U.S. Senate Passes Bill to Improve Federal Wildfire Response

On Wednesday, September 28th, the FEMA Improvement, Reform, and Efficiency (FIRE) Act of 2021 (S. 3092) passed unanimously out of the Senate. The FIRE Act, sponsored by Senator Alex Padilla, will strengthen the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) wildfire preparedness and response efforts.  by updating the Stafford Act that governs FEMA—which was written when the agency primarily focused on hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. The bill will improve FEMA’s response to wildfires including by accounting for melted infrastructure and burned trees, as well as begin allowing FEMA to pre-deploy assets during times of highest wildfire risk and red flag warnings. The legislation now moves to the U.S. House of Representatives for consideration.