An excerpt from a lengthy article in the Press-Enterprise:
Roughly a third of California’s fleet of federal fire engines is currently unavailable due to staffing shortages, according to figures supplied by a group that represents U.S. Forest Service crews.
Statewide, only 186 of the agency’s 276 engines were ready to respond to fires as of Friday, according to a report created by fire officials and released by the Federal Wildland Fire Service Association.
The number of available engines fluctuates daily as staffing levels vary slightly, said Casey Judd, the group’s business manager.
Thirty-two percent of federal engines were not staffed Friday, underscoring the magnitude of a firefighter retention problem that the agency’s top officials have downplayed, Judd said.
“There’s nobody to go to these fires,” he said. “As a result, fires that should be put out will grow in size, intensity and, ultimately, cost.”
Federal fire officials said they are moving quickly to put several dozen more engines into service in the state by late June. Meanwhile, they said, the agency is ready for the approaching fire season.
