California’s wildfire tech companies are seizing their moment in Washington as Congress and President Donald Trump eye sweeping fire reforms.
Representatives from Truckee, California-based forest mapping company Vibrant Planet and Earth Fire Alliance, a nonprofit coalition working on wildfire-tracking satellites that includes Google and Muon Space, backed the bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act in a House Natural Resources subcommittee hearing in Washington on Thursday focused on wildfire policy and technology.
They had a receptive audience, with both Rep. Bruce Westerman, the Republican chair of the committee, and Rep. Jared Huffman, the Democratic ranking member, enthusiastically encouraging everything from drones to artificial intelligence to mapping software.
“There is no downside to scaling new technologies across the federal government, especially innovative technologies that improve wildfire suppression and response and facilitate more proactive land management,” said Westerman.
