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Forest Service didn't call local firefighters

Denver (AP) - When the biggest wildfires Colorado and Arizona have ever seen erupted earlier this year, hundreds of local firefighters sat idle as the U.S. Forest Service sent its own teams.Some nearby fire departments were called later; some never got the call at all as the blazes raged for weeks and destroyed at least 600 homes.

It is not clear whether calling in more firefighters at the start would have made a difference. But the Forest Service's mobilization practices have come under scutiny. Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., wants to conduct congressional hearings to learn why the Forest Service did not draw more on local firefighters in the initial attack on the Arizona blaze, which burned 469,000 acres and destroyed at least 467 homes.