Firefighters sound alarm as US faces critical staffing shortage: ‘We don’t have enough people’

Nine current U.S. Forest Service firefighters, speaking anonymously because they are barred from public comment, told the Guardian the agency faces a critical staffing shortage this wildfire season despite official claims the firefighting workforce has never been stronger. Sources familiar with internal hiring data described significant gaps in leadership positions causing operational bottlenecks during an active fire year.

Firefighters logged more than 1,000 hours of overtime last year, equivalent to an extra five months of work crammed into one season, and this year is expected to be worse. A federal fire captain in the Pacific Northwest, where wildfires recently hit Spokane, Washington, said crews are already stretched to their limit with months of peak fire risk still ahead.

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