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A new generation of Nez Perce Firefighters steps up

Two young men, dressed in green pants and blue t-shirts, are standing behind a fire truck that is parked outside of a garage, checking equipment on the truck.
Lauren Paterson / NWPB
Jalisco Miles and Farrell Hayes check on a fire engine pump at the Nez Perce Tribe Forestry & Fire Management Division fire station in Lapwai, Idaho on June 12, 2024.

As wildfires continue to increase in frequency and severity across the country, firefighters are in high demand. Lauren Paterson from Northwest Public Broadcasting reports on a new generation of Nez Perce firefighters in Idaho.

For the Nez Perce, and many tribes across the country, devastating wildfires have become more common. In 2015, the Lawyer Complex fire destroyed 42 homes in Kamiah, a city on the Nez Perce Reservation. Last year, the Gwen fire burned roughly 30,000 acres in the area. “We had a really big fire and it changed my perspective a lot on it,” Jalisco Miles, a three year firefighting veteran, said.

Lauren Paterson is a reporter at Northwest Public Broadcasting

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