Bighorn fire: Questions raised about effectiveness of flame retardant used against wildfires
It was good for Hunter to acknowledge the retardant didn’t stop the fire on its own, said Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology, of Eugene, Oregon. “It’s one of many tools, but an expensive tool, with extensive environmental impacts. That was an amazing amount of retardant, a phenomenal amount,” Ingalsbee said of the 358,000 gallons. “This sure smells like a retardant bombing boondoggle.”
Op-Ed | Why you shouldn’t visit a National Park this summer
“Firefighters are essential but not expendable” says Michael Beasley of Firefighters United for Safety Ethics and Ecology. The group has been helping push a bill in Congress to grant workman’s comp claims to firefighters who get covid19 on the job. The Trump Interior department has been denying such claims. Senator Tom Udall and others introduced a bill to protect firefighters this week.
Cerro Grande Fire remains burned into New Mexico's memory 20 years later
“They didn’t have enough people,” said Tom Ribe of Santa Fe, author of the 2010 book Inferno by Committee, which recounts the Cerro Grande Fire with a critical eye. “They needed to have two or three times the people on the prescribed fire from Day One.” Those overseeing the fire were in a hurry to get it done, which led to errors in judgment, said Ribe, a longtime public lands advocate.