The termination letters that ended the careers of thousands of US Forest Service employees mean fewer people and less resources will be available to help prevent and fight wildfires, raising the spectre of even more destructive blazes across the American West, fired workers and officials said. The Forest Service firings on the heels of deadly blazes that ripped through Los Angeles last month are part of a wave of federal worker layoffs, as President Donald Trump's cost-cutting measures reverberate nationwide. Workers who maintained trails, removed combustible debris from forests, supported firefighters and secured funds for wildfire mitigation say staffing cuts threaten public safety, especially in the West, where drier and hotter conditions linked to climate change have increased the intensity of wildfires. I'm terrified of that, said Tanya Torst, who was fired from her position as a US Forest Service partnership coordinator in Chico, California, on February 14. Torst, whose ...