PRESCOTT, Ariz. — It’s shaping up to be a long wildfire season, with Texas already experiencing its largest fire in history and firefighters overwhelmed by the recent blazes in Virginia.
In the first three months of the year alone, more than 2,000 square miles (6,912 square kilometers) were charred in the United States. That’s more than half of last year’s total, and forecasters predict an increased risk of fires in the coming months in the Great Lakes region, parts of the Midwest, Southwest and Hawaii.
“We’ll be busy. I can’t tell you exactly where at this point, but we’ll be busy,” said Alex Robertson, acting director of fire and aviation for the US Forest Service.
As fires grow in size and duration, federal officials responsible for juggling resources and dispatching crews are shifting to a new business model they describe as the biggest shift in wildfire management in decades. They say it will provide greater flexibility in responding to bushfires and ensure there are more staff with the training and qualifications needed to tackle the most complex fires.
It’s an idea that has been circulating for years due to the pressure placed on wildfire response personnel as heat waves and historic droughts linked to climate change have made wildfires harder to fight in the American West. Scientists have said climate change has made the region much warmer and drier over the past three decades and will make weather more extreme, and wildfires more frequent and destructive.
In recent years, a shortage of top-level Type 1 teams has led to Type 2 teams taking on larger assignments – such as those that threaten multiple communities and require more firefighters, aircraft and a steady flow of other resources. This season, 44 leadership teams have been formed to respond to the largest fires across the country.
Managers consider many factors when determining the complexity of a fire, which can change due to developments ranging from fuel conditions and growth potential to risks to property and cultural resources.
Todd Abel, a deputy fire chief with the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, has been part of wildfire management teams for more than two decades. There have been years when he returned home from an assignment, packed his things and left two days later for a new assignment. He remembered doing that eight or nine times one summer.
“That’s why they are making more teams available for complex incident management,” he says.
In 2021, California marked the largest wildfire. The Dixie Fire was active for more than three months and grew to 1,000 square miles (3,898 square kilometers). Nearly 2,000 personnel were involved in that fire.
The following year in New Mexico, more than 3,000 people were deployed to fight the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, a blaze sparked by two prescribed burns that escaped forest managers. It was the largest and most destructive wildfire in New Mexico history and lasted more than four months before it could be brought under control.
In addition to filling top command positions, recruiting new wildland firefighters has been a priority at federal land management agencies. Many positions are seasonal, lasting six months on average. Some people don’t return, while others get promoted – and in both cases, positions are left empty.
The Forest Service hopes to hire about 11,300 firefighters this year.
The extension of the fire season has also changed the composition of seasonal fire crews and permanent positions. Jeff Rupert, director of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Wildland Fire, said that in recent years, more than a third of the workforce has been seasonal. That number is decreasing because more permanent positions are needed.
New recruits must complete bushfire training and pass a basic fitness test.
An annual wildfire training academy in Prescott, Arizona, marked a record year, with more than 1,000 people teaching and working in the field for a week in March.
Dozens of students kicked up clouds of dust as they used tools to dig their first hand line at a site where fire is simulated by pink tape tied to bushes. There was no choking smoke or chainsaws tearing through the undergrowth as helicopters thundered overhead. Still, the workshop gave the students an idea of what it’s like to fight a wildfire.
Robertson said the first year is the most important for a firefighter.
“It’s when someone determines if this type of work is right for them,” he said. “It’s a lot of work and you don’t know where you will be the next day. It’s very dynamic. A lot of unknowns.”
For top-level managers orchestrating the fight against the biggest fires, there are new courses some will need to take – as Type 1 and Type 2 teams are reconfigured to form new management teams for complex fires. The teams will consist of between 50 and 90 people, each with expertise in their specific field.
Jesse Bender, chairman of the Incident Workforce Development Group, said the change has more to do with the administrative process of how government agencies respond to wildfires. She called it an opportunity to better coordinate wildfire response efforts so the public knows they have a highly trained and experienced group of people who can care for firefighters on the ground and protect the things communities value, including homes, animals in wildlife, cultural attractions and nature reserves.
“The bottom line,” she said, “is that we want to make sure we get enough people to all the fires to help those who need it.”
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Associated Press writer Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report.