WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th January, 2019) Reports of a $3.4 million investment by Canada's government in a local aerial firefighting company and prospects that the US Forest Service could hire Canadian competitors for the next fire season requires an investigation of the potential impact on competing US companies, Senator Ron Wyden wrote in a letter to� Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen on Wednesday.
The letter noted a Canadian press report of the $3.4 million government investment, as well a request for proposals for large air tanker services by the US Forest Service that are due later this month.
"I ask that your office evaluate these press reports and determine whether the reported subsidies are having a detrimental impact on US service providers and the future readiness of the Federal government and individual states to fight forest fires," Wyden wrote.
The letter also warned that unfair foreign subsidies could put US companies at a competitive disadvantage and adversely impact safety of federal lands and adjoining communities.
From January 1 to December 21, 2018, 55,911 wildfires burned 8.6 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
In November, the Camp fire in the US state of California became the deadliest conflagration in US history, killing at least 88 people and destroying 14,000 homes and more than 500 commercial structures, the Insurance Information Institute reported.
