Congressman Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, joined KHTS for an interview Wednesday to discuss recent issues his office was tackling for constituents, including evacuations in Afghanistan and California wildfires. 

Garcia, a veteran himself who served in the U.S. Navy as a fighter pilot, reflected on the “devastating” impact of the recent evacuation of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

“The only real word that comes to mind is heartbreaking, this is something that was predictable, this is something that was completely preventable,” Garcia said. 

Garcia’s office is working alongside other government entities to assist in the evacuation of Afghanistan, including helping remove American citizens and their families who may or may not be citizens, as well as obtaining Special Interest Visas (SIV) for native Afghans who may have assisted the United States, such as translators. 

“This is a travesty. This is literally going to lead to the death of hundreds of Americans, we’re getting word of dozens of children, American children, that are still left stranded there,” Garcia said. “And there really is no vehicle right now to bring them back home safely. Besides hope and just trying to keep them alive.”

The Fire Information and Reaction Enhancement (FIRE) Act, introduced in the House of Representatives Wednesday, would focus assets in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on wildfire forecasting and detection and improve the technology used for these purposes.

“At a macro level the problem right now is that we’re still so dependent on these super scoopers… something that we’ve been pushing is to get more C1-30s which are larger aerial tankers retrofitted with the airborne fire equipment that drops that Phos-Chek.”

Phos-Chek is the brand of red fire retardant most commonly seen used during wildfires in Southern California, a sight many Santa Clarita Valley residents are familiar with.

See Related: Santa Clarita Assemblymember Valladares Talks Wildfires, Power Outages On-Air With KHTS

Garcia also touched on the Protecting and Restoring Our Trees by Enhancing Conservation and Treatments (PROTECT) Act, introduced in August to help prevent wildfires in areas across the state, including Santa Clarita.

The PROTECT Act removes current regulations to allow for active forest management, mainly through brush clearing and prescribed burns, to reduce the risk of large wildfires, according to Garcia’s office.

“When you don’t have enough large aerial tankers, when you’re not removing the fuel and dead brush out of the forest, and then when you’re not doing controlled burns, you’re setting yourself up for these massive fire seasons,” Garcia said.

Garcia’s office recently announced that he is set to host a series of town hall events open to constituents in September.

The events aim to provide a forum for open discussion and questions among residents and representatives, as well as provide updates from Garcia about his work in Washington D.C. 

One in-person town hall is scheduled for Wednesday Sept. 1 at 6 p.m. at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library South Lawn in Simi Valley. 

Two telephone town halls are scheduled for Friday Sept. 3. The Santa Clarita Valley Town Hall is set for 3 p.m. and the Antelope Valley Town Hall is set for 6 p.m. the same day. 

Residents can call (833) 305-1686 to take part in the town halls.

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