On Tuesday, the United States Department of Defense (DOD) agreed to extend the FireGuard program, which gives wildland firefighters access to military satellite data for early fire detection and surveillance. The move follows weeks of pressure from a group of 32 California senators and representatives led by Senator Dianne Feinstein, and was swiftly applauded by the same group following Tuesday’s announced extension. The program was due to lapse on September 30th and prior to this congressional intervention, the DOD had expressed a reluctance to renew it due to concerns of resource constraints.
