Addy BairdA Trump administration official asked for aircraft firefighting support for a small fire near his Idaho ranch as massive fires raged across Utah and other western states, The Washington Post’s Bianna Sacks and Andrew Ba Tran reported Friday.
The official, Undersecretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment Michael Boren, oversees the U.S. Forest Service. According to the Post, Boren asked staff at the agency to bring additional firefighting aircraft to a fire in Idaho’s Sawtooth National Forest near a large ranch he owns.
The fire started July 12 and reportedly spread to burn about seven acres near Boren’s property. The paper reported that the undersecretary repeatedly called both regional and U.S. Forest Service officials asking why there were not more aircraft fighting the fire near his ranch and when more would arrive.
(U.S. Forest Service vis Facebook) Fire fighters work on the Cabin Creek Fire near Stanley, Idaho, in July.
The push for significant federal firefighting resources near the Trump official’s property came as massive fires burned in Utah and around the West.
It’s unclear if any resources were diverted from Utah fires to address the blaze near the Boren’s Idaho property.
In an email to The Salt Lake Tribune Monday, Utah state fire management officer Brett Ostler said he was unaware of the blaze near Boren’s property and was unsure whether any Utah resources were used to address the fire.
However, he added, “We do not prioritize fires in other states.”
The U.S. Forest Service did not respond to a request for comment from The Salt Lake Tribune.
The Post reported that, according to flight records, aircraft from across the West, including those fighting fires in other parts of Idaho, were sent to the fire near the undersecretary’s ranch.
On July 12, the day the fire near Boren’s ranch started, Utah’s Cottonwood Fire was burning through large swaths of the Fishlake National Forest near Beaver, having grown to more than 97,000 acres. At the time, it was the largest wildfire in the country and was 58% contained, or a little over half the fire’s perimeter had been suppressed. On Friday, the Cottonwood Fire was still burning and was at 95% containment.
And ahead of the weekend, the even larger Widemouth 2 Fire near Millard, Utah, was burning at nearly 130,000 acres at 65% containment. It has threatened homes and prompted evacuations in southeast Fillmore.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Planes battle the Cottonwood Fire, burning east of Beaver, on Tuesday, June 23, 2026.
Resource requests from crews battling Widemouth 2 reviewed by The Salt Lake Tribune showed between five and seven helicopters were fighting the massive blaze, while in comparison, nine aircraft were reportedly deployed to fight the seven-acre fire near Boren’s property last month.
Forest Service officials speaking anonymously out of fear of retribution told the Post that the air support Boren demanded was beyond what is normal for fires of that size and that the small fire could have easily been fought from the ground. Instead, about nine aircraft, including helicopters, air tankers and tactical planes, responded to the blaze on July 12, the paper reported, an effort that cost nearly $115,000 in federal money.
On Aug. 7, two helicopter pilots died in a crash while fighting Widemouth 2 fire — the pair had made two dozen flights that day alone, flight records show.
The Tribune review of aircraft requests from earlier this month shows that, during a particularly dangerous wildfire season, crews have repeatedly requested additional helicopters to fight wildfires across the state.
State fire officials report that more than 800 wildfires have already been counted in Utah this year.
Note to readers, Aug. 17, 10:45 a.m. • This story has been updated to include a statement from a Utah fire manager.
