Fire crews will increase next year

A 2000 summer fire season that charred more than 280,000 acres in Nevada and approximately seven million acres nationwide has garnered the attention of the federal government, which has set aside money for more firefighters.

In the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, the additional money means 126 new firefighters by the 2001 fire season. The forest stretches through much of the Great Basin and into eastern California.

Additionally, 10 engines and 15 fire patrol trucks will complement the new personnel. Of the 126 new firefighters, 56 will be full-time and 70 will be seasonal.

Local budgets will not been determined until figures, expected Dec. 4, are sent from Washington, D.C., according to Bureau of Land Management spokesman Mark Struble.

Preliminary plans for the BLM are to extend the length of the fire season for current firefighters and add positions to maximize the use of engines and other equipment that are sometimes left behind for lack of personnel. There are currently 12 engines in use on BLM land in Northern Nevada.

"Our plan is to totally outfit engines," Struble said. "We also want to work harder on defensible space and green-stripping"

Green stripping is the creation of fire lines in fire hot spots.

Additionally, the agency would like to add two permanent positions that deal with seasonal workers and one fire prevention technician to work with municipalities in creation of fire prevention plans.

"We want to clean up fuel accumulation problems," Struble said. "We want to get ahead of it better."

Scant BLM resources are distributed over five million acres in Nevada. With increasing contact in areas of urban development, Struble says firefighting on public land will soon be a city problem.

"You see it in the ads for new houses where it says 'Backs to BLM,'" he said. "It sounds good until a fire burns down the hill."

Nationally, 3,500 positions are expected to be added by next year to land management agencies as part of the National Fire Plan. The legislation will benefit the Forest Service, BLM, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife and Indian Affairs.

Approximately 130 fires burned this season in the Carson Ranger District of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest burning more than 10,000 acres, well above the yearly average of 6,000 acres.

Forest Service Fire Management Officer Mike Dondero said the long drought this summer, low humidity and fires sparked mostly by lightning equaled a 30 percent increase in the number of acres burned.

Firefighter Openings:

- U.S. Forest Service applications: (877) 813-3476. For local application workshops call 355-5301

- Bureau of Land Management applications: (303) 236-6706

ON THE NET:

U.S. Forest Service:

www.fs.fed.us/fsjobs

BLM:

www.blm.gov or www.usajobs.opm.gov