00:00I would like to recognize Ranking Member Correa for five minutes for any questions he may have.
00:05Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Fetterman, you oversee the Command and Emergency Planning
00:11Division of the largest fire agency in Orange County, nearly 2 million residents across 78
00:18fire stations. You have a lot of experience with search and rescue and planning missions.
00:24How do emerging technologies like drone technology help keep Orange County residents safe?
00:36Ranking Member Correa, thank you for the question. I appreciate the opportunity to answer it. Orange
00:41County Fire is fortunate under the leadership of Fire Chief Brian Fennessey to lean fairly
00:48to emerging technology. We see it as an important aspect of meeting the threats that we face.
00:56We utilize every opportunity to engage in emerging technology, such as AI cameras for
01:02fire detection. As you pointed out, we utilize a significant fleet of drones. We utilize them
01:10on the fire line to determine and look for hot spots, especially outside of the line. Those are
01:16areas of the fire that you might not be able to see from the ground, but using the aerial
01:22observation and gaining that situational awareness, you can find spots that could turn
01:26into a significant fire later, especially if there are spots in between the fire line.
01:32Identifying those spots before they flare up save countless lives, millions if not billions
01:39of dollars in damage. You mentioned 150 structures recently burned in Orange County.
01:47Boy, when those fires go, they really go quickly.
01:51Technology, emerging technology, private sector, public sector. Recently, Elon Musk attempted to
02:00fire 400 employees at DHS. Some of those employees were at the Department of Science and Technology
02:06Directorate, which is really in charge of R&D, figuring out better ways, keeping Americans safe.
02:13They were developing, testing, and evaluating tools to help firefighters navigate in dark,
02:19smoke-filled buildings, how to rescue trapped civilians, communicate with firefighters,
02:25first responders. Can you speak to the importance of making sure that kind of research and development
02:32is developed as quickly as possible? Yes, so certainly, I would say that the DHS science
02:39and technology is a critical aspect. We utilize that technology. We're leaning into firefighter
02:46tracking and identifying where our personnel are, and that's not an easy task. We have to
02:51leverage all available technology to do that. So, emerging technology and even the bigger support of
02:59FEMA programs like the National Fire Academy and the U.S. Fire Administration, those are all
03:04critical to the fire service. Those are the backbones of our leadership programs and our
03:10ability to educate and teach our new and upcoming fire service leaders. Mr. Fetterman, we're talking
03:17about the affirmative use of drones. What about the defensive side in emerging technologies? You just
03:24talked about what I would consider a knucklehead, a drone flying in an active emergency situation.
03:34I'd say these people have no common sense. I don't care how criminal you make it,
03:39they're going to do dumb things. So, I would imagine the emerging technologies that we can
03:43come up with to clear the field, so to speak, so you can do work is also an important part of the
03:49emerging technology. Yes, sir. So, seeing the report of the number of drone incursions on the
03:56fires in L.A. was frankly shocking, to see that number of drone incursions into a fire traffic
04:03area. And what that is, is you're talking about multiple aircrafts, 30 helicopters, six to eight
04:08fixed-wing air tankers, and so all operating to extinguish and mitigate the fire. And so,
04:14when you have drone incursions in there, we need to do, we, and ideally this committee and
04:19Congress altogether, needs to take swift action to mitigate those incursions into our fire traffic
04:27areas, and specifically the TFRs. It's an incredibly dangerous situation. Chief, in my last 35 seconds,
04:33we've established that drone technology, emerging technology, very important, very useful, also very
04:39dangerous. How can we in Congress help you do your job better? Well, certainly the emerging
04:50technology is critically important to us. Leaning into that, supporting legislation that protects
04:55the first responders, and as I mentioned, the National Fire Academy is our leadership backbone.
05:01That's where all of our leaders that bring that vision to engage in emerging technology
05:07come from. They're coming out of programs like the Executive Fire Officer Program, and certainly
05:13the support of all the grant programs, AFG, SAFER, SHISHGAP, UASI, those are the types of programs
05:21that help the first responders at the boots on the ground, boots in the dirt level, to continue
05:27to evolve. So, I'd encourage this group to continue to support those programs. Chief Fetterman, thank
05:33you for joining us today, and look forward to continue working with you. Thank you, sir.
05:36Mr. Chairman, I'm out of time, but before I do turn over my time, I'd like the unanimous consent
05:43to insert into a record an article from the GHS Science and Tech Directorate, dated November 6th
05:49of 23, titled, Picturing the Future of Firefighters, which describes how science and technology serves
05:56a crucial role in R&D and testing technologies alongside the private sector to help our
06:02firefighters and other first responders to respond safely to emergencies and save lives.
06:08Without objection. Thank you.
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