U.S. Sens Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Cory Gardner (R-CO) recently introduced the Wildfire Management Technology Advancement Act of 2017, which seeks to modernize fire departments by requiring the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to provide GPS locators for crews fighting wildfires.
The act also would require the agencies to use Unmanned Aircraft Systems to find and map wildfires in real-time. They would work with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to forecast where wildfires might occur.
In addition, the act requires firefighter injuries to be analyzed to identify gaps in training in order to prevent future injuries.
It offers funding for communities at-risk for wildfires to install next-generation reverse-911 systems and authorizes disaster agencies to use NASA’s tools to expedite the installation of post-fire, erosion-prevention measures.
The bipartisan bill has the support of numerous national firefighter organizations.
“The past two decades have seen millions of tax dollars invested in research and development of high-tech tools that can accurately map, monitor, and model wildfire spread,” Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology, said. “Sen. Cantwell’s proposed legislation will enable us to reap the benefits of those investments to improve the safety and success of crews managing wildfires.”