Why an exceptionally high number of firefighters have died in wildfires this year

Tim Ingalsbee, a former wildland firefighter and the executive director of the advocacy group Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology, said this year's spike in injuries and deaths is a sign of overaggressive tactics: "a predictable result of the worst policy choices in the worst possible conditions," he said.

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"It has been the perfect firestorm of severe climate-driven conditions that are conducive to easy ignition, rapid fire spread, large fire growth, and erratic fire behavior," Ingalsbee said.