Burned-out firefighters are fleeing the US Forest Service amid labor disputes: ‘We are decimated’

As increasingly explosive fire seasons ravage the country, federal firefighters say their employer is exacerbating exhaustion by misclassifying their jobs

Firefighters are feeling the strain of another long and intense season, with months to go before the highest risks subside. But as they battle the flames, the thousands of people working for the US Forest Service (USFS), the largest federal employer of firefighters, are also fighting for changes within the agency to tackle issues they say have made the work even harder.

Federal firefighters have been waiting for years for revisions to outdated job descriptions, which have forced them to do more for less. Many have opted to leave altogether.