Two Pilots Died Fighting A Yosemite Fire That Threatened Nothing, On Burgum's Orders

Two firefighting pilots died fighting a Yosemite wildfire that was climbing a remote mountainside, away from every home in the park, under Interior Secretary Doug Burgum's order to fully suppress every wildfire, no matter what it's threatening.

"For what?" one federal fire official told The Atlantic. "There's nothing out there. Just let nature do its thing." Another asked, "Did they die in vain?"

Burgum's new Wildland Fire Service runs firefighting in every national park, and his April memo calls for "the presumption of a full suppression strategy applied to every wildfire." It's a throwback to...