U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse introduced on Friday legislation designed to help prevent wildfires, fund firefighting programs and boost the ability of communities to recover from fires.

The Lafayette Democrat, who represents the neighborhoods in Boulder County devastated last week by the Marshall fire, said he sped up introduction of the comprehensive bill in the House in response to the Dec. 30 blaze in his backyard.

“The unprecedented and terrible Marshall Fire has drawn harsh light on the life-threatening and destructive nature of wild and rangeland fires,” Neguse said in a statement. “We cannot expect our communities to bear the burden of these disasters on their own.”

The fire, which ripped through Superior and Louisville fueled by dry grass and hurricane-force winds, is considered the most destructive in state history, leaving more than 1,000 homes and businesses destroyed or damaged and leading to the evacuation of roughly 35,000 residents.

The bill, called the Western Wildfire Support Act, is a companion to Senate legislation introduced last summer.

“As we endure increasingly worse wildfire seasons, it is critical for the federal government to lend a hand in stopping fires before they start, fighting them if they spread, and helping our communities fully recover after they’ve been contained,” Neguse said.

Neguse said the bill will modernize how the country confronts wildfires with a three-pronged approach.

Under the legislation, the Interior and Agriculture departments would be directed to create fire management plans for federal land. The bill would also provide funding to help residents and businesses protect against wildfire damage and organize prevention education programs, as well as provide funding for aircraft to wildfire management.

The federal departments would also be directed to accelerate placement of cameras and heat sensors in high-risk areas to detect wildfires. Federal, state and local agencies would also become eligible for grants to outfit operations with state-of-the-art fire suppression equipment, including air tankers.

Another component of the bill would pay for research into the use of drones to fight wildfires.

Addressing recovery efforts, the bill would authorize the Federal Emergency Management Agency to create online resource guides for communities and individuals and provide $100 million to pay for rehabilitation projects in communities hit hard by wildfires.

Neguse accompanied President Joe Biden to Colorado on Friday, when the president First Lady Jill Biden met with residents and tour areas facing the aftermath of last week’s fire.

A founder of the congressional Bipartisan Wildfire Caucus, Neguse chairs the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands and has sponsored legislation to raise pay for wildland firefighters. He led a successful push to include $5 billion for wildfire prevention and recovery in the bipartisan infrastructure package signed by Biden in November.