It’s been a scorching summer of record-breaking drought and heat in the West. Costly and destructive wildfires in Southern California included one inferno that burned more than 30,000 acres of national forest east of Los Angeles. In Montana, a fast-moving fire in Glacier National Park forced tourists to flee hotels, campgrounds and vehicles.
In 2015 through August 4th, 36,959 large wildland fires had destroyed 5,991,186 acres of land across the U.S., according to the National Interagency Fire Center. What does it take to protect the 13,200 federal wildland firefighters (average pay: $8 an hour) plus thousands of state and local fire fighters who risk their lives to save homes, communities, businesses and natural resources?