Sen. Schiff warns federal hiring freeze could impact thousands of firefighters

California Senator Adam Schiff is warning that a new federal hiring freeze could cost Southern California more than 15,000 firefighters this year. 

The United States Forest Services typically hires thousands of seasonal firefighters every spring, but the new order from President Trump may bring that to an indefinite end.

"We need all the firefighters we can possibly have to come to our rescue when something like Altadena and the Pacific Palisades fires start, said Bonnie Campbell, who lives near where the Bobcat Fire erupted in 2020, destroying almost 200 homes. 

That fire was fought by Forest Service crews, with help from city and county departments across Southern California. Schiff warns that those federal crews might be much smaller this summer. 

"Seasonal firefighters are essential to the public safety of those who live in fire-prone areas. Impeding the (hiring) of federal firefighters...threatens California's firefighting capacity and puts communities at great risk," said a statement from Schiff. 

The Trump Administration's executive order is not intended to impact public safety positions, but Schiff says it has so far stalled the onboarding of critical wildfire personnel. He says that a state already reeling from multiple devastating fires in recent months, is already weakened enough to not have a fully-staffed firefighting force. 

"We won't have any live federal firefighters bodies, but we'll have a lot of dead bodies of residents in these areas that won't have the protection that they deserve to have because of the wildfires," Campbell said. 

Other residents don't believe it's that serious. 

"I think what it is, is that because it's rolling out so fast that people aren't really sure what's going to go, what's going to happen, and there's a lot of uncertainty," said Robert Rinaldo, who also leaves in the foothills backing up to the Angeles National Forest. "Take a step back. Get out the executive order, take a look at it and read it. Calm their fears. ... They're going to sort it out. They're not really going to let California burn down."

That region, federal land managed by the USFS, employs thousands of firefighters who oversee the stretch of Los Angeles County that stretches from Castaic to Rancho Cucamonga. 

In his letter, Schiff also raised concerns over the voluntary resignation letters sent to federal firefighters, which he believes could further deplete the state's resources. 

He has requested a response from the Trump Administration on the matter by Feb. 14 at the latest.