McClintock’s Proposed Fire Management Scheme Puts Us All at Risk

Put out the Fire Act (HR 178)
McClintock’s Proposed Fire Management Scheme Puts Us All at Risk

by Jill Flaningam, Tuolumne County Indivisible

For residents of the Sierra Nevada foothills and mountains, a region of extremely high wildfire risk, Congressman Tom McClintock’s proposed “Put out the Fire Act” (HR 178) is a bad deal. The legislation is presented as common sense, but clearly is regressive policy that will endanger McClintock’s constituents. Seeing beyond the cute “put out the fire” branding makes clear that HR 178 promotes unpredictable and volatile wildfire over managed fire.

HR 178 takes away vital tools from fire managers who will be forced to extinguish every blaze on high-risk federal lands within 24 hours, even those that could be allowed to burn without harming communities. It discourages the use of prescribed and managed burning, which are proven, cost-effective strategies for reducing hazardous fuel loads, mitigating severe fire, and restoring forest health.

We should be empowering our experienced fire managers— professionals who understand local conditions – to choose the best strategy for each fire. Instead, HR 178 would handcuff them with a fire suppression directive written by Washington, D.C. bureaucrats.

By discouraging managed and prescribed fire, the bill guarantees that fuel loads will continue to grow, setting the stage for the very infernos we fear: high-intensity, uncontrollable blazes that are impossible to safely fight. Reducing fuels through controlled burning makes wildfires slower-moving and less volatile, creating safer conditions for firefighters on the front lines.

During times of heightened fire activity, managers must be able to triage wildfire response so that adequate fire suppression equipment and personnel is directed towards the most threatening fires. If firefighters are forced to put out low-priority fires within 24 hours rather than focus on high-priority fires, our communities are at greater risk for devastating loss.

Protecting ourselves from severe wildfires through controlled burning and other fuel reduction actions obviously requires investment. However, the costs associated with catastrophic wildfires are enormous. When severe wildfire consumes a community, there are indirect costs beyond suppression and recovery. Businesses endure closures; property values fall, and people are displaced; water supplies become poisoned with toxic ash. Even if a wildfire doesn’t strike in your community, all California residents suffer higher insurance premiums and PG & E bills. Of course, there are the incalculable damages from losing one’s home or loved ones as has become reality in this new era of megafire.

We can save tax dollars, build resilient forests, and protect our communities by creating policies that empower our experienced, on-the-ground fire managers to use the full range of tools available. HR 178 moves us in the wrong direction by trading smart, strategic management for a simplistic and dangerous approach. Let’s not go backwards. Our safety depends on it.

By introducing such disastrous legislation, Tom McClintock proves that he is unfit to represent his district. He is clearly not committed to protecting the lives and property of his constituents. It’s time to elect a new representative to Congress in 2026 who will actually fight for our safety and well-being.