Wildfires Spur Efforts to Train Young People to Combat Blazes

Lawmakers from both parties and chambers want to teach more students how to become wildland firefighters, as wildfires and smoke continue to hammer the US.

A bipartisan bill Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.) introduced would direct the Agriculture Department to offer specialized wildland firefighter training to students in Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers. The Forest Service, part of the Agriculture Department, operates 24 such centers, and the job corps program trains people aged 16 to 24 for careers while helping them finish high school.

Under the legislation, shared with Bloomberg Government, the Forest Service would offer and pilot “training for wildland ...