The Deadly Cost of Misguided Federal Wildfire Policy
But among the tributes and reminders of how wildland firefighters put their lives on the line to protect communities was the question from Timothy Ingalsbee, a former federal firefighter and founder of the group Firefighters United For Safety, Ethics and Ecology: “Why were they attacking that fire in the first place?”
The reason is that the Trump administration has reinstated a full suppression strategy applied to every wildfire, resurrecting an almost 100-year-old debate over how to handle wildfires — a debate that science and long-standing indigenous practices had settled by the late 1970s. Combined with the establishment of the US Wildland Fire Service, such policies could cost more lives
But among the tributes and reminders of how wildland firefighters put their lives on the line to protect communities was the question from Timothy Ingalsbee, a former federal firefighter and founder of the group Firefighters United For Safety, Ethics and Ecology: “Why were they attacking that fire in the first place?”
The reason is that the Trump administration has reinstated a full suppression strategy applied to every wildfire, resurrecting an almost 100-year-old debate over how to handle wildfires — a debate that science and long-standing indigenous practices had settled by the late 1970s. Combined with the establishment of the US Wildland Fire Service, such policies could cost more lives
How COVID-19 will change the way we fight wildfires: Prepare for the return of the Smokey Bear method as social distancing prevents firefighters from using more modern strategies
As the Sawtooth Fire raged across the steep, rugged terrain of Arizona’s Tonto National Forest in the final days of May, the firefighting community watched with intense interest. Not only was the blaze the first major wildfire of the season, but it was the first fire of its size since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the Sawtooth Fire raged across the steep, rugged terrain of Arizona’s Tonto National Forest in the final days of May, the firefighting community watched with intense interest. Not only was the blaze the first major wildfire of the season, but it was the first fire of its size since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a Virus Does, so Too a Fire
For months now, plans have been made and remade for how best to respond to wildfires within the pandemic. The effort has been herculean: national plans, regional plans, unit plans, down to the individual fire crew. Plans that reengineer how we’ve performed routine business for decades. Plans that change how to sustain the life and health of dozens, or thousands, of firefighters who are otherwise all working on one collective mission. It is a reflection of the very best attributes of this workforce’s skill set. But a key element of the U.S. wildfire service’s plan to fight fires in the midst of the pandemic could end up injecting even more uncertainty and risk into the equation.
For months now, plans have been made and remade for how best to respond to wildfires within the pandemic. The effort has been herculean: national plans, regional plans, unit plans, down to the individual fire crew. Plans that reengineer how we’ve performed routine business for decades. Plans that change how to sustain the life and health of dozens, or thousands, of firefighters who are otherwise all working on one collective mission. It is a reflection of the very best attributes of this workforce’s skill set. But a key element of the U.S. wildfire service’s plan to fight fires in the midst of the pandemic could end up injecting even more uncertainty and risk into the equation.