I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4671 
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to develop a Wildland Fire 
Management Casualty Assistance Program, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 23, 2025 
Mr. HARDER of California (for himself and Mr. SCOTT FRANKLIN of Florida) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to develop a Wildland 
Fire Management Casualty Assistance Program, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring Casualty As-
sistance for our Firefighters Act’’. 
SEC. 2. WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT CASUALTY ASSIST-
ANCE PROGRAM. 
(a) DEVELOPMENT OF PROGRAM.—Not later than 6 
months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
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Secretary of the Interior shall develop a Wildland Fire 
Management Casualty Assistance Program (referred to in 
this section as the ‘‘Program’’) to provide assistance to 
the next-of-kin of— 
(1) firefighters who, while in the line of duty, 
suffer illness or are critically injured or killed; and 
(2) wildland fire support personnel critically in-
jured or killed in the line of duty. 
(b) ASPECTS OF PROGRAM.—The Program shall ad-
dress the following: 
(1) The initial and any subsequent notifications 
to the next-of-kin of a firefighter or wildland fire 
support personnel who— 
(A) is killed in the line of duty; or 
(B) requires hospitalization or treatment 
at a medical facility due to a line-of-duty injury 
or illness. 
(2) The reimbursement of next-of-kin for ex-
penses associated with travel to visit a firefighter or 
wildland fire support personnel who— 
(A) is killed in the line of duty; or 
(B) requires hospitalization or treatment 
at a medical facility due to a line-of-duty injury 
or illness. 
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(3) The qualifications, assignment, training, du-
ties, supervision, and accountability for the perform-
ance of casualty assistance responsibilities. 
(4) The relief or transfer of casualty assistance 
officers, including notification to survivors of critical 
injury or illness in the line of duty and next-of-kin 
of the reassignment of such officers to other duties. 
(5) Centralized, short-term and long-term case 
management procedures for casualty assistance, in-
cluding rapid access by survivors of firefighters or 
wildland fire support personnel and casualty assist-
ance officers to expert case managers and coun-
selors. 
(6) The provision, through a computer acces-
sible website and other means and at no cost to sur-
vivors and next-of-kin of firefighters or wildland fire 
support personnel, of personalized, integrated infor-
mation on the benefits and financial assistance avail-
able to such survivors from the Federal Government. 
(7) The provision of information to survivors 
and next-of-kin of firefighters or wildland fire sup-
port personnel on mechanisms for registering com-
plaints about, or requests for, additional assistance 
related to casualty assistance. 
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