BOISE, Idaho - The U.S. Forest Service says it's picking up the pace on developing a new fire shelter following the deaths of 19 firefighters in Arizona where officials say flames and heat went beyond the current shelter's protective capabilities.
National Director of Fire and Aviation Management Tom Harbour says that's one aspect of a plan to help firefighters who are facing increasingly ferocious wildfires complicated by home building in wildland areas.
He says the 2013 fire that killed the Arizona firefighters fit that description.
Harbour says the federal agency is working with the U.S. Marine Corps to learn strategies for coping with stress and making good decisions under pressure.
The agency hopes to have a new fire shelter by 2016.
