Wildfires are getting more extreme. And so is the need for more firefighters
Consider This from NPR
NPR
4.2 • 6.2K Ratings
🗓️ 4 July 2024
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
You'd think, if the wildfire crisis is getting worse, there'd be more and more firefighters in place to meet that demand. But at agencies like the U.S. Forest Service, adequate staffing has been a huge challenge.
But as organizations like the Forest Service raise alarm about firefighter shortages, there's also a whole group of people who are trained to fight fires and are struggling to get jobs in the field: formerly incarcerated people.
We hear from Royal Ramey, a formerly incarcerated firefighter who started an organization to help others build firefighting careers once they're released from prison.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Extreme wildfires doubled worldwide over the last two decades according to a new study of NASA satellite data. |
| 0:07.5 | They're more frequent and more intense than they were 20 years ago, |
| 0:11.5 | and that is in large part because of rising temperatures. |
| 0:16.0 | 2023 had the most intense wildfires ever recorded. It also had the hottest temperatures on record. |
| 0:23.0 | These are the kind of stats that make the term |
| 0:26.0 | Wildfire season feel, well, a little passay. |
| 0:29.0 | It's not a fire season anymore, it's a fire year. |
| 0:32.0 | Jeff Marcellay is the Associate Deputy Chief of the U.S. Forest Service. |
| 0:36.5 | That's the agency responsible for preventing and responding to wildland fires |
| 0:41.1 | on nearly 200 million acres of US land. |
| 0:44.7 | Just like we saw in Texas earlier in the spring or we've seen in Denver in December and January, |
| 0:51.8 | wildfires can pop up in and call. and |
| 0:55.0 | cause significant impact in almost any part of our country given the right conditions. |
| 1:01.0 | You think if the wildfire crisis is getting worse there'd be more and more |
| 1:05.2 | firefighters in place to meet that demand. But at the US Forest Service, adequate staffing |
| 1:11.1 | has been a huge challenge. |
| 1:13.2 | 45% of its permanent employees left over the last three years |
| 1:18.1 | according to the agency's own data. |
| 1:19.9 | Marcella says there are two big reasons why. |
| 1:24.0 | It's very dangerous and difficult work. |
| 1:27.0 | Let's start with that. |
| 1:28.0 | There's growing body of evidence that around things like exposure to smoke |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.