In the Montana wilderness, Victoria Porter fought a small forest fire that started from a hunter’s campsite for two days last year.USA
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Last year, Victoria Porter fought a small forest fire that started from a hunter’s campsite in the Montana wilderness for two days.
Porter, 28, used a mule team to transport water to put out the fire and assisted in digging a fire break to stop it from spreading.
Porter’s main responsibility at the time was not fighting fires. She was a member of a team that maintained hiking trails for the US Forest Service. However, she is expected to assist fire crews when needed and, like many Forest Service employees, has received basic training in fighting wildfires.
When the next wildfire breaks out, Porter will not be there to assist. She feels that the agency’s firefighters will be strained by the mass terminations of probationary employees that President Donald Trump’s administration has been implementing, including her own dismissal last week.Trump claimed that not enough was being done to stop natural disasters like the wildfires that raged around Los Angeles last month.
During his first week as president, he flew to Los Angeles and chastised local officials, criticizing the fire response in his inaugural address.
However, fired Forest Service employees who have been entangled in Trump and Elon Musk’s drive to reduce government agencies through the Department of Government Efficiency claim that the administration’s cuts are hurting future efforts to combat wildfires.
Many people who assist with firefighting, even if it is not their primary job, are being impacted by the DOGE cuts.The agency has had trouble maintaining staffing due to low pay and hazardous working conditions.
According to the agency’s website, “We have trouble hiring and keeping firefighters in parts of the country where the labor pool is small and pay is not as competitive as we would like.”
According to the Forest Service’s website, 11,393 wildland firefighters served in 2024.
Last year, employees of the U.S. Forest Service put out a small forest fire in Montana. Victoria Porter contributed to the firefight. She participated in …
Victoria Porter
However, according to Andy Vanderheuel, the leader of the union that represents roughly 17,000 Forest Service employees, many other employees are called in to assist in fighting fires.
According to its website, the agency employs roughly 35,000 people in total, and Vanderheuel estimated that over half of those who are not firefighters have what is known as a “red card,” which indicates that they have at least rudimentary training in fighting wildfires.
Edith Robinson, who was a member of Porter’s Montana trail crew until their recent terminations, is included in that cohort. The 32-year-old Robinson used to be a firefighter.The agency has had trouble maintaining staffing due to low pay and hazardous working conditions.
According to the agency’s website, “We have trouble hiring and keeping firefighters in parts of the country where the labor pool is small and pay is not as competitive as we would like.”
According to the Forest Service’s website, 11,393 wildland firefighters served in 2024.
Last year, employees of the U.S. Forest Service put out a small forest fire in Montana. Victoria Porter contributed to the firefight. She participated in … Show more
Victoria Porter
Many other Forest Service workers are pulled in to help fight fires, though, said Andy Vanderheuel, the head of the union representing about 17,000 Forest Service employees.
The agency has about 35,000 total employees, its website says, and among those who aren’t firefighters, Vanderheuel estimated that more than half have what’s known as a “red card,” which means they’ve received at least basic training in fighting wildfires.
That cohort includes Edith Robinson who was part of the same Montana trail crew as Porter until both recently were terminated. Robinson, 32, previously worked as a firefighter.
