Fire commander Ellreese Daniels, who was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter after the deaths of four people under his command, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of making false statements to investigators, reports the Associated Press. International Association of Wildland Fire officials says the fallout of the case could result in fewer firefighters taking leadership roles on fire and taking a more conservative and less aggressive approach to suppressing wildfires.

IAWF conducted a survey that showed 36% of members will make themselves "less available for fire assignments" because of the criminal charges, and 23% would refuse to serve as incident commander.

Fire boss Dick Mangan of Missoula told AP that he turned down five offers of a safety officer position on large fires last summer. "I have a decision space of maybe seconds or minutes, and I have incomplete information to work with," Mangan told AP. "You have to ask yourself, why subject yourself to the liability?"

Veteran firefighter Steve Frye, who has served as an incident commander for elite Type I teams, told AP much the same thing: "Having the threat of personal liability out there has definitely occupied a substantial amount of time for incident commanders and agencies."