Letting It All Burn
The United States is on fire. A massive heat dome hovers over three-quarters of the country, broiling 100 million people with“100 degree days.” Over a million acres from Alaska to Florida are on fire. As I write, of the 473 wildfires burning, 63 have consumed 1,000 acres or more.
The Cram Fire in southeastern Oregon is on the verge of mega-fire status. It has already destroyed close to 100,000 acres. In Northern Arizona — the Dragon Bravo Fire that turned the historic Grand Canyon Lodge on the park’s north rim into a pile of rubble — has been raging for over two weeks.
Just a few weeks ago, we saw how Donald Trump’s intentionally hobbled FEMA fell terribly short in flood-ravaged Texas. The usually robust federal relief agency showed up late, with far fewer people to help — just 100 compared to the initial 1,000 the former President Biden’s FEMA sent to help after Hurricane Helene. CNN reports that the response was so bad that “some FEMA teams, which are involved in large area searches, water rescues and finding human remains, didn’t arrive in Texas and begin field work until a week after the flood.” That failure apparently caused FEMA’s top search and rescue leader to quit in disgust.
Not surprisingly, the Trump Administration is now also falling short fighting the growing number of wildfires scorching the country. Thousands of seasoned experts and key support personnel are gone leaving fire crews stretched dangerously thin. That includes so-called “red card” employees trained to assist in fire emergencies and wildland fire meteorologists who provide critical weather information. There are even reports that front line firefighters are going without meals or being diverted to do non-fire jobs like clean toilets and mow lawns.
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