Wildland firefighters

UPDATES: Both of the fires grew overnight into Tuesday. Additional evacuation warnings are now in place for the larger of the two fires in Routt County.

Firefighters will now be able to use N95 masks on the fireline – building on a more limited, voluntary rollout of masking that started last fall. There will also be expanded access to showers, time for routine gear cleaning and so-called “clean air recovery periods” that can limit other risks.

Wildland firefighters have gathered to pay tribute to three of their own who died after they were trapped by flames a week ago in western Colorado. Emily Barker, Nick Hutcherson and Sydney Watson were remembered Sunday as courageous public servants who left a lasting impact through their work.

Low morale, staffing woes and health worries are among the top issues shared by hundreds of federal wildland firefighters who responded.

Wildland firefighters face extreme conditions. For those who identify as LGBTQ, there are challenges beyond the fireline. This Pride Month, the Mountain West News Bureau reports on how that community is responding.

Three firefighters have died and two were injured while battling fires on the Colorado-Utah border. The U.S. Wildland Fire Service says they were responding to the Knowles and Gore fires on Saturday. Wildfire activity has intensified across the Western U.S. due to hot, dry, and windy weather.

The Mountain West News Bureau’s wildfire reporter Murphy Woodhouse recently spoke at length with Chief Brian Fennessy, the inaugural head of the Department of Interior’s U.S. Wildland Fire Service. A major theme of their conversation was firefighter health and well-being.

When wildland firefighters are on prescribed fires, they’re breathing the same smoke and facing many of the same hazards found on wildfires, but they don’t get the same hazard pay. That could soon change.

The monthly National Interagency Fire Center outlooks are typically staid documents, providing just-the-facts analysis. But the latest is superlative-laden as it describes record-low snowpacks, record-early snow melt and record-high temperatures.

The 11 senators and representatives - all Democrats - said that the consolidation of four Department of Interior agencies’ wildfire programs is being done “without adequate analysis, transparency, or planning to prevent disruption during what is expected to be a significant fire season or to safeguard long-term wildfire preparedness.”