BLM to reduce firefighting forces in southern Idaho
Monday, April 16, 2007 11:59 AM PDT
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| A United States Bureau of Land Management firefighter conducts a backburn in this 2005 file photo. The BLM announced recently it plans to deploy fewer firefighters in southern Idaho. |
TWIN FALLS (AP) — The Bureau of Land Management plans to deploy fewer but more experienced firefighters in southern Idaho this fire season, an official said.
One-truck teams led by veterans of previous fire seasons will replace three-truck teams.
That way crew chiefs will oversee only one truck and a five-member team, rather than three trucks and 15-member teams. The new arrangement will mean about 30 fewer BLM firefighters in southern Idaho this season.
‘‘I’m convinced we can do more with less,’’ Chris Simonson, BLM fire management officer in the Shoshone Field Office, told The Times-News. The agency also plans to hire just 10 rookies for the area this season as opposed to the 70 it employed last year. The number of trucks used to fight fires will be 22 this season, down from the 30 used last year. The trucks will be on call in Burley, Twin Falls and Shoshone, and other remote stations across southern Idaho.
‘‘We’re going to have a smaller organization,’’ Simonson said, ‘‘but we’ll have better crews. It’s about quality, not quantity.’’
No Dhimmi wrote on Aug 14, 2009 9:38 PM:
And this isn't "racist," because Islam is not a race, anymore than Communism or Nazism are races, both of which killed far fewer people than Islam.
Disgusting. "