Trabuco Canyon, CA – Today, U.S. Representatives Young Kim (CA-40) and Ken Calvert (CA-41) led a bipartisan letter with Reps. Lou Correa (CA-46), Mike Levin (CA-49), and Darrell Issa (CA-48) to the Supervisor of the Cleveland National Forest (CNF) Scott Tangenberg about staffing shortfalls. The members ask several questions about CNF management’s refusal of fire station staff support offered by Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) earlier this year.
On September 9, 2024, the Airport Fire started in Trabuco Canyon on the Orange County side of the CNF before burning 23,526 acres, including 160 structures destroyed and 24 structures damaged.
“As first responders work around the clock to contain the Airport Fire that spread over tens of thousands of acres, I was concerned to learn that U.S. Forest Service refused additional support staff from OCFA – that would have come at no additional cost to USFS – to address staff shortages ahead of wildfire season,” said Rep. Kim. “Their decision makes no sense and looks even more reckless given the deadly wildfires spreading across our communities. We need transparency, which is why Rep. Ken Calvert and I are leading the bipartisan charge for answers.”
“It is critical that we have Forest Service fire personnel and resources in place during wildfire season,” said Rep. Calvert. “My colleagues and I need a better understanding of the extent of the staffing shortfall at the CNF and why offers of assistance were not accepted. There are a number of factors that have led to a drop in hiring federal wildland firefighters, including pay disparities with state and local firefighters. By getting answers to these questions we can work together to ensure the necessary firefighting personnel is available to protect our communities.”
Read the full letter HERE or below.
We write regarding wildfire prevention and preparedness at the Cleveland National Forest (CNF). It has come to our attention that the CNF has had ongoing recruitment and retention challenges for at least one year. According to your website, the CNF has at least 19 fire-related job vacancies ranging from a fire suppression team leader, fire prevention technician, to a hotshot crew superintendent. What’s worse, these wildfire suppression and prevention positions have remained unfilled since July, amid the peak fire season.
According to a letter from the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) to CNF on January 3, 2024, you were contacted by the OCFA Fire Chief to discuss staffing shortages at fire stations within the CNF. Furthermore, correspondence from the OCFA to CNF on April 9, 2024, indicated an offer to staff CNF fire stations at no cost to the U.S. Forest Service. Unfortunately, this request for assistance was not accepted and the CNF fire station closest to the outbreak of the Airport Fire has remained unstaffed by CNF personnel all year. We believe that such actions likely contributed to the outcome we have experienced thus far. We are extremely concerned about the decisions, or lack thereof, being made at CNF regarding its staffing challenges and demand greater transparency and accountability.
For these reasons, we request answers to the following questions:
- How long has the CNF experienced significant levels of job vacancies?
- Which individual is in charge of hiring at CNF and why has it taken so long to fill these positions?
- In the past year, what specific actions have been taken to address the recruitment and retention challenges at CNF?
- How many candidates have applied to each vacant position at CNF? Of the qualified applicants who applied, please provide specific reasons why each candidate wasn’t offered the position.
- Did CNF contact USFS Region 5 and/or Washington, D.C. about these staffing shortages? If so, when were they contacted, and what was their response?
- Why did the CNF refuse to accept OCFA’s offer to staff your fire stations at no cost?
Thank you for your consideration of this request. Please contact any of our staff with any questions you may have.
