Sen. Murkowski requests joint efforts to allocate PPE, COVID-19 tests for fire crews

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has requested four government agencies combine efforts to allocate personal protective equipment (PPE) and rapid COVID-19 tests for federal wildland fire crews.

Murkowski recently forwarded correspondence to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior (DOI) detailing the request. She urged the agencies to work with state governments to ensure fire crews likely to be assigned to federal wildland fire incidents are supported.

“Given the intergovernmental nature of federal wildland fire response, the federal government has a unique responsibility to ensure a sufficient supply chain of PPE and rapid testing for all wildfire crews, in coordination with their state counterparts,” Murkowski, chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, wrote. “Accordingly, I ask that FEMA, HHS, USDA, and DOI make it their shared mission to prevent outbreaks of COVID-19 on the front lines.”

Murkowski also requested the agencies provide her with specific updates and information, such as current PPE needs for the wildland fire services at DOI and the USDA Forest Service; whether the National Response Coordinating Center will provide PPE assistance to federal wildland fire crews; and what can be done to provide wildland fire crews and support staff with the most accurate COVID-19 tests.