.
¿Debemos asumir nosotros que el departamento emplea no- y anglohablantes pobres porque allà no son calificados bastante a anglohablantes que solicitan los trabajos? Uno pensarÃa que inglés pobre hace descalifique Los solicitantes, pero eso obviamente no son el caso. También, las pruebas de cuerpo de funcionarios públicos se han dumbed hacia abajo en los últimos 20 años para que fuego y policÃas pueda emplear más negros. ¿Van los anglohablantes cómo pobres en la prueba del empleo?
Ah. Tomar una vista desapasionada de los productos del asunto mucho menos enfatiza.
