Among the many items nearing approval through the federal defense authorization bill this month is the National Guard’s FireGuard wildfire detection and tracking program in California.
The defense bill has been advanced by both the Senate and House and merely awaits the signature of President Joe Biden to be passed. When it does, the FireGuard program, which uses the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s Firefly initiative to aid information sharing with wildland firefighting agencies, will be extended through the end of fiscal year 2026.
The FireGuard pilot, founded in 2019, was originally to end this year. However, an extension was previously granted by the Department of Defense to authorize it through the end of fiscal year 2022.
One of its largest proponents has been U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), whose state has been increasingly afflicted by devastating wildfires in recent years.
“The ability to track wildfires in real-time using location data from the FireGuard program is absolutely critical to making sure California’s wildland firefighters are deployed wisely and efficiently,” Feinstein said. “By extending FireGuard for five years, Congress has ensured that vital information will continue to be available to firefighters as they combat larger, hotter, and increasingly destructive wildfires throughout California and the West amid the worsening effects of climate change. I’m glad to support this important program and thankful that it was included in this bill.”
The FireGuard tool will allow greater communication and response time, narrowing the gap between detection and the time it takes to get firefighters and firefighting agencies access to the data needed to assess dangers in real-time.