Ford defends wildfire response amid criticism from First Nations, firefighters Premier also fires back after U.S. criticism over wildfire smoke drifting south. Advertisement 2 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Try refreshing your browser, or Ford defends wildfire response amid criticism from First Nations, firefighters Back to video We apologize, but this video has failed to load. Please try againArticle contentAdvertisement 3 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Ford largely brushed off the union’s criticism, saying the province is hiring more wildland firefighters, raising their salaries to boost retention and training municipal firefighters so they can help.