Wildfire Emergency Preparedness Act of 2025

Enhanced Training for Firefighters: The bill establishes a National Training Plan and provides competitive grants to nonprofit organizations to develop curricula for training structural firefighters to respond safely to wildfires and wildland-urban interface fires (Section 2).

Improved Government Coordination: The creation of the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Fire Coordination is intended to serve as a principal adviser to help coordinate Federal, State, and local government responses to wildfire incidents (Section �3).

Increased Access to Specialized Personnel: The bill allows qualified agency heads to request assistance from Department of Defense firefighters to conduct or assist in wildfire and wildland-urban interface fire operations (Section 4).

Protection of Firefighter Health: A research and development program is established to protect the respiratory health of firefighters and identify potential carcinogens, such as PFAS, in fire areas or protective equipment (Section 5).

Mental Health Support for First Responders: The legislation includes provisions for mental health assistance, ensuring task forces include practitioners qualified to treat post-traumatic stress injuries or other behavioral health conditions (Section 6).

Direct Funding for Local Safety: Supplemental grants may be awarded to fire departments and EMS organizations to obtain personal protective equipment suitable for wildfire response or to train personnel for these specific incidents (Section 7).

Costs for Requesting Agencies: Any qualified agency head that requests assistance from Department of Defense firefighters must reimburse the Secretary of Defense for those services (Section 4).

Financial Limitations on Grants: For the supplemental assistance grants, there are specific caps on how much a single recipient can receive based on the population of the jurisdiction they serve (Section 7).