Cantwell Introduces Bipartisan ‘Fire Ready Nation Act’ to Strengthen Federal Wildfire Forecasting and Firefighting Tools
Estimates put cost of this month’s California fires at $135B-$150B, making them the costliest in U.S. history
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, introduced the Fire Ready Nation Act, bipartisan legislation to strengthen the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) ability to help forecast, prevent, and fight wildfires. The Fire Ready Nation Act will formally establish a permanent Fire Weather Services program within NOAA and authorize funding for new technologies to forecast weather conditions that cause and impact wildfires.
“Over 300,000 acres burned in the State of Washington last year and this month's California wildfires demonstrate we are facing costly, unpredictable wildfires year-round,” said Sen. Cantwell. “The Fire Ready Nation Act can help save homes and lives by giving scientists and weather forecasters on the front lines of wildfires innovative tools to better predict wildfire and smoke conditions.”
NOAA is already a major player in wildfire preparedness and response. However, the agency has no defined authority in law for its wildfire services. And while NOAA is a world leader in wildfire forecasting, better coordination and funding for new high-tech initiatives would help improve forecasting and preparedness.
In 2024, the United States faced 61,685 wildfires that burned more than 8.8 million acres across the nation. In the State of Washington, 308,000 acres burned in the 2024 fire season, and firefighters faced more than 1,400 ignitions. Preliminary estimates for this month’s California fires put the damage and economic losses at between $135 billion and $150 billion, which would make it the costliest wildfire event in U.S. history.
Currently, NOAA helps fight wildfires in several ways:
- Their climate data and fire season forecasts help federal, state, and local emergency response agencies and Tribes plan for wildfire season.
- When potential fire conditions are severe, NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS) offices issue “Fire Watch Warnings” or “Red Flag Warnings” to help communities prepare.
- During fires, NOAA deploys specially-trained forecasters called Incident Meteorologists (IMETs) to travel, work, and provide real-time lifesaving forecasts on the frontlines to keep firefighters safe.
- NOAA’s High-Resolution Rapid Refresh-Smoke model helps predict how smoke moves and affects air quality and weather across the country.
The Fire Ready Nation Act would:
- Establish an official Fire Weather Services Program within NOAA to authorize wildfire response services at the agency.
- Fund the research and acquisition of new technology to improve forecasts of wildfire conditions.
- Create a Fire Weather Testbed to deploy new tools to fight fires, including a pilot program for unmanned aircraft to gather data such as chemical information and survey damage.
- Share NOAA data across multiple federal agencies to improve fire weather data collection and coordination.
- Codify the Incident Meteorologist Service into law to continue deploying IMET forecasters to assist emergency responders. It will also ensure IMETs’ receive fair compensation for longer term deployments.
As wildfires in the West become more frequent and intense, Sen. Cantwell is working to ensure communities have access to the resources to prevent, prepare for, fight, and recover from major wildfires. She secured billions of dollars to support wildfire prevention, response, and recovery in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
In January 2024, Sen. Cantwell co-introduced the Making Aid for Local Disasters Equal Now (MALDEN) Act, a bipartisan proposal to improve coordination between local, state, tribal, and federal agencies to deliver resources faster in the aftermath of disastrous wildfires. The MALDEN Act is named for the town of Malden, WA, which was destroyed by the 2020 Babb Road Fire.
Following 2023’s devastating Gray and Oregon Road fires in Eastern Washington, Sen. Cantwell sent a letter to the Biden administration in support of Gov. Inslee’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration, and sent another letter in January 2024 asking for an immediate update on the status of this request. Shortly after Sen. Cantwell sent that letter, President Biden declared a major disaster declaration for Spokane County to deliver funding and assistance for residents and business owners.
After the Bolt Creek Fire in 2022, Sen. Cantwell helped secure emergency funding to stabilize fire-scarred land around Highway 2 near Sultan. Just last year, the Senate unanimously passed two of Sen. Cantwell’s bipartisan bills to modernize the nation’s weather communication and radio service to keep communities better informed during intense weather events.
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