Bipartisan bill aims to expand health protections for wildland firefighters
"Vehicle accidents, aircraft accidents, they have taken many lives this summer," said Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology. "But, for a lot of other really young, strong bodies, they are afflicted by illnesses and injuries that (they) may not even be aware of until later on."
Ingalsbee's organization has endorsed the legislation, which would create a task force and advisory council made up of wildland firefighters to help develop policies aimed at reducing workplace injuries and illnesses.
"The goal is early detection," he said. "Rarely do ground-level firefighters get any voice in policymaking. So this advisory council will help determine what are the many health hazards, physical and mental, affecting firefighters."
“Near a Breaking Point:” Trump Is Failing Firefighters in an Intense Burn Season
Ingalsbee is the executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology, a nonprofit he cofounded in an effort to increase both safety and sustainability in firefighting, and he said he’s concerned that operations are heading in the wrong direction on both fronts.
“Climate change is half the explanation,” Ingalsbee said, for what he called “the perfect firestorm for a really bad season for firefighting.”
Ingalsbee is the executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology, a nonprofit he cofounded in an effort to increase both safety and sustainability in firefighting, and he said he’s concerned that operations are heading in the wrong direction on both fronts.
“Climate change is half the explanation,” Ingalsbee said, for what he called “the perfect firestorm for a really bad season for firefighting.”
Padilla, Curtis, Merkley, Sheehy, Dexter Announce Bipartisan Legislation to Protect Federal Wildland Firefighters
“There is a huge gap between the safety risks and health hazards that wildland firefighters face, including risk of severe musculoskeletal damage and rare cancers, and the inadequate level of medical care they are provided. The Wildland Firefighter Health and Safety Act will go a long way towards narrowing this gap in their health care, providing support for crews whose work-related injuries and illnesses sometimes appear long after they’ve disengaged from the firelines,” said Timothy Ingalsbee, Executive Director of FUSEE: Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology.
“There is a huge gap between the safety risks and health hazards that wildland firefighters face, including risk of severe musculoskeletal damage and rare cancers, and the inadequate level of medical care they are provided. The Wildland Firefighter Health and Safety Act will go a long way towards narrowing this gap in their health care, providing support for crews whose work-related injuries and illnesses sometimes appear long after they’ve disengaged from the firelines,” said Timothy Ingalsbee, Executive Director of FUSEE: Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology.
Dexter Leads Bipartisan, Bicameral Comprehensive Legislation to Protect Wildland Firefighters’ Health
"There is a huge gap between the safety risks and health hazards that wildland firefighters face, including risk of severe musculoskeletal damage and rare cancers, and the inadequate level of medical care they are provided. The Wildland Firefighter Health and Safety Act will go a long way towards narrowing this gap in their health care, providing support for crews whose work-related injuries and illnesses sometimes appear long after they've disengaged from the firelines," said Timothy Ingalsbee, Executive Director of FUSEE: Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology.
"There is a huge gap between the safety risks and health hazards that wildland firefighters face, including risk of severe musculoskeletal damage and rare cancers, and the inadequate level of medical care they are provided. The Wildland Firefighter Health and Safety Act will go a long way towards narrowing this gap in their health care, providing support for crews whose work-related injuries and illnesses sometimes appear long after they've disengaged from the firelines," said Timothy Ingalsbee, Executive Director of FUSEE: Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology.
‘We’re near a breaking point:’ firefighters say US government is failing them amid intense wildfire season
Dr Timothy Ingalsbee, a fire ecologist who began his career as a wildland firefighter with the US Forest Service (USFS), said he’s heard from safety officers that there has been a notable spike in burn injuries this year, a sign he attributes to “crews being pushed into aggressive direct attack in times when it is not effective”.
Ingalsbee is the executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology (Fusee), a non-profit he cofounded in an effort to increase both safety and sustainability in firefighting, and he said he’s concerned that operations are heading in the wrong direction on both fronts.
“Climate change is half the explanation,” Ingalsbee said, for what he called “the perfect firestorm for a really bad season for firefighting”.
Dr Timothy Ingalsbee, a fire ecologist who began his career as a wildland firefighter with the US Forest Service (USFS), said he’s heard from safety officers that there has been a notable spike in burn injuries this year, a sign he attributes to “crews being pushed into aggressive direct attack in times when it is not effective”.
Ingalsbee is the executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology (Fusee), a non-profit he cofounded in an effort to increase both safety and sustainability in firefighting, and he said he’s concerned that operations are heading in the wrong direction on both fronts.
“Climate change is half the explanation,” Ingalsbee said, for what he called “the perfect firestorm for a really bad season for firefighting”.
Trump’s USDA Moves to Eliminate Crucial Roadless Rule Protections From National Forests
FUSEE, Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology- an organization of active, former or retired wildland firefighters are also speaking out against the repeal. They say in a statement that more roads and human access will mean more human-caused wildfire starts. And that logging roads in backcountry areas are dangerous for attempting to stop wildfire. FUSEE argues this is best done by aviation-based tactics and other means fully allowed by the existing rule.
A current member of an active Wildfire module Molly Maguire stated, “Wildland fires are necessary and incredibly significant ecological processes. Roadless areas lack much infrastructure or human structures, so they offer opportunities to safely, economically, and ecologically manage fire across large areas without threatening human assets,”
FUSEE, Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology- an organization of active, former or retired wildland firefighters are also speaking out against the repeal. They say in a statement that more roads and human access will mean more human-caused wildfire starts. And that logging roads in backcountry areas are dangerous for attempting to stop wildfire. FUSEE argues this is best done by aviation-based tactics and other means fully allowed by the existing rule.
A current member of an active Wildfire module Molly Maguire stated, “Wildland fires are necessary and incredibly significant ecological processes. Roadless areas lack much infrastructure or human structures, so they offer opportunities to safely, economically, and ecologically manage fire across large areas without threatening human assets,”
Incarcerated people among thousands of firefighters battling Oregon’s aggressive fire season
On a misty spring day in Oregon’s Tillamook State Forest, a group of incarcerated men wearing yellow collared shirts and hard hats gathered around an instructor warning them about the dangers of an over-pressurized firefighting hose.
If left for too long, he said, a hose could overheat and explode, leaving those nearby with third-degree burns.
Such were the risks that these men were willing to take to avoid sleeping in a prison cell.
On a misty spring day in Oregon’s Tillamook State Forest, a group of incarcerated men wearing yellow collared shirts and hard hats gathered around an instructor warning them about the dangers of an over-pressurized firefighting hose.
If left for too long, he said, a hose could overheat and explode, leaving those nearby with third-degree burns.
Such were the risks that these men were willing to take to avoid sleeping in a prison cell.
Extreme heat is taking a toll on firefighters as wildfires stretch crews to the limit
When a wildfire threatens a community, most people don’t think to ask whether the firefighters coming to help slept enough the night before, recovered from the previous day’s shift or have enough energy left for another day on the fire line. They simply expect firefighters to show up.
But that workforce is increasingly being stretched to its limits.
When a wildfire threatens a community, most people don’t think to ask whether the firefighters coming to help slept enough the night before, recovered from the previous day’s shift or have enough energy left for another day on the fire line. They simply expect firefighters to show up.
But that workforce is increasingly being stretched to its limits.
After firefighting deaths, advocates alarmed by ‘deepening wildfire crisis,’ agencies’ strategies
Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of the group Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology, wants to know to what extent that suppression policy informed the five-member Rifle helitack crew’s assignment battling the Gore and Knowles fires in southwest Colorado.
Ingalsbee, an ecologist and former firefighter, said the full-suppression approach reverses a longtime, science-backed strategy of allowing fires to burn in some further-removed areas to keep forests healthy, which also prevents crews from taking unnecessary risks.
“I’m pretty anxious about tragedies yet to happen, because we still have the same policy, blindly attacking all fires, instead of strategically, wisely managing and prioritizing fires,” Ingalsbee said.
Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of the group Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology, wants to know to what extent that suppression policy informed the five-member Rifle helitack crew’s assignment battling the Gore and Knowles fires in southwest Colorado.
Ingalsbee, an ecologist and former firefighter, said the full-suppression approach reverses a longtime, science-backed strategy of allowing fires to burn in some further-removed areas to keep forests healthy, which also prevents crews from taking unnecessary risks.
“I’m pretty anxious about tragedies yet to happen, because we still have the same policy, blindly attacking all fires, instead of strategically, wisely managing and prioritizing fires,” Ingalsbee said.
After firefighting deaths, advocates alarmed by ‘deepening wildfire crisis,’ agencies’ strategies
Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of the group Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology, wants to know to what extent that suppression policy informed the five-member Rifle helitack crew’s assignment battling the Gore and Knowles fires in southwest Colorado.
Ingalsbee, an ecologist and former firefighter, said the full-suppression approach reverses a longtime, science-backed strategy of allowing fires to burn in some further-removed areas to keep forests healthy, which also prevents crews from taking unnecessary risks.
“I’m pretty anxious about tragedies yet to happen, because we still have the same policy, blindly attacking all fires, instead of strategically, wisely managing and prioritizing fires,” Ingalsbee said.
Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of the group Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology, wants to know to what extent that suppression policy informed the five-member Rifle helitack crew’s assignment battling the Gore and Knowles fires in southwest Colorado.
Ingalsbee, an ecologist and former firefighter, said the full-suppression approach reverses a longtime, science-backed strategy of allowing fires to burn in some further-removed areas to keep forests healthy, which also prevents crews from taking unnecessary risks.
“I’m pretty anxious about tragedies yet to happen, because we still have the same policy, blindly attacking all fires, instead of strategically, wisely managing and prioritizing fires,” Ingalsbee said.
Firefighting resources are ‘critically low’ in record fire year
This resource strain follows roughly 3,400 firings at the Forest Service under the Trump administration’s workforce cuts. Officials say frontline firefighters were spared, but the incident management teams coordinating the response were not. “These require the most seasoned and experienced managers. And we lost a lot of them last year,” said Timothy Ingalsbee, Executive Director for Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology. “We are just now seeing the impact of that.”
This resource strain follows roughly 3,400 firings at the Forest Service under the Trump administration’s workforce cuts. Officials say frontline firefighters were spared, but the incident management teams coordinating the response were not. “These require the most seasoned and experienced managers. And we lost a lot of them last year,” said Timothy Ingalsbee, Executive Director for Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology. “We are just now seeing the impact of that.”
Firefighters sound alarm as US faces critical staffing shortage: ‘We don’t have enough people’
The US has faced a critical shortage of firefighters at the US Forest Service (USFS) this summer as thousands of fires erupted across the country.
Despite officials’ claims that the firefighting workforce was stronger than ever, the agency has failed to keep pace with escalating conditions and the catastrophic fires fueled by them, according to nine firefighters who spoke to the Guardian anonymously, because they are barred from disclosing the information to the public.
The US has faced a critical shortage of firefighters at the US Forest Service (USFS) this summer as thousands of fires erupted across the country.
Despite officials’ claims that the firefighting workforce was stronger than ever, the agency has failed to keep pace with escalating conditions and the catastrophic fires fueled by them, according to nine firefighters who spoke to the Guardian anonymously, because they are barred from disclosing the information to the public.
Firefighting resources are ‘critically low’ in record fire year
But fire experts said that the firings decimated the ranks of older, experienced officials whose knowledge is valuable against increasingly large, complex fires.
“These require the most seasoned and experienced managers. And we lost a lot of them last year” to the budget cuts, said Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of the nonprofit Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology and a former firefighter for federal agencies. “We are just now seeing the impact of that.”
But fire experts said that the firings decimated the ranks of older, experienced officials whose knowledge is valuable against increasingly large, complex fires.
“These require the most seasoned and experienced managers. And we lost a lot of them last year” to the budget cuts, said Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of the nonprofit Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology and a former firefighter for federal agencies. “We are just now seeing the impact of that.”
When tragedy strikes, America's wildland firefighters ask, was it 'somebody that we loved?'
Former Forest Service fire scientist Dave Calkin calls the circumstances of the late June tragedy very concerning.
"The thing that really hurt me the most was the apparent lack of values that they were protecting, and the reality of how risky that environment is," he said, citing the high winds, inaccessibility and reliance on helicopters for getting firefighters to safety.
"When confronted with extreme conditions," Calkin said, taking the "safest option possible" is the right strategy. "And that safest option is to fall back and wait for better conditions or better locations."
Former Forest Service fire scientist Dave Calkin calls the circumstances of the late June tragedy very concerning.
"The thing that really hurt me the most was the apparent lack of values that they were protecting, and the reality of how risky that environment is," he said, citing the high winds, inaccessibility and reliance on helicopters for getting firefighters to safety.
"When confronted with extreme conditions," Calkin said, taking the "safest option possible" is the right strategy. "And that safest option is to fall back and wait for better conditions or better locations."
Exonerating a Firefighter
“I think something that really sticks out to me as someone who’s not native to Oregon is that Oregon has a lot of reckoning to do with its very racist past and its racist present. And I think this case is a really clear opportunity for that reckoning to happen and for Kotek to stand up for what she says she stands for,” Lusk says.
“I think something that really sticks out to me as someone who’s not native to Oregon is that Oregon has a lot of reckoning to do with its very racist past and its racist present. And I think this case is a really clear opportunity for that reckoning to happen and for Kotek to stand up for what she says she stands for,” Lusk says.
Wildfire veterans fear federal tactics, extreme fires could put crews at risk
“This policy that compels crews to blindly rush out and attack all fires is just not smart and it’s very unsafe,” Ingalsbee said. “They’re throwing back to the policy of the 1930s, ignoring everything we’ve learned about fire ecology and fire behavior”
“This policy that compels crews to blindly rush out and attack all fires is just not smart and it’s very unsafe,” Ingalsbee said. “They’re throwing back to the policy of the 1930s, ignoring everything we’ve learned about fire ecology and fire behavior”
It's time for answers on deadly fire
“Why were they attacking that fire in the first place?” asked Timothy Ingalsbee, a former federal firefighter and cofounder of the advocacy group Firefighters United For Safety, Ethics and Ecology. “What was actually at risk? If it was a bunch of shrubs on remote mountaintops, what was the real risk that justified putting those firefighters at risk?”
“Why were they attacking that fire in the first place?” asked Timothy Ingalsbee, a former federal firefighter and cofounder of the advocacy group Firefighters United For Safety, Ethics and Ecology. “What was actually at risk? If it was a bunch of shrubs on remote mountaintops, what was the real risk that justified putting those firefighters at risk?”
U.S. Firefighting Resources Are Already Maxed Out — And It’s Only July
The country is using nearly all of its wildfire fighting resources far earlier in the season than usual, according to data from the National Interagency Fire Center. On July 18, the country reached “Preparedness Level 5” status, the highest possible level on a scale that measures how much wildfires are taxing resources.
The country is using nearly all of its wildfire fighting resources far earlier in the season than usual, according to data from the National Interagency Fire Center. On July 18, the country reached “Preparedness Level 5” status, the highest possible level on a scale that measures how much wildfires are taxing resources.
New firefighters set out in Lane County amid a federal workforce restructuring
Tim Ingalsbee, executive director of the Eugene-based nonprofit Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology (FUSEE), and his organization have been tracking the new fire service since last year, offering policy analysis on what they view as a “deceptive downsizing” that could further strain systems both ecologically and operationally.
Ingalsbee has heard from people in the new service who told him they were transferred from their home agency within the Department of the Interior, such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, into the new wildfire service earlier this year without a say in it.
Tim Ingalsbee, executive director of the Eugene-based nonprofit Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology (FUSEE), and his organization have been tracking the new fire service since last year, offering policy analysis on what they view as a “deceptive downsizing” that could further strain systems both ecologically and operationally.
Ingalsbee has heard from people in the new service who told him they were transferred from their home agency within the Department of the Interior, such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, into the new wildfire service earlier this year without a say in it.
Safety advocates call for transparency in investigation into deaths of three wildland firefighters in Colorado
"We need to ask more questions about policy," he said. "Why were crews sent to this place, and for what purpose? What were they really protecting or defending? What is the objective there?"
…
"We should rapidly respond to every ignition, but there's a difference between taking an initial action and framing it as an initial attack," Ingalsbee said. "In some cases, that initial action may be okay. This is doing good work for free, reducing some of this hazardous surface fuel air."
"We need to ask more questions about policy," he said. "Why were crews sent to this place, and for what purpose? What were they really protecting or defending? What is the objective there?"
…
"We should rapidly respond to every ignition, but there's a difference between taking an initial action and framing it as an initial attack," Ingalsbee said. "In some cases, that initial action may be okay. This is doing good work for free, reducing some of this hazardous surface fuel air."