Today, Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) responded to the loss of the three firefighters who lost their lives fighting the Twisp River fire in Washington State this week: Tom Zbyszewski, 20, Andrew Zajac, 26, and Richard Wheeler, 31. This follows the deaths of David Ruhl, 38, and Michael Hallenback, 21, who died fighting two different California wildfires earlier this summer.  

“I am grieved to hear about the loss of the three young men who lost their lives fighting the Twisp River fire in Washington, as well as the two men who died fighting California wildfires earlier this summer. These five firefighters are heroes who stopped at nothing to protect communities threatened by the catastrophic wildfires ripping across the entire West. I offer my deep condolences to the families of these brave men. I am committed to working with my colleagues and the Administration on solutions to ensure unnecessary tragedies like this are prevented in the future.”