As wildfires worsen, Trump administration revives discredited policy to stomp out all fires quickly
Source: AP
By MARTHA BELLISLE and MATTHEW BROWN
Updated 3:13 PM CDT, June 30, 2026
Leer en español
The deaths of three U.S. government firefighters in a Colorado wildfire are casting a spotlight on the Trump administration’s creation of a new federal fire service and its revival of a previously discredited policy to stomp out all wildfires quickly.
One of the killed firefighters worked for the U.S. Wildland Fire Service, created this year without customary congressional approval by drawing personnel from four agencies within the Interior Department. The victims were part of an elite, helicopter-based crew that got trapped Saturday in a fast-growing wildfire near the Utah border as they attacked the blaze on the ground.
Authorities say they were among five firefighters who tried to shield themselves by deploying tentlike emergency shelters as flames overran their position. Two survivors were hospitalized with burn injuries.
The consolidation of thousands of personnel into the fire service has sown confusion among some firefighters about who their bosses are and what their responsibilities should be, according to former government officials.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/wildfire-wildland-firefighting-colorado-trump-administration-549b10807a4491bc50ba42d9450de9cc
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Not enough training and I wonder about the support crews, are there enough of them? Having been in an out of fire camps for various reasons, there is a whole network of support workers for these firefighters too. If those are not coordinated properly, things can go to shit in a hurry.
I know a lot of wildland firefighters, most now retired, and talking with a couple in past days, they are beyond disgusted at what the DC crowd is doing to the corps.
you share with DU.
Stay safe!
