News release
Rep. George Whitesides, D-Agua Dulce, has introduced a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the FireGuard program, which utilizes Department of Defense satellites to detect wildfires and distribute information to firefighting efforts on the ground.
“Regions like mine understand the existential threat of wildfires, and the need to use every tool at our disposal to detect, track, and prevent fires before they start,” Whitesides said in a news release. “Reauthorizing the FireGuard program will enhance our local, state and federal wildfire response – especially on the first day a fire starts to spread – and help keep Americans safe.”
“As California’s insurance commissioner, I saw firsthand how destructive wildfires are: lost family members, homes destroyed, and a lifetime of memories turned to ash. Every day, I hoped for new detection tools that would allow us to contain the fires before they got out of hand,” Rep. Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, a co-author of the bill, said in the release. “This common-sense bill ensures that firefighters will have every tool at their disposal to fight wildfires and keep our communities safe.”
The release said the FireGuard Reauthorization Act would:
• Establish new pathways to review and integrate satellite and aerial data from private, nonprofit, and public sector sources to improve wildfire detection.
• Require the Department of Defense to inform Congress about the efficacy of the program, including how accurate detections are compared to final fire perimeters, and how quickly alerts reach local responders.
• Extend the program for five additional years.
Whitesides and Garamendi are joined by Reps. Jeff Crank, R-Colo., Jason Crow, D-Wis., and Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, as original cosponsors.
