As climate change drives more destructive fires, there are fewer people than ever to fight them. A program in Burns, Oregon, shows how it's training the next generation.

Burns

A new internship program in Burns, Oregon, is providing training for young people interested in wildland firefighting careers. The initiative comes as the number of available firefighters declines, partly due to retirements and recent reductions in U.S. Forest Service staff. The program aims to spark interest among youth, offering hands-on experience and exposure to the profession. Legislation has also been introduced to expand such training and hiring opportunities for teens and young adults, as climate change leads to longer and more destructive fire seasons. Participants like recent high school graduate Junior Rafe are motivated by personal experiences with wildfires and a desire to protect their communities and natural landscapes.

Program trains new generation of wildland firefighters

I'm going to work. Until his senior year of high school, 17-year-old Junior Rafe didn't really know what he wanted to do with his life. But now that the recent graduate finally does know, he can't wait to get his day started and train to fight forest fires. Rafe is part of Burns, Oregon's first-ever small class of wildland firefighting interns. What are we preventing here? So what we're doing is fuel reduction. So let's say a spark did spark up maybe right here, it wouldn't run up this hill and burn down all of these houses here. As climate change drives more destructive fires, there are fewer people than ever to fight them. This year the Trump administration fired or gave early retirement to at least 5,000 U.S. Forest Service employees. In Oregon, they're asking, where will the next generation of firefighters come from? What we're trying to do is build a pipeline. Aaron Johnston runs the internship program and says there are plenty of job opportunities for firefighters, but there's not enough interest. What's the root problem there with the youth? We're not seeing the youth join this industry. What we're seeing is a lot of our senior staff, eventually a lot of these folks are going to retire. And the reality is we need youth. Rafe first began considering a career in firefighting after a nearly 150,000-acre fire obliterated one of his family's favorite campsites. And then when he took a wildland firefighting class in high school, it all just kind of clicked. So you think it's just the exposure that people got? I think that's what it is. I definitely don't think anyone thought they were going to graduate high school and fight fire for the rest of their life, but I have quite a bit of friends that that's their goal. My goal is to become a smokejumper. I got something for adrenaline. I want to jump out of planes into fire and then fight them. In Washington, D.C., Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley has introduced legislation to rebuild the fire service, creating training and hiring opportunities for 300 teens and young adults every year. So you have this longer season, drier forest. It's scary as hell, but we have to do everything we can, so programs like this are going to help. What do you want to be a part of? I want to be a part of saving forests and preventing the fires. For Rafe, the harder he works, the more he sees he can build his own future, help rebuild the thinning ranks of wildland firefighters, and help protect the places that he loves.

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