California Members of Congress Urge Department of Defense to Continue Supporting State and Local Efforts to Combat Wildfires

On Monday, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla as well as Representatives Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara), Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel), Jim Costa (D-Fresno), Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena), and Juan Vargas (D-San Diego) called on Secretary of U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Lloyd Austin to immediately extend the DOD FireGuard program.  The FireGuard program is set to expire on September 30th and currently allows states like California to use DOD satellites for early fire detection and surveillance by providing near-real-time information on suspected wildfires.