The agency has also won approval to begin a massive hiring push starting next week to fill the roughly 470 captain, engineer, dispatcher and other specialist vacancies before the fall, Dietrich said. Those are the critical staff required to manage individual engines and direct the army of entry-level and seasonal "water-squirters" in fire prevention tasks once big fires hit.

In the meantime, retirees are being enlisted as emergency hires to help manage large fires this summer and train their replacements on the job — a tactic in use across the country, according to the National Incident Fire Command in Boise, Idaho. And others are being paid overtime to fill the gaps.

Of the 230 Forest Service engines that go out on daily patrol, as many as 40 are under the direction of captains working six-day weeks under a new overtime allowance from emergency funds, officials said.

Existing staffers are getting early promotions or being pressed into acting management positions.

"There'll be more people with more overtime this year," said Campbell. "But they've lost the wisdom that comes with fighting these fires year after year."

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On the Net:

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection: www.fire.ca.gov

U.S. Forest Service, Region 5: www.fs.fed.us/r5