Heavy smoke in eastern cities puts a spotlight on the Northwest's wildfire challenges

Wildfire

Heavy smoke in eastern cities puts a spotlight on the Northwest's wildfire challenges

Oregon Public Broadcasting | By Elizabeth Castillo

Published June 18, 2023 at 8:05 AM PDT

When U.S. Forest Service firefighters aren't actively fighting fires in the Pacific Northwest, they're often dispatched elsewhere to help. In this file photo from 2021, a firefighter sprays a hot spot with water on the Granite Pass Complex in Montana.

"That smoke impacting a part of the nation that doesn鈥檛 normally see smoke certainly draws attention to some of the issues that we鈥檝e been talking about for a long time,鈥� said the U.S. Forest Service's Alex Robertson.

As wildfires in Canada continue to rage, the U.S. Forest Service, along with other state and federal agencies, has nearly 500 firefighters to combat the .

As wildfire smoke billows across the Midwest and Northeast U.S., concerns over firefighter pay, mental health and longer firefighting seasons have been brought to the forefront, said Alex Robertson, the Forest Service director of fire, fuels and aviation for the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.

鈥淎ll of those things are on everybody鈥檚 radar screen right now,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o, that smoke impacting a part of the nation that doesn鈥檛 normally see smoke certainly draws attention to some of the issues that we鈥檝e been talking about for a long time.鈥�

Robertson added that staffing for manager-level firefighting positions is currently sufficient, but a lack of housing and a shrinking applicant pool has made filling some entry level positions more challenging.

FILE: Eldorado Hotshots complete firing activities on the Delta Fire in California on Sept. 12, 2018.

鈥淭he national forest system was built on national forest and ranger districts and a lot of those ranger districts are in some pretty remote places without a lot of services,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here used to be a lure to the Forest Service to go live in some of those places. And the folks that we鈥檙e hiring into our entry level positions, it鈥檚 not as desirable as maybe what it used to be.鈥�

Meanwhile, the first fires of the season have sparked in Eastern Oregon. On Tuesday, Gov. Tina Kotek declared an emergency to mobilize additional help to battle wildfires in Umatilla County, one of which is now 100% contained, .

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Heavy smoke in eastern cities puts a spotlight on the Northwest's wildfire challenges

"That smoke impacting a part of the nation that doesn鈥檛 normally see smoke certainly draws attention to some of the issues that we鈥檝e been talking about for a long time,鈥� said the U.S. Forest Service's Alex Robertson.