More than 73,000 wildfires burn an average of about 7 million acres of private, state and federal land in the U.S. each year.  Forest Service firefighters respond to a significant number of those, either because they are burning on National Forest System land or because they are providing assistance to another federal, tribal, state or local partner.  

We need to be prepared with highly trained people, well designed tools and high performing equipment to respond safely and effectively to forest and grassland fires.  Responding to fires often requires a mix of ground firefighters and aerial firefighting