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CBS News
16-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Firefighting resources from across the country are helping control the Minnesota wildfires
Firefighting resources from across the country have arrived in Minnesota to help the effort to contain the wildfires. According to officials, at least 10 "Hot Shot" crews and dozens of engines and modules have been deployed from more than a dozen states as far as New Mexico and New Hampshire. "Federal wildland firefighters, their specialty and their skillset is for wildfires," Steven Gutierrez, a former firefighter and now representative for the National Federation of Federal Employees, told WCCO. "They don't fight fire with water. They do it with hand tools. They do backfiring techniques. They can manage the incident as it's growing." The specialized equipment, including planes and helicopters, can greatly inflate the cost of the these deployments, and since they are federal resources, they've been subject to review by the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency. According to Gutierrez, roughly 2,000 probationary employees at the U.S. Forest Service were let go but have since been rehired. He remains worried, however, about cuts to administrative support staff. "You can have the biggest army you want but they have to be logistically supported and all of the jobs that logistically support or plan or do part of the planning or finance to support these people on the front lines are being gutted left and right," he warned. "You're not seeing it quite yet, but once the whole nation gets into this preparedness level, a higher preparedness level than it is right now, you're gonna see the impact on all these agencies." Federal firefighting resources are part of several federal agencies, which are split among the Department of Agriculture (U.S. Forest Service) and the Department of Interior (Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Indian Affairs). A WCCO analysis estimates a combined budget of $19 billion, which is roughly 1.1% of the federal budget.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Wildfire season may be unpredictable after federal budget slashing hits supplies, support staff, crews say
May 15—Fuel for chainsaws. Food and water for Pulaski-toting firefighters doing the exhaustive work of digging fire lines. Ample first aid kits with spendy epi-pens in case a wildland firefighter steps on a hornet's nest and suffers a life-threatening allergic reaction. They are the kinds of things that can make or break beating back a wildfire and ensuring the safety of fire crews. And they are the kinds of things jeopardized amid the Trump Administration's efforts to slash the government's federal spending. It has led to a chaotic prep season for wildfire managers as they fret about money, resources and a rapidly approaching summer. And the future isn't looking promising. "There's no way someone would be taking this action if they were aware of the risk to public safety this entails," said Rachel Granberg, a union representative for the National Federation of Federal Employees. Granberg is an 11-year employee with the U.S. Forest Service and stationed in Wenatchee, currently working as a squad boss on a helitack crew, a person who fights fires, manages firefighters and manages aircraft. She has avoided being fired by the Trump Administration, but many of the staff designated to support people like her on the front lines of a raging fire have not. Since Trump and adviser Elon Musk terminated 2,000 Forest Service employees in February, the number has grown to 5,000 "non-fire" employees through early retirements, resignations and buyout offers. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., estimates 7,400 Forest Service employees nationwide were cut, according to a news release from her office, and about 75% of these employees are trained to assist in fighting fire. Around the same time, Trump also issued an executive order barring federal union employees from collective bargaining agreements after their terminations were reinstated. The process playing out in courts has been confusing and convoluted, leaving some to just leave the agency altogether with no hope of coming back. While the government maintains those terminated are not firefighters, they are critical to how firefighters operate, Granberg said. Many of the employees let go were part of designated Incident Management Teams, or teams put together to make large-scale plans to fight wildfires. Some of them coordinate who is in the airspace, assign aircraft to a fire, designate where a helicopter base will be or map the topography of the area. Some are mapping the fire as it spreads, and communicating with people in the field about where to go and what to do. Others are tasked with ordering a communications trailer, setting up portable bathrooms, making sure tents show up to camp on time or bringing food and water back and forth to firefighters. And the layoffs in fuel mitigation, an attempt to control brush and trees before a fire gets out of control, could instead breed a fire that quickly spreads. The stress surrounding fire resources isn't strictly within the federal government. It's bled over to state agencies, who have mutual aid agreements with the Forest Service. "There are lots of firings at these agencies, and there's been no communication, or very little, on any of that," said Dave Upthegrove, the public lands commissioner for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. "We've been doing our best to analyze what's going on and adjust as needed, but the fact is, we don't know much more." It's usually possible the DNR firefighters will be battling the same fire as the Forest Service, just in different locations, because a fast-paced fire can, and will, cross jurisdictional lines. "Let's say there was a fire in one of the national forests. I can assure you DNR resources are going to be part of the initial attack because that forest may not have enough fire units on it to do an initial attack of an extreme fire," said DNR spokesperson Ryan Rodruck. The Forest Service also has the ability to order DNR resources to help fight a fire outside of DNR range. And when a fire is spreading, it's important that order must be done quickly, Rodruck said. "Wildfire is complicated, there are a lot of moving parts. When the feds make it unclear what the structure is for fighting fire without consulting the state partners, it gets really difficult knowing what the status of those resources are going to be," he said. "They've laid off people and consolidated resources, but they're not discussing this with the state ... If we need a specialized unit like a hotshot crew, we don't have clarity on their availability." Federal lands make up more than 40% of public lands in Washington, according to data from DNR, and more than 275,000 acres burned in Washington in 2024. About 194,000 of those acres were DNR land, the data shows. "It is mission critical we have fully staffed teams when I'm out there fighting fire. We are working 16-hour days for 14 days straight. We need people to bring us chainsaw fuel and boxes of water and medical supplies," Granberg said. "We are completely engaged in stopping the fire. Without people to bring supplies, there is going to be a serious safety risk and a work slowdown." At the same time, many of the crews with purchasing power for supplies on the front lines have been completely cut off from doing so. In a March email obtained by The Spokesman-Review, a Forest Service supervisor sent out a mass message to crews indicating their purchasing cards, or government-issued cards used to buy supplies for firefighters and the tools they use, were dropped to just a $1 limit. "There was an exemption made for emergency response, essentially fire and fire adjacent support," the supervisor wrote in the email. "However, we know that some card holders slipped between the cracks and need to be reinstated so that incident operations can continue now and into the future." When Granberg heard the cards were run dry, she laughed. But then she got angry. "You can't even go to the dollar store with that," she said. In the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, crews used to have 500 purchasing cards. They now only have 50, Granberg said. For the cards that do still work, the cardholder — usually someone in a leadership role — is required to submit a request for every purchase that will go up the chain of command. Sometimes the person just won't hear back, Granberg said, even when every second counts during a rapid, ever-changing environment like a dangerous wildfire. And because the cardholder now must buy supplies for everyone else who no longer can, it'll create a mountain of extra paperwork. "It's like a full-time job dealing with purchase paperwork when you're supposed to be out fighting fires," she said. Purchasing power for fuel for chainsaws alone is a problem the entire agency is facing due to the budget restrictions, Granberg said — it's a huge concern when a chainsaw is the first step to creating a "fuel break" or a spot where vegetation is mitigated to decrease the spread of a fire. "Chainsaws go first. Then behind them is the dig line, they scratch everything down to soil. You can't move the dig line if you don't have chainsaws," Granberg said. "Water or retardant dropped out of helicopters only buy you time — they're not a replacement. No matter how much money you have for aircraft, if you don't have money for chainsaw fuel, you are running a huge risk." Her crews are also working with expired epinephrine, an immediate solution to anaphylactic shock. The medication is more than a year old, Granberg said. It's too early to tell what this year's fire season will look like, Rodruck said, but because the snow and water equivalent is low, it might affect how quickly fire fuels like brush and trees dry out. It's also too early to tell what void DNR may have to fill under the mutual aid agreements with the federal government. "DNR has a responsibility to respond to wildfires across all landscapes. The government has historically been a key partner in that," Upthegrove told The Spokesman-Review. "DNR would have to fill the void. And we will fill the void. We are going to do what it takes." Firefighters going into fire season are already exhausted, Granberg said. The constant back and forth of being fired and reinstated coupled with the concern over retirement benefits is wearing down employees right before a season where they should be at their best. "Watching our friends get terminated and told they have two hours to pack up and leave has a cumulative effect," she said. "We need to come back, ready to fight, and everyone is already exhausted." Among Granberg's fears about the firings is a loss of public land. If the people who manage the lands are gone and the lands fall into disrepair, it'll be easier to justify selling them off, she said. "I don't think people realize the importance of our public lands. Everything that is happening will directly impact their ability to enjoy them. Public land is our nation's greatest treasure," she said. "My fear is that it's going to take a bad fire season to realize the value of federal employees and what they provide."
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fighting wildfires becomes more difficult after budget cuts hit supplies
May 14—Fuel for chainsaws. Food and water for Pulaski-toting firefighters doing the exhaustive work of digging fire lines. Ample first aid kits with spendy epi-pens in case a wildland firefighter steps on a hornet's nest and suffers a life-threatening allergic reaction. They are the kinds of things that can make or break beating back a wildfire and ensuring the safety of fire crews. And they are the kinds of things jeopardized amid the Trump Administration's efforts to slash the government's federal spending. It has led to a chaotic prep season for wildfire managers as they fret about money, resources and a rapidly approaching summer. And the future isn't looking promising. "There's no way someone would be taking this action if they were aware of the risk to public safety this entails," said Rachel Granberg, a union representative for the National Federation of Federal Employees. Granberg is an 11-year employee with the U.S. Forest Service and stationed in Wenatchee, currently working as a squad boss on a helitack crew, a person who fights fires, manages firefighters and manages aircraft. She has avoided being fired by the Trump Administration, but many of the staff designated to support people like her on the front lines of a raging fire have not. Since Trump and adviser Elon Musk terminated 2,000 Forest Service employees in February, the number has grown to 5,000 "non-fire" employees through early retirements, resignations and buyout offers. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., estimates 7,400 Forest Service employees nationwide were cut, according to a news release from her office, and about 75% of these employees are trained to assist in fighting fire. Around the same time, Trump also issued an executive order barring federal union employees from collective bargaining agreements after their terminations were reinstated. The process playing out in courts has been confusing and convoluted, leaving some to just leave the agency altogether with no hope of coming back. While the government maintains those terminated are not firefighters, they are critical to how firefighters operate, Granberg said. Many of the employees let go were part of designated Incident Management Teams, or teams put together to make large-scale plans to fight wildfires. Some of them coordinate who is in the airspace, assign aircraft to a fire, designate where a helicopter base will be or map the topography of the area. Some are mapping the fire as it spreads, and communicating with people in the field about where to go and what to do. Others are tasked with ordering a communications trailer, setting up portable bathrooms, making sure tents show up to camp on time or bringing food and water back and forth to firefighters. And the layoffs in fuel mitigation, an attempt to control brush and trees before a fire gets out of control, could instead breed a fire that quickly spreads. The stress surrounding fire resources isn't strictly within the federal government. It's bled over to state agencies, who have mutual aid agreements with the Forest Service. "There are lots of firings at these agencies, and there's been no communication, or very little, on any of that," said Dave Upthegrove, the public lands commissioner for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. "We've been doing our best to analyze what's going on and adjust as needed, but the fact is, we don't know much more." It's usually possible the DNR firefighters will be battling the same fire as the Forest Service, just in different locations, because a fast-paced fire can, and will, cross jurisdictional lines. "Let's say there was a fire in one of the national forests. I can assure you DNR resources are going to be part of the initial attack because that forest may not have enough fire units on it to do an initial attack of an extreme fire," said DNR firefighter and spokesperson Ryan Rodruck. The Forest Service also has the ability to order DNR resources to help fight a fire outside of DNR range. And when a fire is spreading, it's important that order must be done quickly, Rodruck said. "Wildfire is complicated, there are a lot of moving parts. When the feds make it unclear what the structure is for fighting fire without consulting the state partners, it gets really difficult knowing what the status of those resources are going to be," he said. "They've laid off people and consolidated resources, but they're not discussing this with the state ... If we need a specialized unit like a hotshot crew, we don't have clarity on their availability." Federal lands make up more than 40% of public lands in Washington, according to data from DNR, and more than 275,000 acres burned in Washington in 2024. About 194,000 of those acres were DNR land, the data shows. "It is mission critical we have fully staffed teams when I'm out there fighting fire. We are working 16-hour days for 14 days straight. We need people to bring us chainsaw fuel and boxes of water and medical supplies," Granberg said. "We are completely engaged in stopping the fire. Without people to bring supplies, there is going to be a serious safety risk and a work slowdown." At the same time, many of the crews with purchasing power for supplies on the front lines have been completely cut off from doing so. In a March email obtained by The Spokesman-Review, a Forest Service supervisor sent out a mass message to crews indicating their purchasing cards, or government-issued cards used to buy supplies for firefighters and the tools they use, were dropped to just a $1 limit. "There was an exemption made for emergency response, essentially fire and fire adjacent support," the supervisor wrote in the email. "However, we know that some card holders slipped between the cracks and need to be reinstated so that incident operations can continue now and into the future." When Granberg heard the cards were run dry, she laughed. But then she got angry. "You can't even go to the dollar store with that," she said. In the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, crews used to have 500 purchasing cards. They now only have 50, Granberg said. For the cards that do still work, the cardholder — usually someone in a leadership role — is required to submit a request for every purchase that will go up the chain of command. Sometimes the person just won't hear back, Granberg said, even when every second counts during a rapid, ever-changing environment like a dangerous wildfire. And because the cardholder now must buy supplies for everyone else who no longer can, it'll create a mountain of extra paperwork. "It's like a full-time job dealing with purchase paperwork when you're supposed to be out fighting fires," she said. Purchasing power for fuel for chainsaws alone is a problem the entire agency is facing due to the budget restrictions, Granberg said — it's a huge concern when a chainsaw is the first step to creating a "fuel break" or a spot where vegetation is mitigated to decrease the spread of a fire. "Chainsaws go first. Then behind them is the dig line, they scratch everything down to soil. You can't move the dig line if you don't have chainsaws," Granberg said. "Water or retardant dropped out of helicopters only buy you time — they're not a replacement. No matter how much money you have for aircraft, if you don't have money for chainsaw fuel, you are running a huge risk." It's too early to tell what this year's fire season will look like, Rodruck said, but because the snow and water equivalent is low, it might affect how quickly fire fuels like brush and trees dry out. It's also too early to tell what void DNR may have to fill under the mutual aid agreements with the federal government. "DNR has a responsibility to respond to wildfires across all landscapes. The government has historically been a key partner in that," Upthegrove told The Spokesman-Review. "DNR would have to fill the void. And we will fill the void. We are going to do what it takes." Firefighters going into fire season are already exhausted, Granberg said. The constant back and forth of being fired and reinstated coupled with the concern over retirement benefits is wearing down employees right before a season where they should be at their best. "Watching our friends get terminated and told they have two hours to pack up and leave has a cumulative effect," she said. "We need to come back, ready to fight, and everyone is already exhausted." Among Granberg's fears about the firings is a loss of public land. If the people who manage the lands are gone and the lands fall into disrepair, it'll be easier to justify selling them off, she said. "I don't think people realize the importance of our public lands. Everything that is happening will directly impact their ability to enjoy them. Public land is our nation's greatest treasure," she said. "My fear is that it's going to take a bad fire season to realize the value of federal employees and what they provide."
The Hill
16-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Unions launch ‘Rise Up' legal defense network for federal workers fired under Trump
A network of federal employee unions and legal groups are launching a legal defense group to provide counsel to thousands of government workers recently fired by the Trump administration. Deemed Rise Up, the program will recruit lawyers to provide pro bono legal help to scores of federal workers. 'Federal workers' unions and allied organizations are already fighting back in court, but thousands of federal workers still need individual legal advice and representation. Rise Up: Federal Workers Legal Defense Network will mobilize and train thousands of lawyers to provide pro bono legal guidance to federal workers,' the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal government union, wrote in a statement announcing the program. The Trump administration has fired thousands of employees still in their probationary period – a timeline that can stretch from one to two years depending on the agency. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has also directed agencies to embark on reductions in force (RIFs), which would mean wide-scale government layoffs. Agencies faced a deadline earlier this week to send OMB their plans for doing these reductions. 'It is critical that federal workers have access to legal recourse as the Trump administration threatens and unlawfully terminates hundreds of thousands of proud civil servants,' National Federation of Federal Employees president Randy Erwin said in a statement. 'We are incredibly grateful for the attorneys and allies in our communities who stand with federal workers delivering essential services to the American people.' Rise Up includes platforms both for fired federal workers and volunteer lawyers who will 'receive training to assist workers in need of support.' The AFL-CIO, Democracy Forward, the American Federation of Government Employees, the National Federation of Federal Employees, National Treasury Employees Union, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the American Constitution Society and the Partnership for Public Service, among others, are supporting the program.
CBS News
20-03-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Trump secures pay increase for wildland firefighters while DOGE fires critical support staff
Wildland firefighters will keep a 4-year-old pay hike under a GOP-led spending bill signed by President Donald Trump, but many worry that mass federal worker firings will leave the nation more vulnerable to wildfires. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Wednesday credited Trump with securing the pay increase in a post on the social media site X. He said the administration is grateful to firefighters who he said "embody the American spirit by selflessly risking their lives to protect their neighbors, protect their communities and preserve our natural heritage." The permanent pay raise comes as Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has cut about 3,400 workers at the U.S. Forest Service, about 1,000 at the National Park Service and another 1,000 at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Many of those workers kept trails free of debris, oversaw prescribed burns, thinned forests and were specially trained to work with firefighters. They say staffing cuts threaten public safety, especially in the West, where drier and hotter conditions linked to climate change have increased the intensity of wildfires. "What I'm hearing from my constituents who actually fight fires in Washington state is that Trump and Elon are making wildland firefighters' jobs far more difficult and far more dangerous by indiscriminately firing thousands of Forest Service workers and others who support wildland firefighting," Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray said in an email to The Associated Press. "It's disingenuous and frankly insulting for this administration to pretend otherwise." The federal government has been rehiring some employees under court order after the firings were challenged. According to the National Federation of Federal Employees, wildland firefighters first began receiving a raise — 50%, or up to $20,000 — temporarily in 2021 as part of the bipartisan infrastructure law signed by then-President Joe Biden. Congress subsequently extended the raise on a short-term basis. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, oversees forest spending as chair of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations subcommittee and worked to make the pay raise permanent. "A permanent pay fix for our wildland firefighters will strengthen recruitment and retention while providing financial security to the first responders who protect our communities," Simpson said in a news release. Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, likewise celebrated the raise, saying the union had been fighting for it for years. "Now, that fight is paying off," Erwin said in a statement. "A permanent pay fix means we can shift our focus to addressing other critical issues — recruitment and retention, housing, mental health benefits, rest and recuperation, and the overall well-being of our nation's wildland firefighting workforce." But he warned that continued efforts by the Trump administration to cut firefighters and their support personnel "will cripple the workforce and make Americans less safe." "Congress must not let these harmful plans be carried out," Erwin said. Washington State Forester George Geissler, who leads the state's wildland firefighting efforts, has over 30 years of experience with wildfires. He said federal officials don't appreciate the roles those workers play in fighting fires. "I don't think there is a desire to reduce the number of firefighters with the Forest Service," he said Wednesday. "But I do think there is a clear lack of understanding about how the inter-agency wildland fire system is set up, how it works, and how people that don't have 'firefighter' listed as their job are still a massive part of the response system in the country." Former NOAA administrator Rick Spinrad said a reduction in that agency's workforce will also critically inhibit wildland firefighting. Spinrad said NOAA and the National Weather Service have about 100 "incident meteorologists," or I-Mets, who deploy to wildfires to provide support on the scene — such as by letting firefighters know where the winds are coming from and what weather conditions are forecast. "I know for a fact that some of those I-Mets will not be on the job, so that capability is going to be compromised," Spinrad said during a recent press conference with several laid-off NOAA workers. Gregg Bafundo was laid off last month from his job as a wilderness ranger and wildland firefighter in Washington's Okanogan Wenatchee National Forest. Bafundo is among those who have at least temporarily been called back to work, but his long-term future with the agency is unclear. "I have always placed myself between the danger and my fellow citizens, and now I feel like I've been cast aside like some sort of parasite class or some kind of fraud," he said during a press conference hosted by Murray last month. "These heartless and gutless firings will lead to the loss of lives and property." The Associated Press contributed to this report.
