Why Wildfire Experts Are So Worried About This Year’s Fire Season

Burgum’s previous efforts to centralize power at Interior drew complaints about the organizational chaos that followed: Some 5,000 staff were moved from the department’s component agencies to his office in May 2025, and almost 1,800 quit, retired or were pushed out afterward. That’s sparked concern about how smooth his overhaul of the department’s firefighting efforts will be. 

“The bottom line is it’s disorganization,” said Ingalsbee.