Biden boosting wildfire fighting

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration said Wednesday it is hiring more federal firefighters – and immediately raising their pay – as officials ramp up response efforts in the face of a severe drought that is setting the stage for another destructive summer of intense wildfires across the West.

President Joe Biden announced the moves during a virtual meeting with governors from Western states and as a huge swath of the Pacific Northwest endures one of the worst heat waves in recent memory.

“This is an area that has been under-resourced, but that’s going to change, and we have to do it,” Biden told the governors. “We can’t cut corners when it comes to managing our wildfires or supporting our firefighters. Right now we have to act and act fast.”

Recalling horrific scenes from wildfires in California and other states last year, Biden said, “Orange skies look like end-of-days smoke and ash.”

Biden’s plan would ensure that no one fighting wildfires is making less than $15 per hour and would add or convert to full-time nearly 1,000 firefighters across a host of agencies.

Western states have been parched by severe drought and record heat that has burned more than 2,300 square miles this year. That’s ahead of the pace in 2020, which saw a 15,000 square miles burned, killing dozens of people and destroying more than 17,000 homes and other structures.