The wildfires in Los Angeles have resulted in significant destruction, with over 15,000 structures lost and numerous deaths and evacuations. Despite the scale of this crisis, neighboring states provided crucial assistance, highlighting the importance of mutual aid among firefighting agencies. However, the firefighting personnel are currently overstretched, facing staffing shortages, mental health crises, and inadequate pay. This precarious system, heavily reliant on luck, risks collapsing under the increasing pressures of more frequent wildfires, underscoring a need for better support and resources for these essential services.
American wildland firefighting today is built on a complex network of local, state and federal agencies that are often called to support one another.
It was sheer luck that many agencies both near and far had capacity in this moment to spare.
A system built on luck is not a durable system. It is already strained, and it risks breaking down in a world of greater and more frequent wildfires.
Those agencies face deep and constant staffing shortfalls, leading to a wildland fire workforce in America that faces mental and physical health crises and even homelessness.
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