PBS NewsHour

Shutdown impact: Preparation for fighting wildfires

Clip: 01/12/2019 | 2m 24s | Video has closed captioning.

An unexpected impact of the government shutdown: canceled training for wildland firefighters. With wildfires becoming more frequent, firefighters have a shorter off-season to prepare. Now that compressed window for training and gear acquisition has become even shorter due to the shutdown's frozen funding, says Jim Whittington, a consultant and former Forest Service employee. Judy Woodruff reports.