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A busy start to the fire season means authorities are already calling for reinforcements.
Firefighting resources are being deployed at levels normally seen later in the year, as dozens of large, active wildfires have burned more than 1.3 million acres across the West. Nearly 22,000 firefighters and other staff are working to contain the rapidly spreading flames, and agencies and leaders fear that firefighters will run out well before the toughest months of the season come to an end. summer and early fall.
The heads of state of Idaho and Oregon called in the National Guard this month as the fires escalated. Firefighters from Maine, Pennsylvania and New Mexico join teams from Minnesota and Alaska to aid efforts in Idaho, where thunderstorms on July 7 sparked several fires that strained resources . And California Governor Gavin Newsom sent firefighters to aid efforts along the Bootleg Blaze in Oregon, currently the nation’s largest blaze and the state’s fourth since 1900.
This level of coordination and resource management is common throughout a fire season, but rare at this point in the year. Resource usage is about a month ahead of schedule, said Jessica Gardetto, spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management and the National Interagency Fire Center. Last week, the center raised its national preparedness level to five, the highest indicator it has to signal a great need for resources. This is the first time that the center has reached this level in a decade.
“It started so early that we’re really worried about whether we’ll get enough or not and how tired they will be even in the middle of the season,” said John Bailey, forestry and fire professor. management at Oregon State University’s College of Forestry, referring to firefighters and other personnel. “It’s a finite pool of people and energy, as well as money.”
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