As wildfires worsen, Trump administration revives discredited policy to stomp out all fires quickly [View all]
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
= new reply since forum marked as read