Latest news with #USFS

Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Sysco beats Q4 earnings, but shares fall on weak volume growth
-- Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY) reported better-than-expected fourth quarter results on Tuesday, with adjusted earnings per share exceeding analyst estimates, though shares fell 3.4% as investors focused on declining foodservice volumes. The food distribution giant posted adjusted earnings of $1.48 per share for its fiscal fourth quarter, surpassing the analyst consensus of $1.39. Revenue increased 2.8% to $21.1 billion, slightly above analysts' expectations of $21 billion. Despite the earnings beat, U.S. Foodservice volume decreased 0.3% YoY, with local case volume down 1.5%, signaling continued challenges in restaurant traffic. "Sysco's Q4 results exceeded expectations, as improved financial outcomes were driven by Sysco-specific initiatives and improved restaurant industry traffic," said Kevin Hourican, Sysco's Chair and CEO. "USFS local volumes improved sequentially by 200 bps, including a strong exit rate in June." Gross profit for the quarter rose 3.9% to $4 billion, with gross margin expanding 19 basis points to 18.9%. Adjusted operating income increased 1.1% to $1.1 billion, while adjusted EBITDA grew 1.8% to $1.3 billion. For fiscal year 2026, Sysco provided guidance of approximately $84 billion to $85 billion in revenue, representing growth of 3% to 5%, and adjusted EPS of $4.50 to $4.60, an increase of 1% to 3%. The company noted its outlook includes an approximate $100 million ($0.16 per share) headwind from lapping lower incentive compensation in fiscal 2025. "Excluding this impact, our outlook reflects EPS growth of approximately 5% to 7%, with the midpoint in-line with our long-term algorithm," said Kenny Cheung, Sysco's CFO. "We also plan to reward our shareholders with approximately $1 billion in dividends and approximately $1 billion in share repurchases for FY26." Related articles Sysco beats Q4 earnings, but shares fall on weak volume growth After soaring 149%, this stock is back in our AI's favor - & already +25% in July Apollo economist warns: AI bubble now bigger than 1990s tech mania


The Guardian
6 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
US faces alarming firefighter shortage during peak wildfire season, data reveals
More than a quarter of firefighting positions at the United States Forest Service (USFS) remain vacant, according to internal data reviewed by the Guardian, creating staffing shortages as extreme conditions fuel dozens of blazes across the US. The data paints a dangerously different picture than the one offered by Tom Schultz, the chief of the USFS, who has repeatedly assured lawmakers and the public that the agency is fully prepared for the onslaught in fire activity expected through this year. It's already been busy. So far this year there have been more than 41,000 wildfires – nearly 31% higher than the 10-year average. 'In terms of firefighting capacity we are there,' Schultz said during a Senate committee hearing on 10 July, claiming the USFS had hit 99% of hiring goals. He repeated the claim multiple times. But staffing reports produced on 17 July show more than 5,100 positions were unfilled, more than 26%. The problem was especially grim in the Pacific north-west, a region facing extremely high fire risk this year, with a vacancy rate of 39%. The Intermountain region, the largest region with close to 34 million acres of forest lands that stretch across parts of Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho and California, has nearly 37%. The numbers also fail to capture the strain being felt in specific areas within these regions where ranks are severely thin. There are reports of USFS crews staffed with less than half of the positions once considered necessary to be fully operational. Six federal firefighters, who asked for anonymity because they are barred from speaking publicly, described how the staffing shortages had complicated crews' ability to suppress large fires and contribute to increased injuries and risks for firefighters on the ground. 'There is definitely a lot of tension in the system this season,' said a fire captain, describing how these issues have long plagued the agency. 'It's sort of like that medieval torture device that stretched people – just one more crank.' Many of the positions left unfilled are in middle management and leadership, leaving critical gaps in experience and tactical planning. 'The agency saying it is 'fully staffed' is dangerous,' a squad leader familiar with the data said. 'Maxing out 19-year-olds with no qualifications isn't the best strategy.' Vacancies at higher levels create limitations on who can be deployed in the field. 'We can't send [a crew] without supervision because it is unsafe – if they don't have a qualified supervisor that engine is parked,' said Bobbie Scopa, a retired firefighter who dedicated 45 years to the service. The empty positions also add to fatigue for firefighters who are already working in extreme weather and spending weeks at a time on fire lines with little opportunity for rest and recovery. Without back-up, those at higher levels are less able to take badly needed time off. If they get sick or injured, there's no one to take over. 'Folks are having to fill in and fill holes,' Scopa said, 'and they are going out without all the positions they need for a team.' The agency did not respond to requests for comment about the issues or questions about Schultz's claims of full staffing. But one firefighter speculated the agency may be using hiring numbers that only show whether an offer was accepted, and not if that hiring created a vacancy in another area. 'If people that are already permanent take a different job it still counts as a hiring action,' he said. 'But if the place they leave doesn't get backfilled, it just means they moved someone, not that they added someone.' Another firefighter said the agency might be exploiting the difference between 'minimum' staffing requirements and what was traditionally considered 'fully staffed'. 'You can technically play a football game with 11 people on the team,' he said. 'It would be considered negligent, maybe even abusive to the players, but they signed up to play and it's technically allowed.' The Forest Service has struggled to recruit and retain qualified firefighters in recent years, as escalating job hazards paired with low pay pushed scores of people out of the service. The exodus has exacerbated the exhaustion felt by those who remained, creating a vicious cycle at a time when the climate crisis is fueling a new era of catastrophic fire. The USFS lost nearly half of its permanent employees between 2021 and 2024 alone, leaving the agency scrambling to fill positions with less experienced recruits. The loss in experience took a toll on the workforce, several firefighters said, and the agency was left struggling to keep pace. The issue has come into sharper focus as the Trump administration continues to slash budgets and cut support staff positions, creating a new layer of challenges and plummeting morale. Firefighters and forest experts expressed deep concerns that the drastic cuts and resignation incentives offered earlier this year, which culled thousands from the agency's ranks, have left crews dangerously unprepared. Roughly 4,800 USFS workers signed on to a program offering paid administrative leave through September if they opted to resign or retire, pushed by the Trump administration as a way to rapidly shrink the federal government. While firefighters were exempt from the programs , they left significant gaps in a workforce that supports wildfire mitigation and suppression. That figure also includes 1,400 people with so-called 'red cards' who trained to join operations on the fire line if needed. The Department of Agriculture, which oversees the forest service, has tried to address the loss of employees with fire qualifications by calling for those with red cards who took early resignation or retiring offers to voluntarily return for the season and take on fire assignments until their contracts end. But when Senators questioned Schultz about the problem, he said the agency did not yet have numbers on if staffers decided to return. 'We depend on those people to help run the large fires,' Scopa said. 'Teams are not fully functional right now because we have lost so many people.' Firefighters have already been experiencing the effects of a reduced workforce firsthand. There have been reports of crews being left without power for weeks due to cut maintenance workers, paychecks being late or halved because administrative roles were left empty, or firefighters having to mow lawns or do plumbing work in addition to their other duties. 'I am hearing from firefighters who aren't getting meals because they are having problems with the contracts for the caterers because we laid off people who worked in contracting,' Scopa said. 'There was no efficiency in this – they just slashed it with an ax.' And more cuts could be coming. Schultz told lawmakers that the Trump administration's plans to eliminate multiple programs in the agency along with 'significant funding reductions in programs that remain', with greater responsibility shifted to states, private landowners, and tribes to fund emergency preparedness, management, and response. The administration is also proposing to consolidate federal firefighters into a new agency, housed under the Department of Interior – an idea that many federal firefighters support – but there are concerns that the process is being rushed and prioritized over managing emergency response during an intense summer. 'You all have trotted out another new reorganization in the middle of a very dangerous fire season,' said Ron Wyden, the Oregon senator, to Schultz during the committee meeting, warning that the lack of emergency preparation this year could cost lives. 'These infernos are not your grandfather's fires – they are bigger and they are hotter,' he said. 'We need to address this critical preparedness gap.' In Oregon, where region-wide staffing gaps are among the most acute, the governor declared a state of emergency last week to preposition resources for the threats expected from wildfire. Several blazes have already torn through the state this year, including the Cram fire, which had sprawled across more than 95,000 acres by Monday, making it the largest in the nation. Firefighters were battling 83 large blazes nationwide on 21 July, roughly two-weeks after the country's fire managers moved the country's response to 'Preparation Level 4', the second-highest designation meant to show that resources are already heavily committed. Despite his assurances to Congress that the USFS was ready for the intense fire activity, Schultz shifted tone in an internal memo sent to agency leadership last week, shared with the Guardian. 'As expected, the 2025 fire year is proving to be extremely challenging,' he wrote. Forecasts issued from the Climate Prediction Center and Predictive Services indicate the season is far from slowing. Higher than normal temperatures are predicted for much of the US through September, along with drier than normal conditions, creating high risks for big burns. 'We have reached a critical point in our national response efforts and we must make every resource available,' Schultz added. 'At times like this we know the demand for resources outpaces their availability.' Will Craft and Andrew Witherspoon contributed reporting


The Guardian
22-07-2025
- General
- The Guardian
US faces alarming shortage of firefighters during peak wildfire season, data reveals
More than a quarter of firefighting positions at the United States Forest Service (USFS) remain vacant, according to internal data reviewed by the Guardian, creating staffing shortages as extreme conditions fuel dozens of blazes across the US. The data paints a dangerously different picture than the one offered by Tom Schultz, the chief of the USFS, who has repeatedly assured lawmakers and the public that the agency is fully prepared for the onslaught in fire activity expected through this year. It's already been busy. So far this year there have been more than 41,000 wildfires - an amount nearly 31% higher than the ten-year average. 'In terms of firefighting capacity we are there,' Schultz said during a Senate committee hearing on 10 July, claiming the USFS had hit 99% of hiring goals. He repeated the claim multiple times. But staffing reports produced on 17 July show more than 5,100 positions were unfilled, more than 26%. The problem was especially grim in the Pacific Northwest, a region facing extremely high fire risk this year, with a vacancy rate of 39%. The Intermountain region, the largest region with close to 34 million acres of forest lands that stretch across parts of Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho and California, has nearly 37%. The numbers also fail to capture the strain being felt in specific areas within these regions where ranks are severely thin. There are reports of USFS crews staffed with less than half of the positions once considered necessary to be fully operational. Six federal firefighters, who asked for anonymity because they are barred from speaking publicly, described how the staffing shortages have complicated crews' ability to suppress large fires and contribute to increased injuries and risks for firefighters on the ground. 'There is definitely a lot of tension in the system this season,' said a fire captain, describing how these issues have long plagued the agency. 'It's sort of like that medieval torture devise that stretched people – just one more crank.' Many of the positions left unfilled are in middle management and leadership, leaving critical gaps in experience and tactical planning. 'The agency saying it is 'fully staffed' is dangerous,' a squad leader familiar with the data said. 'Maxing out 19-year-olds with no qualifications isn't the best strategy.' Vacancies at higher levels create limitations on who can be deployed in the field. 'We can't send [a crew] without supervision because it is unsafe – if they don't have a qualified supervisor that engine is parked' said Bobbie Scopa, a retired firefighter who dedicated 45 years to the service. The empty positions also add to fatigue for firefighters who are already working in extreme weather and spending weeks at a time on fire lines with little opportunity for rest and recovery. Without back-up, those at higher levels are less able to take badly-needed time off. If they get sick or injured, there's no one to take over. 'Folks are having to fill in and fill holes,' Scopa said, 'and they are going out without all the positions they need for a team.' The agency did not respond to requests for comment about the issues or questions about Schultz's claims of full staffing. But one firefighter speculated the agency may be using hiring numbers that only show whether an offer was accepted, and not if that hiring created a vacancy in another area. 'If people that are already permanent take a different job it still counts as a hiring action,' he said. 'But if the place they leave doesn't get backfilled, it just means they moved someone, not that they added someone.' Another firefighter said the agency might be exploiting the difference between 'minimum' staffing requirements and what was traditionally considered 'fully staffed'. 'You can technically play a football game with 11 people on the team,' he said. 'It would be considered negligent, maybe even abusive to the players, but they signed up to play and it's technically allowed.' The Forest Service has struggled to recruit and retain qualified firefighters in recent years, as escalating job hazards paired with low pay pushed scores of people out of the service. The exodus has exacerbated the exhaustion felt by those who remained, creating a viscous cycle at a time when the climate crisis is fueling a new era of catastrophic fire. The USFS lost nearly half of its permanent employees between 2021 and 2024 alone, leaving the agency scrambling to fill positions with less experienced recruits. The loss in experience took a toll on the workforce, several firefighters said, and the agency was left struggling to keep pace. The issue has come into sharper focus as the Trump administration continues to slash budgets and cut support staff positions, creating a new layer of challenges and plummeting morale. Firefighters and forest experts expressed deep concerns that the drastic cuts and resignation incentives offered earlier this year, which culled thousands from the agency's ranks, have left crews dangerously unprepared. Roughly 4,800 USFS workers signed on to a program offering paid administrative leave through September if they opted to resign or retire, pushed by the Trump administration as a way to rapidly shrink the federal government. While firefighters were exempt from the programs , they left significant gaps in a workforce that supports wildfire mitigation and suppression. That figure also includes 1,400 people with so-called 'red cards' who trained to join operations on the fire line if needed. The Department of Agriculture, which oversees the forest service, has tried to address the loss of employees with fire qualifications by calling for those with red cards who took early resignation or retiring offers to voluntarily return for the season and take on fire assignments until their contracts end. But when Senators questioned Schultz about the problem, he said the agency did not yet have numbers on if staffers decided to return. 'We depend on those people to help run the large fires,' Scopa said. 'Teams are not fully functional right now because we have lost so many people.' Firefighters have already been experiencing the effects of a reduced workforce firsthand. There have been reports of crews being left without power for weeks due to cut maintenance workers, paychecks being late or halved because administrative roles were left empty, or firefighters having to mow lawns or do plumbing work in addition to their other duties. 'I am hearing from firefighters who aren't getting meals because they are having problems with the contracts for the caterers because we laid off people who worked in contracting,' Scopa said. 'There was no efficiency in this – they just slashed it with an ax.' And more cuts could be coming. Schultz told lawmakers that the Trump administration's plans to eliminate multiple programs in the agency along with 'significant funding reductions in programs that remain', with greater responsibility shifted to states, private landowners, and tribes to fund emergency preparedness, management, and response. The administration is also proposing to consolidate federal firefighters into a new agency, housed under the Department of Interior – an idea that many federal firefighters support – but there are concerns that the process is being rushed and prioritized over managing emergency response during an intense summer. 'You all have trotted out another new reorganization in the middle of a very dangerous fire season,' said Ron Wyden, the Oregon senator, to Schultz during the committee meeting, warning that the lack of emergency preparation this year could cost lives. 'These infernos are not your grandfather's fires – they are bigger and they are hotter,' he said. 'We need to address this critical preparedness gap.' In Oregon, where region-wide staffing gaps are among the most acute, the governor declared a state of emergency last week to preposition resources for the threats expected from wildfire. Several blazes have already torn through the state this year, including the Cram fire, which had sprawled across more than 95,000 acres by Monday, making it the largest in the nation. Firefighters were battling 83 large blazes nationwide on 21 July, roughly two-weeks after the country's fire managers moved the country's response to 'Preparation Level 4,' the second-highest designation meant to show that resources are already heavily committed. Despite his assurances to Congress that the USFS was ready for the intense fire activity, Schultz shifted tone in an internal memo sent to agency leadership last week, shared with the Guardian. 'As expected, the 2025 fire year is proving to be extremely challenging,' he wrote. Forecasts issued from the Climate Prediction Center and Predictive Services indicate the season is far from slowing. Higher than normal temperatures are predicted for much of the US through September, along with drier than normal conditions, creating high risks for big burns. 'We have reached a critical point in our national response efforts and we must make every resource available,' Schultz added. 'At times like this we know the demand for resources outpaces their availability.'


Time of India
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
As US wildfires rage, Trump staff cuts force firefighters to clean toilets, critics say
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads 'THEY ARE READY' Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads FIREFIGHTERS MOW LAWNS The U.S. Forest Service faced criticism from current and former employees who say federal workforce reductions under the Trump administration have left fire teams understaffed, as the country grapples with decade-high U.S. wildfire numbers this agency, which oversees the nation's largest wildland firefighting force, rejected those claims, saying it has sufficient more than a dozen active and retired U.S. Forest Service employees told Reuters the agency is struggling to fill critical roles after approximately 5,000 employees - roughly 15% of its workforce - quit in the past five from firefighters in Oregon and New Mexico, as well as a fire chief recruiting support staff in the Pacific Northwest , said the vacancies have led to personnel held back from supporting frontline firefighting because of administrative crew leader on an Oregon blaze said her team went hungry for several days, ran short of medical supplies, and had to scrounge for chainsaw fuel after support staff quit the agency during two rounds of "fork in the road" buyouts."I had guys who were going to bed hungry after working 16 hours," said the crew leader on the Alder Springs Fire, who asked not to be named for fear of losing her and local USFS officials say, however, the force is ready for what is expected to be a worse-than-average fire year in California, the Pacific Northwest, and the northern Rockies , according to National Interagency Fire Center forecasts."Our fire staff feels very confident in our staffing levels going into this fire season," said USFS public affairs officer Isabella Isaksen, who represents USFS operations in central said food problems on the Alder Springs Fire were due to a new caterer and were quickly resolved. She said medical, chainsaw, and other supplies were available on the 3,400-acre blaze that triggered evacuations in two Trump administration pledged not to cut firefighting positions and other public safety jobs in firings, voluntary resignations, and early retirements meant to raise efficiency at the USFS, which manages 193 million acres of land (78 million hectares), roughly the size of employees that Reuters interviewed for this story said the loss of thousands of foresters, biologists, trail builders, and campground managers was having a knock-on effect on only are firefighters having to cover empty positions at ranger stations, but they also have lost hundreds of peers who each year switched from regular jobs to take on firefighting support roles during the fire season, which typically runs from spring to fall, these people Chief Tom Schultz on Wednesday told agency managers to make all of these fire-qualified, so-called "red-carded" staff available for what he called an "extremely challenging" fire year, according to a memo seen by Reuters. Year to date, wildland firefighters have been called to nearly 41,000 blazes, by far the highest number in federal data going back to at least 2015. Wildfires have burned 2.9 million acres year to date, below the 10-year average of 3.3 million month, Schultz told a U.S. Senate committee he was trying to temporarily hire back some 1,400 fire-qualified, "red-carded" support staff who took buyouts."I do believe they are ready," Schultz said when asked about preparedness for the 2025 fire Secretary Brooke Rollins, who oversees the USFS, said in June at a meeting of Western state governors in New Mexico that the agency was on target to hire 11,300 firefighters by mid-July, outpacing hiring over the past three of June 29, 11,236 or 99% of that number had been hired, slightly below last year's level, according to the most recent USDA USDA disputed claims that staff shortages are endangering communities, forests, and firefighters."Any suggestion that firefighting responsibilities are being delayed or deprioritized is simply incorrect," a USDA spokesperson said. "This is not a secondary mission - it is the core of our public safety work, and every decision reflects that urgency."New Mexico U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich has criticized the Trump administration's firing and rehiring of 3,400 USFS probationary staff, three-quarters of whom were red-carded, as well as what he called its indiscriminate, agency-wide staff buyouts."Wildfire season is well underway, and thanks to DOGE and Donald Trump, the U.S. Forest Service is being gutted, leaving communities ill equipped to fight deadly wildfires," Heinrich said in an emailed statement on July Forest Service says it does not have enough wildland firefighters for the country's "wildfire crisis" and relies on red-carded staff to "boost wildland firefighting capacity."Not everyone close to the Forest Service sees Ellis, chairman of the National Association of Forest Service Retirees , said his checks with fire staff in Oregon turned up no reports of firefighters going hungry or other support Riva Duncan, a fire duty officer on a New Mexico blaze, said even firefighters were being used to plug gaps left by job losses, exacerbating longstanding shortages of personnel to operate fire engines."They're answering phones at the front desk, or cleaning toilets at campgrounds or mowing the lawn at administrative sites," said Duncan, a retired USFS fire chief who reenlists during fire season and helps run Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, a federal firefighter advocacy fire staff officer in the Pacific Northwest said support staff had been told by managers they had to meet the Trump administration's increased timber sales and oil and gas production targets, with fewer employees, before helping firefighters."They can claim we get all the support we need, but in reality, it isn't even close," said the fire chief, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation.


AsiaOne
22-07-2025
- Politics
- AsiaOne
As US wildfires rage, Trump staff cuts force firefighters to clean toilets, critics say, World News
The US Forest Service faced criticism from current and former employees who say federal workforce reductions under the Trump administration have left fire teams understaffed, as the country grapples with decade-high US wildfire numbers this year. The agency, which oversees the nation's largest wildland firefighting force, rejected those claims, saying it has sufficient resources. However, more than a dozen active and retired US Forest Service employees told Reuters the agency is struggling to fill critical roles after approximately 5,000 employees — roughly 15 per cent of its workforce — quit in the past five months. Accounts from firefighters in Oregon and New Mexico, as well as a fire chief recruiting support staff in the Pacific Northwest, said the vacancies have led to personnel held back from supporting frontline firefighting because of administrative duties. The crew leader on an Oregon blaze said her team went hungry for several days, ran short of medical supplies, and had to scrounge for chainsaw fuel after support staff quit the agency during two rounds of "fork in the road" buyouts. "I had guys who were going to bed hungry after working 16 hours," said the crew leader on the Alder Springs Fire, who asked not to be named for fear of losing her job. National and local USFS officials say, however, the force is ready for what is expected to be a worse-than-average fire year in California, the Pacific Northwest, and the northern Rockies, according to National Interagency Fire Centre forecasts. "Our fire staff feels very confident in our staffing levels going into this fire season," said USFS public affairs officer Isabella Isaksen, who represents USFS operations in central Oregon. Isaksen said food problems on the Alder Springs Fire were due to a new caterer and were quickly resolved. She said medical, chainsaw, and other supplies were available on the 3,400-acre blaze that triggered evacuations in two counties. 'They are ready' The Trump administration pledged not to cut firefighting positions and other public safety jobs in firings, voluntary resignations, and early retirements meant to raise efficiency at the USFS, which manages 193 million acres of land (78 million hectares), roughly the size of Texas. [[nid:720372]] USFS employees that Reuters interviewed for this story said the loss of thousands of foresters, biologists, trail builders, and campground managers was having a knock-on effect on firefighters. Not only are firefighters having to cover empty positions at ranger stations, but they also have lost hundreds of peers who each year switched from regular jobs to take on firefighting support roles during the fire season, which typically runs from spring to fall, these people said. USFS Chief Tom Schultz on Wednesday told agency managers to make all of these fire-qualified, so-called "red-carded" staff available for what he called an "extremely challenging" fire year, according to a memo seen by Reuters. Year to date, wildland firefighters have been called to nearly 41,000 blazes, by far the highest number in federal data going back to at least 2015. Wildfires have burned 2.9 million acres year to date, below the 10-year average of 3.3 million acres. Last month, Schultz told a US Senate committee he was trying to temporarily hire back some 1,400 fire-qualified, "red-carded" support staff who took buyouts. "I do believe they are ready," Schultz said when asked about preparedness for the 2025 fire year. Firefighters mow lawns Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who oversees the USFS, said in June at a meeting of Western state governors in New Mexico that the agency was on target to hire 11,300 firefighters by mid-July, outpacing hiring over the past three years. As of June 29, 11,236 or 99 per cent of that number had been hired, slightly below last year's level, according to the most recent USDA data. The USDA disputed claims that staff shortages are endangering communities, forests, and firefighters. [[nid:720022]] "Any suggestion that firefighting responsibilities are being delayed or deprioritized is simply incorrect," a USDA spokesperson said. "This is not a secondary mission — it is the core of our public safety work, and every decision reflects that urgency." New Mexico US Senator Martin Heinrich has criticised the Trump administration's firing and rehiring of 3,400 USFS probationary staff, three-quarters of whom were red-carded, as well as what he called its indiscriminate, agency-wide staff buyouts. "Wildfire season is well underway, and thanks to Doge and Donald Trump, the US Forest Service is being gutted, leaving communities ill equipped to fight deadly wildfires," Heinrich said in an emailed statement on July 11. The Forest Service says it does not have enough wildland firefighters for the country's "wildfire crisis" and relies on red-carded staff to "boost wildland firefighting capacity." Not everyone close to the Forest Service sees problems. Steve Ellis, chairman of the National Association of Forest Service Retirees, said his checks with fire staff in Oregon turned up no reports of firefighters going hungry or other support issues. But Riva Duncan, a fire duty officer on a New Mexico blaze, said even firefighters were being used to plug gaps left by job losses, exacerbating longstanding shortages of personnel to operate fire engines. "They're answering phones at the front desk, or cleaning toilets at campgrounds or mowing the lawn at administrative sites," said Duncan, a retired USFS fire chief who reenlists during fire season and helps run Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, a federal firefighter advocacy group. The fire staff officer in the Pacific Northwest said support staff had been told by managers they had to meet the Trump administration's increased timber sales and oil and gas production targets, with fewer employees, before helping firefighters. "They can claim we get all the support we need, but in reality, it isn't even close," said the fire chief, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation. [[nid:720254]]