Despite the public speeches of the Trump administration that it has hired enough firefighters for wild places, the documents obtained by Propublica show a high level of vacation, as well as internal concerns among top officials, as more than 1 million hectares are burning in 10 states.
Less than a month ago, the Minister of Agriculture Brooke Rolinz announced that the Trump administration had done historically good work, preparing the nation for the summer fire season. “We will be on the way to the meeting and potentially exceed the targets for firefighters,” Rolinz said while addressing the Western governors. Rollins oversees the labor force of the fire service in the US Forestry Service, the contracting department of the Agricultural Department. Roliniz noted in her statements that the administration had released the firefighters from the federal freezing hire, and it stated that the administration had exceeded its predecessor: “We reached 96% of our hiring goal, which exceeded the hiring rate and set over the last three years and in the previous administration.”
Since then, the affirmations of the forest service have become even more optimistic: the agency now claims that it has reached that 99% of their goal for work.
But according to the internal data obtained by Propublica, the characteristic of rolin is dangerously misleading. She lowered the wave of resignation from the agency this spring, and many senior leadership remain vacant. The Ministry of State efficiency, voluntary resignation and early pensions were heavily restrained by the Ministry of State Efficiency. According to internal national data, which have not previously been reported, more than 4,500 jobs on fire service – as much as 27% – remained vacant as of July 17. A Forest Service employee, who is familiar with the data, said it came from administrators who introduce personnel information into the computer tool used to create organizational schedules. The employee said that while the data may contain inaccuracies in certain forests, they generally reflect the right level of the agency. The employee said the data showing “active” non -filled positions were “relevant and relevant last week”.
The Agricultural Department disputes this assessment, but the figures are supported by anecdotal accounts from the wild places in New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, California and Wyoming. According to a recent poll of the Fire Service Fire Service in California, 26% of Captain engine positions and 42% of engineering positions were vacant. The Fireman in California, the California Veteran Fireman characterized the current assessment of the Trump administration in the size of his labor labor force as a “gross inaccurate”.
Last week, Tom Schultz, the head of the forest service, distributed a letter to high -ranking officials in an agency who emphasized the terrible moment. “As expected, the Year of the 2025 fire turns out to be extremely difficult,” Schultz wrote in a letter, a copy of which was received by Propublica. “We know that the demand for resources is superior to their availability.” Schultz immediately ordered the staff to use a complete suppression – pulling the fires as soon as possible, instead of giving them burn for the sake of control of landscape – and acknowledged that the resources needed to search for such an aggressive strategy are not enough. He wrote all the options, including the referral of human resources to fight against fires and the request recently left off the fire skills to return to work.
Asked about the discrepancy between Schultz’s memo and public statements about the fire service in the forest service, the agency spokesman said Schultz referred to the staff who could be intended to strengthen the reaction of the Agency “As Fire Activities”, and Rolls showed only full-time. “The Forest Service remains fully equipped and promptly ready to defend people and communities from fires,” said the secretary -secretary, noting that “many people who have separated from the agency either through a pension, or voluntary resignations who still have active skills on the fire of wild ground and make themselves accessible to support.”
Thousands of firefighters are operating in the federal government, but the exact number is opaque. Throughout the internal affairs department, under the control of the secretary of Burgum, there were four agencies in four agencies affected by about 5800 firefighters. A National Park employee in Colorado, threatening Wildfire, said they were “very insufficient during the Biden administration on most fronts, and now it’s much worse than when it was.”
But the forest service is certainly the largest employer of the wild places, and it has long used gymnastic arithmetic to draw an optimistic picture of its staffing schedule. Last summer propublica reports that the Forest Service under President Joe Biden has overshadowed its ability. Robert Kong, a former forestry official, who, from 2009 to 2011, co -authored with the Agency’s staff needs, recently stated that the practice of selective fire counting dates. “What needs to be understood is just a very small amount of what you need every summer,” he said. Riva Duncan, the head of the retired fire department and the Vice -President of the Firefighters, the Labor Organization, stated that the personnel schedule is a constant disappointment for the leaders on the ground. “We have engines that do not stop completely,” said Duncan, who remains active in the fire fight for wild land, worked in temporary roles this summer. “We have vacant positions in management.”
Given this, there is a difference this season of fire since the past years. Officials in the previous administration publicly acknowledged the danger Presented by the outcome of experienced firefighters. Trump’s administration has taken another approach – claiming that she solved the problem, simultaneously worsening it. When asked about the reduction of personnel schedules, the White House deputy press -secretary Anna Kelly wrote: “President Trump is proud of all the secretary of Rolls to improve the forest management, including completing 2001 Rule without roads For a stronger prevention of the fire and the great work of the Burgum secretary, which defends the coveted state lands of our country. “
In March, Congress finally codified the constant increase for the federal firefighters through the appropriation process, the change that has sought to perform for years. In his statement in June, Roliniz attributed the president: “With gratitude for the self -sacrificing service of our forest services, President Trump has constantly increased his salaries for our federal firefighters.”
But in February, Trump administration quit 700 employees Supporting fire operations on wild land from human resources to environmentalists and workers. Those staff have the fact that red cards are known – certificates that allow them to work on fire crews. After that, many were rethinking, but the administration encouraged forestry staff to accept delayed resignations and early exits.
Last month, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that manages the Forest Service and the Department of Internal Affairs to unite his fire force. At the moment, it is unknown what form will be engaged in this restructuring, but many firefighters are waiting for further reduction of the personnel schedule. The press secretary of the Department of Internal Affairs wrote: “We take measures to combine federal programs on fire to streamline bureaucracy.”
Administration representatives claim that employees who are mainly designed for Wildland were released from the resignation proposals this spring. But, according to another domestic data set, received propublica, with more than 4,000 forestry staff who received delayed resignations and early exits, about 1,600 had red cards. (The press secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture wrote that the actual amount was 1400, adding that 85 of them “decided to return for the season”.)
Even these figures do not take into account all the lost institutional knowledge. The departure included meteorologists who represented long -range forecasts, which allowed the firefighters to decide where the crews were deploying. One of the meteorologists who left was Charles Maxwell, who has interpreted the weather models that predicted summer monsoons in the South -Western coordination center in Albikeque, New -Mexico, an interagency office for more than 20 years. Thunderstorms can feed a forest fire, lightning and wind, and put them out, with heavy rains. Recently, according to Maxwell, the monsoon has become less reliable, and understanding their nuances can be complicated. Maxwell said he had already planned to retire next year. But he also said that “he was concerned about the degree of chaos, the potential degradation of services and what would happen to my work.”
Maxwell noted that his work was covered by experienced filling from the state. But another firefighter who worked on Blaze in New Mexico said Maxwell’s understanding was missed. The press secretary of the Department of Internal Affairs, which controls the Interagency Bureau where Maxwell worked, wrote: “We do not comment on personnel issues.”
The monsou season is now here and brought the deadly flash along the old scars of the burn in Ridas, New -Mexico, distributing sporadic rain in Gil’s national forest.
This creates a serious fire. On Monday, federal firefighters reported 86 new fires in the West; By Tuesday there were another 105. And there was already a criticism of the federal response. This month, Governor Arizona and Congress members called for an investigation into the park service, which this month leveled the historic house on the Northern Obaber of the Great Canyon. Last month, Rolinz acknowledged: “The fires do not know the Republican and the Democrat, or which side you are.” This is at least that’s true.
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