Thin Lines: Wildfires and the Human Cost of Budget Cuts The nation's firefighters are struggling with severe staffing shortages and equipment gaps, exacerbated by the record breaking wildfires that have scorched 8.
5 million acres this year. According to Cody Turcotte, a 17 year veteran firefighter in Spokane, Washington, these shortages are a symptom of a decade long erosion of support for wildland firefighting.
The US Forest Service's contraction last year, which included a 16% reduction in staff, was not an isolated incident.