The White House is considering an executive order that would overhaul standards for some wildland firefighting efforts, a prospect state officials warn could put firefighters’ lives at risk.
The draft order, obtained by POLITICO and reviewed by The Spokesman-Review, aims to loosen regulatory firefighting policies and certifications needed to fight fires. If enacted, it could eliminate a drastic amount of aerial firefighting requirements and inspections.
The order would force wildfire agencies to accept the basic Federal Aviation Administration requirements for certified wildfire aircraft, effectively lowering standards for planes and allowing non-fire-certified aircraft into wildfire zones. In particular, the order would drop requirements for lead planes, small aircraft that scout wildfire zones and direct larger tankers where to drop loads of retardant or water.
Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove called the potential order dangerous, risky and poorly written, in a statement sent to The Spokesman-Review Friday.
“The draft of the executive order we have seen dangerously reduces the safety of our communities and our wildland firefighters. State and local agencies make up 75% of wildland firefighting efforts – and are the crews on the front lines of wildfires – yet this order was drafted without our input – that’s unacceptable,” Upthegrove said.
A White House official told the Washington Post in a statement that no orders are official until signed by Trump, and that “the media should stop reporting on ‘drafts’ with unknown origins.” According to the text of the draft order, it’s meant to streamline services in order to “rapidly and aggressively” respond to fires, including by establishing a national firefighting agency in light of the devastating Los Angeles fires earlier this year.
Regular aircraft, like a Boeing 747, were meant to carry passengers and cargo. If fire agencies use a Boeing 747, or a DC-10, it’s modified, loaded with retardant, flown as low as a thousand feet above ground and will rapidly ascend into the air. Because a Boeing 747’s intended use is not for fire, those planes must be held to a higher standard, which includes more frequent inspections and fitted designated parts, according to DNR. Certifications for specialized firefighting aircraft are typically done by a number of agencies, like the U.S Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs or the U.S Department of Agriculture.
Because aerial firefighting is strenuous to planes, limiting to only general inspections and certifications “unacceptably increases the risk to firefighters and communities” according to Washington Department of Natural Resources spokesperson Ryan Rodruck.
“If the draft is implemented as currently written it will, among other things, eliminate critical safety measures that protect aerial firefighters,” Upthegrove said.
The nation “must do better” to protect citizens from wildland fires, the draft order states. While it does mention Washington, along with other states, as a place where wildland fire is a challenge that “we have failed to properly prepare for” – President Donald Trump notably has withheld wildfire funding from Washington before.
In 2021, he prevented the town of Malden from receiving federal dollars to rebuild after a fire swept through the town. The reason, according to previous Spokesman-Review reporting, was his animosity toward Washington’s former governor, Jay Inslee.
But even though the state is mentioned in the draft order, and has restructured its efforts to prevent catastrophic fires like in the past, Washington wasn’t contacted by the government about their response tactics or aircrafts. It’s something Upthegrove referred to as “unacceptable.”
Changing wildfire efforts would pressure fire departments and public land agencies to recalibrate at a fast pace with the restructuring of federal and state services, because the draft would enact a national fire agency, dissolving the Wildland Fire Leadership Council. The council was established in 2002 and is made up of federal, state, tribal, county and municipal government officials. Those officials are convened by the Secretaries of the Interior, USDA, Department of Defense and Homeland Security, which aims to oversee wildland fire policy and management, according to its website.
“It (would) scramble partnerships and jumbles jurisdiction, attempting to put state and local response efforts under the control of a new federal fire entity,” Rodruck said. “This confusion compromises the safety of our firefighters and our neighbors.”
Washington is less than months away from its annual fire season – and over the years, dryer, hotter summers and changes to the state’s vegetation mean the fire season is longer. The Oregon Road and Gray fires, which devastated Spokane County in August of 2023, were among the worst in state history. They razed more than 21,000 acres and more than 300 homes.
Since those fires, the state has increased planes at its disposal to 44. The passage of a bill that allows firefighters to call an interagency dispatch center directly and request aircraft, cutting out the need for additional phone calls and saving time during the initial attack phase of a wildfire, has also aided in response time, according to previous reporting from The Spokesman-Review.
A small part of the draft also indicates a push to prioritize American firefighting efforts over foreign ones, which could lead to agencies turning away nations like Canada, which has been dispatched to help fight fires over the border.
“This EO has the potential to shift responsibility for fires to private entities more interested in their corporate bottom line than the lives of the people wildfire impacts…” Rodruck said. “…The last thing we should do is make wildland fire fighting less safe, but that’s exactly what this order, as it is written currently, will do.”
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