Forest Service Makes Farty Mouth Noises About How "Ready" They Are: Reality - 26% Of Firefighter Positions Unfilled

More than a quarter of firefighting positions at the United States Forest Service (USFS) remain vacant, according to internal data reviewed by the Guardian, creating staffing shortages as extreme conditions fuel dozens of blazes across the US. The data paints a dangerously different picture than the one offered by Tom Schultz, the chief of the USFS, who has repeatedly assured lawmakers and the public that the agency is fully prepared for the onslaught in fire activity expected through this year.

It’s already been busy. So far this year there have been more than 41,000 wildfires – nearly 31% higher than the 10-year average. “In terms of firefighting capacity we are there,” Schultz said during a Senate committee hearing on 10 July, claiming the USFS had hit 99% of hiring goals. He repeated the claim multiple times.

But staffing reports produced on 17 July show more than 5,100 positions were unfilled, more than 26%. The problem was especially grim in the Pacific north-west, a region facing extremely high fire risk this year, with a vacancy rate of 39%. The Intermountain region, the largest region with close to 34 million acres of forest lands that stretch across parts of Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho and California, has nearly 37%.

The numbers also fail to capture the strain being felt in specific areas within these regions where ranks are severely thin. There are reports of USFS crews staffed with less than half of the positions once considered necessary to be fully operational. Six federal firefighters, who asked for anonymity because they are barred from speaking publicly, described how the staffing shortages had complicated crews’ ability to suppress large fires and contribute to increased injuries and risks for firefighters on the ground.

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/22/us-firefighter-shortage-wildfires