On Monday, Aug. 17, the Pentagon announced it would be sending active duty military personnel to assist with wildfires in the western part of the country. About 95 fires are burning across seven states, including California, Washington, Nevada and Colorado. The wildfires have scoured over 1 million acres of land and have cost the Forest Service about $100 million every week. Many people have been forced to evacuate their homes in the areas. In California alone, 13,000 firefighters are stretched thin while combating 19 large fires.
The Pentagon has dedicated 200 active duty personnel to assist the firefighters. According to CNN, military servicemembers have only been engaged to fight fires 35 times in the last 30 years, and this is the first time since the early 2000s. The military personnel will take over the smaller, less aggressive fires.
"[The soldiers' assistance] is important because it frees up our more experienced crews to handle more complex dangerous fire situations," Ken Frederick, the National Interagency Fire Center spokesperson, told CNN.
The 200 soldiers will be divided into 10 groups of 20 members and deployed across the region. The soldiers' presence will not only take pressure off the civilian firefighters, but it will alleviate some of the stress on the Forest Service budget.