Leaving behind their golf clubs and fishing gear, hundreds of former rangers and foresters are coming out of retirement this summer to battle the blazes raging across the West in the worst wildfire season in 50 years. The retirees are joining hundreds of Army soldiers called in to help at a time when the firefighting ranks are stretched thin across the West. At least 4.3 million acres have burned across the West since the spring. Records aren't kept on how many retirees return to duty.
Some retirees come back every year.
But the number has increased this year because of the severity of the blazes. At least a dozen retirees were helping at each of 79 fires Monday, according to the fire center. Colwell, for example, helped answer questions from the media. At Bitterroot National Forest in Montana, where fires have scorched more than 200,000 acres, a retiree is assigned to help project which direction the flames may travel and at what intensity. To return, the retirees must prove their endurance by passing a physical test less strenuous than the one young firefighters must take.