
Sheehy: California Fires Will Move Firefighting Reform
Montana Senator Tim Sheehy is hoping Congress can take bipartisan action to immediately address the problems that compounded the impacts of the fires in Los Angeles.
And he says those reforms can follow a number of changes, ranging from emergency suspension of some environmental rules to paying firefighters better.
Sheehy has made several national appearances in the past few days as the networks recognize his experience as an aerial firefighter.
READ MORE: Montana firefighters help with apocalyptic fires in California

Making it easier to fight fires
During an appearance on CNN, Sheehy explained the hazardous of aerial firefighting, but also said the aircraft need to be able to "dip" water at the closest source, and not be limited by environmental rules in an emergency.
"That during a wildfire, you literally will have to fly over and go to water further away to scoop or to pick up with a helicopter bucket because there's a Eurasian snailfish or a smelt or some water mussel in that lake," Sheehy said.
"They don't want you to touch it because it's an invasive species. Okay, that's important, but guess what? When people's homes are being burned to the ground and people are evacuating, we should be getting these red tape endangered species acts, protection acts out of the way so we can actively fight the fires and protect these communities."
Beefing up the firefighter infrastructure
Sheehy says more needs to be done for vegetation management, but he's especially keen on steps to compensate firefighters better and improve their availability.
"Basically wildland firefighting shuts down outside the summer," Sheehy observed. "We treat these firefighters, who are brave first responders. we treat them like seasonal ski resort employees."
"They get underpaid, they don't get benefits, they don't get medical care if they get injured on the job. I mean, if a veteran like me, you get wounded, come home, you get a fantastic array of care. It's not always the best coordinated through the VA, but we do our best for our troops."
"Wildland firefighters don't get any of that. So we need to treat our wildland firefighters like the professionals they are, and we have to have them ready year-round," Sheehy said, noting "this is January" and not "July or August."
Sheehy's seatmate, Senator Steve Daines has made similar arguments in recent years.
Will Congress act on firefighting help soon?
Sheehy believes some legislation could be even forthcoming as soon as this week because he sees bipartisan support for improvements.
"Adam Schiff and Andy Kim and I and many others, Jackie Rosen from Nevada, are saying we need to fix this problem," Sheehy said. "These fires don't understand socio-economic status or a party. They're going to burn out houses the same way."
Looking Back at One of Montana's Most Explosive Fires
Gallery Credit: Dennis Bragg
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