UPI Pictures of the Year 2020 - NEWS & FEATURES

Sawyers with the Billings IA, a Bureau of Land Management Initial Attack crew based in Billings, Montana, take a brief respite before they continue to prepare a road for burnout operations at the August Complex wildland fire on September 6, 2020, in Mendocino National Forest. Burnout involves clearing out easily combustible wildfire fuel such as trees and foliage, helping prevent the wildland fire's spread. Soldiers with the 14th BEB are deployed to Northern California, at the request of the National Interagency Fire Center, in support of Department of Defense wildland firefighting response operations where they work side-by-side with professional wildland firefighters. Photo by Spc. Michael Ybarra/U.S. Army/UPI