FACT SHEET: FEDERAL LEGISLATION ON WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS Wildfire Risks From Cell Tower Proliferation

FACT SHEET: FEDERAL LEGISLATION ON WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS Wildfire Risks From Cell Tower Proliferation Wireless Facilities Create Fire Risk Wireless Facilities Have Caused Damaging ● Policymakers are looking for solutions to address Fires the increasing severity and frequency of ● The California Public Utilities wildfires.1 Commission (CPUC) determined that ● One proposal is to deploy wireless fa. [...] ● In 2013, the CPUC fined the electric o Wireless facilities require electrical utility, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, a infrastructure, which carries fire risk. [...] No government agency has firefighters,9 therefore firefighters are assessed the impact of RF exposure on advised to wait until the power is cut,10 flammability of vegetation.4 or use only short bursts of water, o It remains unknown whether the fires potentially delaying response time to prevented by such technology will exceed the fires. [...] ● In addition to wildfires, wireless Bills Currently Pending facilities have been documented as the ● Two bills in Congress promote the use of wireless cause of numerous fires in urban and facilities to prevent wildfires, HR 4235 and suburban areas around the country, S.1764.5 including on the East Coast in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.11● 17 other pending bills promote the deployment of wirel. [...] The impact of these findings on flammability of vegetation remains uninvestigated.