Michael Kohn

The Bulletin, Bend, Ore.

(TNS)

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D- Ore., said Monday that firefighters battling wildfires across the state are short on resources and crews, and is calling on greater federal assistance for Oregon.

Speaking at a press conference in Bend on Monday, Wyden made the comments after meeting with firefighters and officials in Central Oregon, including representatives of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. He said fire managers told him they need roughly twice their current staffing levels, including more middle managers who coordinate crews and other resources during large fires.

“I was told this morning … that they have half of what they need right now,” Wyden said.

The senator said he plans to take those concerns back to Washington and push for additional funding and personnel.

Record acres burned

The reported shortage comes as Oregon and other Western states face a fire season marked by multiple large fires burning simultaneously, limiting the ability of states and federal agencies to share crews and resources as they have in the past. More than 2 million acres have burned Oregon this year, a record for the state.

Wyden said the problem is a shortage of resources being sent to Oregon combined with resources that are stretched across the region.

Fires in Central Oregon in recent weeks have burned at least eight homes and forced thousands to evacuate. The Akawa fire burning near Sisters was considered a national level emergency as it approached the city in mid-July. Other fires have created hazardous levels of smoke in the region, especially in Prineville, where the AQI recently topped 600.

Wyden also took a moment to criticize President Donald Trump, alleging the president is not focused on wildfire.

“He’s interested in his various kinds of treasures, you know, all the pools, and the theaters, and stuff like that. He doesn’t spend his time on fighting fire,” Wyden said.

Wyden specifically called out the Trump administration’s federal Wildland Fire Service, calling it a “slapdash operation” and a distraction from the immediate needs of firefighters.

The Fire Service, established in January, unifies multiple agencies — the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and other agencies — to streamline efforts to wildfire response. Trump’s Executive Order 14308, which created the Service, cites the January 2025 Los Angeles Fires as the call to action.

The U.S. Forest Service did not respond to questions posed by The Bulletin last week related to Wyden’s criticisms of the Trump administration’s wildfire response. An email to President Trump’s press office on Monday also went unanswered.

Staffing shortages

Sisters Mayor Jennifer Letz, who has 30 years of experience as a wildland firefighter and has worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service, said staffing shortages are not limited to federal agencies.

She said Oregon faces similar challenges in developing qualified fire managers.

Letz said it can take years for firefighters to complete the training and experience requirements, known as task books, needed to qualify for management positions.

“It takes less time to be qualified to be a brain surgeon than it does to get some of the qualifications in wildland fire to even be middle management,” Letz said, citing comments she heard from Oregon State Forester Casey KC during a recent meeting.

Letz said agencies also have difficulty developing qualified personnel when many firefighters work only three- or four-month seasons.

She advocated for more permanent, year-round fire positions that would allow firefighters to spend the offseason on training, preparedness and fuels reduction.

“There’s so much work to do in the offseason, whether it’s training, preparing, or now fuels work, mitigation work,” Letz said.

Wyden said the federal government has cut positions that traditionally provided critical support to firefighters, including personnel who handle logistics, timekeeping and aviation management.

Those workers, Letz said, are essential to large-scale firefighting operations.

“If there’s nobody to get you the supplies, if there’s nobody to do your time, if there’s nobody to manage aviation resources, the firefighters can’t function very well,” she said.

‘Longstanding relationships’

Sisters has experienced two major wildfires in the past 11 months, although neither the Flat Fire nor the Akawa Butte Fire burned into the city. Both came within a few miles of Sisters.

Letz said the fires demonstrated the importance of Central Oregon’s longstanding relationships among local fire districts, Oregon Department of Forestry, federal agencies and other partners.

“The response has been great,” Letz said. “Being able to leverage our state partners and our federal partners, response was great as well for both fires.”

She also said firefighters who came from outside the area to protect individual homes were encouraged by the number of properties where residents had already created defensible space and completed other wildfire mitigation work.

When firefighters encounter a home with adequate defensible space, Letz said, they can more safely enter the property to protect it.

“That’s going to protect your property. It’s going to maybe protect your neighbor’s property. Most of all, it’s going to protect the lives of our first responders,” she said.

But Letz said far more work remains, including home hardening, defensible space and fuels reduction.

“The clock is ticking on this issue,” she said. “Mother Nature is pretty angry right now, and we need to mitigate for that.”

Wyden said he plans to use what he has learned from firefighters and local officials to push for additional resources and a stronger emphasis on prevention when Congress returns.

He said the traditional concept of a defined fire season has disappeared.

“Fire does not take a break anymore,” Wyden said. “Now the fire season is virtually year-round.”

He said that makes long-term investments in forest management, prescribed burning and fuels reduction increasingly important.

“We’re taking a more aggressive approach today,” Wyden said. “We’ve got tough times in the fall. It’s still going to be fire season when the Congress comes back.”

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