Aid comes to NM fires | Environment

President Obama signed legislation to add more air tankers to its wildfire suppression fleet. The bill was co-sponsored by Jeff Bingaman.

“In New Mexico, firefighters are continuing to battle several ongoing wildfires,” Senator Jeff Bingaman said.“I am pleased Congress and the President were able to act in short order to get this bill passed and signed so the Forest Service can move more quickly to secure much-needed air tankers.”

Usually the U.S. Forest Service would have to wait for 30 days to get the new air tankers. However, under the new law, congress waives the waiting period in order to get the air tankers into service as soon as possible.