Bipartisan bill will boost wildfire protection, senators say

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Senators from California and Montana said today they plan to introduce a bipartisan bill that aims to protect communities from wildfires like the one that killed 85 people and destroyed much of the Northern California town of Paradise last year.

Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California and Republican Steve Daines of Montana told The Associated Press they will introduce the bill after the Senate's August recess, but wanted to announce their plans now as the western U.S. states enter their peak fire season.

"Unfortunately, millions of acres of forests in our states and across the West remain at high risk of catastrophic wildfires, and there is strong consensus that fire seasons will only get worse," Feinstein and Daines said in a statement obtained by the AP. "We believe additional resources are urgently needed to protect our communities and tackle these emergency conditions."

Fire seasons have grown longer and more intense in recent years in the West because of hotter, drier weather and widespread tree deaths due to insects and disease.

In 2017, a flash drought led to a record 2,200 square miles being burned in Montana. The state's portion of the $400 million firefighting price tag, some $74 million, nearly busted the state's budget and forced lawmakers into a special session to fill the gap.

Officials estimate last November's devastating Paradise fire burned nearly 15,000 homes. The town lost over 90 percent of its population in the aftermath.