How Trump’s Federal Funding and Hiring Freezes Are Leaving America Vulnerable to Catastrophic Wildfire

The White House has frozen funds, including money appropriated by Congress , and issued a deluge of orders eliminating federal employees.

The uncertainty has limited training and postponed work to reduce flammable vegetation in areas vulnerable to wildfire.

It has also left some firefighters with little choice but to leave the force, their colleagues said.

The Southeast typically accounts for two-thirds of the acreage treated with federal prescribed burns annually .

The controlled burns serve several purposes: minimizing the size of naturally occurring wildfires by reducing available fuel; promoting biodiversity by creating varied habitat and recycling nutrients into the soil.

Some crews were told to head home early, according to a firefighter with direct knowledge of the situation.

“We do not have the resources to control this burn,” the firefighter said.

Government websites have already been scrubbed of information lauding progress in diversifying the male-dominated federal firefighting force, ProPublica found.

In Southern California , the Environmental Protection Agency has more than 1,500 employees and contractors working to clean up toxic pollution released by the Palisades and Eaton fires.