I mean, I get that this looks bad. But they were using a lot of data and they had to switch from a $39 plan to a $99 one. That's still not a lot of money for such a service.
First off, they used 25GB of data - that's not what any rational person would consider "a lot" for an emergency service fighting a wildfire. It's not even "a lot" in the generic sense in 2018 in any country that isn't the US or Cuba.
Second, the new plan is $99 for the first 20GB, and $8/GB thereafter. In other words, just to get back to baseline they would be at $139 which they blew through in a day or two. So you're talking several thousand dollars vs. $39 for a resource that costs Verizon nearly nothing to provide during an emergency such as this.
This isn't self-evident. How much data is appropriate for an emergency service fighting a wildfire? What in the world are they doing with all that data?
As much as they need?
It is Verizon's problem if the case can be made that $8/GB is gouging. However $10/GB is a very common price among contractless carriers such as Tracfone and Google, so $8/GBis certainly in the ballpark.
Does not offering a bulk discount equate to gouging? IDK.