WASHINGTON — U.S. wildfire crews are confronting an unusually severe fire season as reductions in the federal workforce have narrowed the pool of personnel available for firefighting support, forest management and incident coordination, according to federal officials, firefighters and congressional lawmakers.
More than 46,500 wildfires have burned about 6.4 million acres across the United States this year, federal data showed, while firefighter entrapments have reached a 20-year high. Twelve such incidents have been recorded, above the annual average of nine, with six deaths and numerous injuries.
The U.S. Forest Service, the country's largest federal wildfire-fighting force, has lost nearly 6,000 employees through layoffs, buyouts and early retirements since President Donald Trump's administration began reducing the federal workforce, according to agency figures cited by congressional lawmakers and public broadcasters.
The reductions have affected more than frontline firefighting. Forest Service employees who perform forestry, dispatch, administrative and other duties can hold wildfire qualifications and be mobilized during major incidents, making the broader workforce important to federal response capacity.
The Forest Service has said it has sufficient resources for the 2026 fire season. The agency said it had hired 11,719 wildland firefighters nationwide and that more than 28,000 responders, including operational firefighters and qualified non-fire employees, could be mobilized. As of July 1, the federal government had deployed more than 9,000 personnel, while about 1.5% of resource requests processed in the preceding week went unfilled, according to the agency.
State officials and former federal fire managers have nevertheless raised concerns about the loss of experienced personnel and support staff. Washington state Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove said the cuts could reduce the availability of federal incident-management teams relied upon during major fires.
The staffing reductions also coincide with weaker wildfire-prevention capacity. An analysis cited by wildfire researchers found that the Forest Service treated roughly 35% fewer acres with prescribed fire, thinning and brush removal in 2025 than in 2024.
The 2026 fire season has also produced serious operational hazards. Four helitack firefighters were killed in Colorado's Knowles Fire, while federal authorities are reviewing this year's entrapments to identify measures that could improve firefighter safety.
Federal agencies continue to battle fires across the West as the season progresses, with the Forest Service maintaining that its current staffing and mobilization capacity is sufficient to respond.
