DEBBIE ELLIOTT, HOST:
Hundreds of thousands of people in Southern Europe have been displaced by wildfires during an extraordinary heat wave and drought. Here in North America, tens of millions of people are continuing to endure hazardous smoke from out of control wildfires burning across Canada and the Western U.S. In Idaho, the National Interagency Fire Center has now raised the National Preparedness Level to 5, its highest. For more, we've got NPR's Kirk Siegler on the line from Boise. He covers wildfires for NPR. Hi, there Kirk.
KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE: Hey, Debbie.
ELLIOTT: I understand we've reached you outside the National Interagency Fire Center there in Boise. What's happening?
SIEGLER: Well, it's very smoky. You can smell smoke in the air. It's hard to see the mountains. I'm looking at what looks like an air tanker possibly being refilled. This is sort of the nerve center, it's often called, if you will, where all of the firefighting resources and apparatus is coordinated for the entire country.
ELLIOTT: Now, explain to us what a Preparedness Level 5 actually means. Just how big of a deal is this?
SIEGLER: Well, it's a huge deal because it means all of the resources have been deployed at all the fires across the country. So if we get another big fire, we're in trouble. And that's probably why I'm not seeing a whole lot here outside the center. The center has made a plea for international help. In fact, we're expecting a crew of elite firefighters coming in from Australia to land this weekend and get deployed across the West. But as you said in your intro, you know, international aid could be harder to come by if the situation in Southern Europe gets worse and firefighters are going to be needed there, international crews needed there.
ELLIOTT: Where are the biggest areas of concern in the U.S. right now?
SIEGLER: Well, here in the West, Utah and Colorado have been getting a little bit of rain, so that's helped things. Same with Minnesota. Next door to me, here in Oregon continues to be a major concern. In fact, the smoke I just described is mostly all coming from these big range fires next door in Oregon.
You know, Debbie, wildfires are obviously dangerous for those in their immediate path, but it's the smoke and all the toxins in it - from homes that have burned, you know, lead paint and propane tanks - that's really the bigger concern, danger for a lot more people. Think about what we've been seeing with smoke drifting in from Canada, creating health advisories across a large swath of the U.S. Now, over in Oregon, the air quality has also been brutal for weeks. I called up a source of mine over there, Jenny Mowe. She owns a bakery over in the eastern part of the state.
JENNY MOWE: Yeah, it's just a really, really bad fire season. You've got a lot of our elder community that cannot go out. You know, I've got a family friend that - he's on oxygen, and he hasn't been able to leave his house now for two weeks.
ELLIOTT: It just sounds like a mess. What are you getting in terms of a sense of how firefighters are coping? Are there enough crews to manage all of this?
SIEGLER: Well, it's a struggle, and resources are stretched thin. You know, even before the summer fire season began, I sat down with the U.S. Forest Service chief, and he told me that morale is an ongoing issue. You know, the federal agencies that fight fires were hit big by President Trump's DOGE cuts. My sources tell me that a lot of experienced veterans were let go in those DOGE cuts. So think of, like, the engine captains, the crew bosses - the crew bosses, you know - these are jobs that are now being filled by less experienced people.
And there's just more pressure on firefighters to save homes and infrastructure as the conditions get more dangerous due to climate change and the overgrown forests. I mean, I'm looking up on the hillside here in Boise, I can see through the smoke a fire scar. We had a very close call here the other day, and just at the last minute, the wind shifted and moved the flames, thankfully, away from thousands of homes in mountain neighborhoods here.
ELLIOTT: You know, you've been covering wildfires for a good part of your career. They're in the headlines right now, but how does this summer fire season compare to recent years?
SIEGLER: Well, it's certainly bad, but it's not unexpected, I'd say, you know, after the hot and dry winter we had in the West, and frankly, not unprecedented - at least not yet - compared to some recent years - going back to 2020, you know, we had 10 million acres burned. Right now it's 4 million or so that's burned. It's still just July. But resources are really stretched. And, you know, fall is when wildfires traditionally get bad down in California, when the desert winds blow in. So I guess to answer that, I'd say it's still early, and we could definitely use some rain right now in the West, but there's very little in the forecast right now.
ELLIOTT: NPR's Kirk Siegler covers wildfires. He's been speaking to us from outside the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. Thanks so much, Kirk.
SIEGLER: You're welcome.
ELLIOTT: Be safe. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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