My name is Josh, and I’ve been a wildland firefighter for 18 years. The work I do is hard and dangerous, and when I’m fighting fires, I want to be sure that my crew and I are safe.  But Congress has continued to cut the federal budget for firefighters like me across the country, despite ten states battling large fires right now.

In Washington State’s Wenatchee River Ranger District where I work, we lost a twenty person crew and an engine to budget cuts during one of the worst fire seasons in 50 years. This happened just months before the start of a huge fire which burned more than 45,000 acres.  

Firefighters like me do everything we can to protect people from danger, but we can’t do our jobs without adequate crews and equipment. That’s why I started a petition on Change.org asking Congress and the Administration to stop further budget cuts from sequestration to firefighters across the country. Click here to sign my petition.

Reducing the budget for firefighters guarantees the cost and size of catastrophic wildfires to only become worse. What happened in Wenatchee can and has happened all throughout the country. 

When airline customers were upset about federal budget cuts affecting air traffic controllers and causing flight delays, Congress moved quickly to restore their funding. With wildland fires affecting so many states across the country, I believe a public outcry can push Congress and the Administration to stop cuts to firefighters.

Every summer, tens of thousands of wildland firefighters put their lives on the line to keep communities safe from harm. Join me in fighting for the resources firefighters need to stay safe on the job.

Click here to sign my petition asking Congress and the Administration to stop further budget cuts to wildland firefighters.

Thank you for your help.

Joshua Northrup Wenatchee, WA