Trump administration launches US Wildland Fire Service amid worsening wildfires

Key Points:

• Three U.S. government firefighters, including one from the newly created U.S. Wildland Fire Service, died while battling a fast-moving wildfire in Colorado, highlighting concerns about the Trump administration’s new federal fire service and its aggressive “full suppression” wildfire policy.
• The Wildland Fire Service was established this year without congressional approval by consolidating personnel from four Interior Department agencies, causing confusion among firefighters about command and responsibilities.
• The administration’s full suppression policy, which mandates quickly extinguishing all new fires, reverses decades of wildfire management that used controlled burns to reduce fuel and mitigate catastrophic fires, a strategy favored by many experts.
• Critics argue the new agency and policy won’t prevent catastrophic wildfires driven by climate change and dense forests, and that separating forest management from fire suppression may increase risks to firefighters and communities.
• Fire aviation companies, such as Bridger Aerospace founded by Senator Tim Sheehy, have benefited from the increased use of aircraft under the new policy, which echoes the outdated 1935 “10 a.m. rule” that contributed to overgrown forests and more severe fires today.