Local firefighting agencies prepare for fire season, unimpacted by federal funding cuts

CHANNEL NEWS 4

Local firefighting agencies held a community wildfire panel Wednesday to discuss the upcoming wildfire season and address funding concerns with the public.

While the Trump Administration’s crackdown on federal spending has created an uncertain time for many federally-funded organizations, local firefighting agencies reassured the community that they’re just as prepared as ever for the upcoming wildfire season.

“We are funded and we have staffing about the similar levels that we have in the last couple of years. And so, as part of the administration, one of the big priorities for them has been emergency response and health and safety, and we fall under that aspect and so we are staffed similar to what we have been in the last couple years and we expect to provide a very similar service to what we have in the last few years as well,” Forest Fire Management Officer for the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest Gwen Sanchez said.

But fire officials say even with all the firefighting resources in the world, wildfires are difficult to control, especially in our current climate and environment in Northern Nevada.

“Will we have enough resources for fire? That’s a different question, because when it’s busy, it takes everybody that we have. All of our state partners, our local partners, it’s really all hands on deck when fire season gets going,” State Fire Management Officer for the Nevada Bureau of Land Management Brock Uhlig saidd.

Recent fires like the Davis Fire have demonstrated the new reality of what agencies call living with fire.

“We were living there and we had neighbors who were here. We were on vacation luckily, so we missed the worst of it. But we saw the damage, and we can still see the damage up on the hill,” Washoe Valley resident Bob Woolworth described his experience during the Davis Fire.

While firefighting agencies are gathering staff and resources in preparation for what they say could be a dangerous wildfire season, officials say there are things you can do to help too.

“Eighty-six percent of Nevada’s starts are caused by human starts, so the more that we can have the public be aware and cautious of causing any wildfires, the better that is for those natural starts so we can staff accordingly,” Deputy Administrator at the Nevada Division of Forestry Eric Antle said.