BOISE, Idaho U.S. officials are testing a new wildfire retardant after two decades of buying millions of gallons annually from one supplier, but watchdogs say the expensive strategy is overly fixated on aerial attacks at the expense of hiring more fire-line digging ground crews.
The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise reports there have been more than 31,000 wildfires that have burned about 5,000 square miles so far this year