Firefighters

Boise Fire’s Station 5 is now in service after a grand opening on Friday Oct. 18. The new station is equipped with upgrades that aim to help the city reach its sustainable energy goals.

In a report to the Board of Land Commissioners, the head of the Fire Management said Idaho is struggling to hire enough firefighters for the upcoming wildfire season.

The program allows first responders who are at least 50 years old to retire, wait 30 days and come back to work, while continuing to collect retirement benefits.

On Tuesday, residents of Caldwell will be asked if they want to fund a $17.3 million bond to build two new fire stations.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced $103 million to bolster wildfire risk reduction efforts and address the health risks faced by wildland firefighters while visiting the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise.

A special group of aerial firefighters are likely to be very busy this summer. Idaho Matters sits down with reporter Madelyn Beck to find out why.

This fire year is on track to be as extreme as the last few. At the same time, some Forest Service areas have had a hard time hiring enough wildland firefighters.

New federal funding may help with forest and wildfire management, but there are still hurdles. Increasing firefighter wages still can’t always contend with skyrocketing housing costs and burnout from long seasons. Funds may also help pay for supplies, but supply chain issues still make certain supplies hard to get.

A seasonal break from wildfires is disappearing in the West. A wildfire started this Saturday near Boulder, Colorado. It forced thousands of evacuations over the weekend, reminding people of what had just happened 3 months ago: the Marshall Fire, which burned down more than 1,000 homes. Experts say there are no longer fire seasons, just fire years.

This interview originally aired Sept. 15, 2020.For folks in the fire science world, the smoke that has engulfed most of the western United States is not…