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By Idaho Department of Lands Director Dustin Miller, Boise Fire Chief Mark Neimeyer, and White Bird Volunteer Fire Department Chief Paul Hefner
Wildfire is a big part of life in the West but how states prepare and respond to it can vary greatly.
Let us give you an example.
A few months ago, the governor of Oregon had to call a special legislative session to pay the state’s fire bills for the 2024 fire season.
In Idaho, we had the resources ready to pay firefighters and contractors for their work on our fires, thanks to the good sense of our governor and Idaho Legislature in ensuring the state’s fire suppression account was adequately funded.
Our state leaders have a superior track record of giving us as fire managers the tools we need to expedite initial attack on wildfires, thereby limiting overall fire costs. In fact, the State of Idaho’s fire suppression costs are nearly seven times LESS than our federal partners!
Fighting wildfires is becoming more expensive, but debt financing is not a responsible or effective approach for quickly suppressing fires. Debt financing fire suppression leaves state and local fire managers like us in the undesirable position of telling our people on the front lines that there is uncertainty whether the funding will be there to pay the bills at a later date.
As state and local fire managers, we consider ourselves to be responsible stewards of the people’s money, and our goal is to put out fires quickly, saving costs, property, lives, and that nasty smoke that lingers for months. However, another reality of fighting fires is the increased costs. Even with Idaho being the most efficient and effective state at fighting fires, putting more than $50 million on a credit card is flat irresponsible.
The State of Idaho, working closely with local fire agencies where appropriate, works aggressively to fully suppress all wildfires under our protection. However, like it was for all western states, 2024 was a bad fire year for Idaho. Consequently, much of the funds in the state’s Fire Suppression Fund were expended.
Governor Brad Little structured his Keeping Promises budget to include enough money to replenish the fund while recommending an additional $40 million in ongoing funds – the average of the past five years’ fire suppression costs for the state – to ensure we are well prepared and won’t end up like other states who are going into debt fighting fire.
The Legislature now will decide whether to approve the Governor’s wise recommendation for $40 million in ongoing funding for fire suppression. We urge the Legislature to approve it. Doing so would create stability in fire response and save lives, property, and our natural resources.
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