Wyden questions Trump Administration over federal wildfire resources as Oregon fires strain crews

(KTVZ) -- U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and four other Democratic senators sent a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins questioning federal preparation and resource allocation during the 2026 wildfire season.

The outreach comes as record-breaking wildfires burn across Western states. In Oregon alone, more than 2.5 million acres have burned so far in 2026, destroying thousands of homes, straining local government budgets and leading to the deaths of four wildland firefighters and two pilots.

Between July 18 and Sept. 4, the national firefighting force operated at preparedness level 5, with federal resources fully committed to wildland fires nationwide. As of Sept. 2, the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Wildland Fire Service had spent nearly their entire $6 billion fire suppression budget authority allocated for the year.

The letter was led by U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado and signed by Wyden, U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla of California and U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff of California. In their message, the lawmakers cited severe environmental and economic impacts across Western states.

“Record-breaking high temperatures and historic drought have led to catastrophic fires across the West, destroying thousands of homes, wreaking havoc on the economies of rural communities, stressing the budgets of local governments and leading to the loss of four wildland firefighters and two pilots,” the senators wrote.

The senators warned that agency capacity is critical as weather forecasts project hot, dry and windy conditions for at least two more months across the region.

“In light of these concerns, the capacity of the federal government to sustain operations is critical. We are concerned that the agencies simply do not have enough highly qualified personnel, Incident Management Teams and supervisory staff to sustain operations,” the senators stated.

The lawmakers noted receiving field reports regarding safety risks and staffing shortages among active fire crews.

“Our offices have received reports that teams have worked more fires than is safe, using temporary supervisory structures because fully qualified personnel are not available,” the letter stated. “We have also heard that locally-led initial attack was affected by national mobilization and that personnel have worked repeated or extended assignments. This is exceptionally concerning given that the worst of the fire season is likely yet to come and the high wildland firefighter fatality rate this season.”

You can read the full letter here.