Yorba Linda, CA – U.S. Representative Young Kim (CA-39), who serves on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, hosted a roundtable discussion open to the public on Friday featuring representatives from Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA), California Army National Guard (CalGuard), CAL FIRE, and the National Weather Service. Panelists discussed the state of wildfire coordination and response efforts in California’s 39th District and across Southern California.
The roundtable included Congresswoman Kim as well as National Weather Service Los Angeles Weather Forecast Service Chief Meteorologist Mark Jackson, National Weather Service San Diego Meteorologist Matt Moreland, CalGuard Captain Robert Woodson, CAL FIRE Assistant Region Chief for the Southern Region Glenn Barley and OCFA Division IV Chief Baryic Hunter.
“Californians know well the devastating impacts of wildfires. Just as we need to strengthen federal, state and local coordination efforts for wildfire response, Congress should work on targeted solutions to equip wildfire responders with the latest technology and improve our weather forecasting capabilities of wildfires and smoke,” said Congresswoman Kim. “I am grateful for the group of experienced panelists for coming together to discuss their work to predict and battle wildfires. I look forward to bringing their insight back to Congress so I can work with my colleagues on solutions that will help our front line responders keep communities safe.”
“It was great to participate in a panel discussion with Representative Kim, CAL FIRE, the National Weather Service, and CAL Guard to provide input about the current and future use of technology in the fire service to help keep firefighters and the public safe,” said Orange County Fire Authority Division IV Chief Baryic Hunter.
Congresswoman Kim is committed to working on responsible solutions to predict, prevent, detect and contain wildfires. Her efforts include:
- Joining bipartisan colleagues to introduce the Fire Information and Reaction Enhancement (FIRE) Act (H.R. 5010) to improve wildfire detection and forecasting by allowing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to quickly disseminate critical information to land managers and firefighters to improve efforts to combat wildfires before they spread to catastrophic levels.
- Supporting the Resilient Federal Forests Act (H.R. 4614), which would provide targeted, streamlined forest management reforms to protect the environment and allow land management agencies to increase the pace, scale, cost and efficiency of forest management projects;
- Helping introduce the Trillion Trees Act (H.R. 2639) to conserve, restore and grow 1 trillion trees worldwide globally to grow our forest resiliency and reduce emissions;
- Requesting federal funding for an additional heli-hydrant for the Yorba Linda Water District to fight wildfires; and,
- Fighting for federal funding for a city-wide fuel reduction project for the City of Chino Hills to remove fuel hazards that can accelerate the spread of wildfires.
