VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. — The U.S. Senate left Washington this week, but not before passing sweeping investments to transform infrastructure nationwide. The bipartisan bill and budget resolution now head to the House, where members are not expected for another two weeks. The trillion-dollar bipartisan legislation, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, sets aside billions for California to help with an array of issues, including the devastating wildfires.

Retired Fire Chief Bob Roper, of Ventura County, said these federal dollars could boost morale to fight the raging wildfires. He said he's still waiting for the height of the fire season to come. 

"Challenging, unique, scary," Roper said of the wildfires.

While there are different jurisdictions for firefighter response, Roper said the fires don't care, and ultimately all entities (federal, state and local) work together often.

"I was on a fire early on in my career where we went into a canyon type of an area. We did not have any intelligence of where the fire was exactly, and the wind shifted, and then all of a sudden the fire now is coming right at us," Roper said. "You'll always feel the heat, the radiant heat, that's affecting you. What you try not to do is get in a situation where you have no way out."

Roper has dedicated 43 years to fire service, most recently with the Western Fire Chiefs Association as a policy adviser. He said one of his biggest concerns now is the number of federal firefighter vacancies in California, which is one of the reasons he's closely following the bipartisan infrastructure plan that just passed the Senate. Roper said it couldn't be more timely.

"California is in the news right now because we have one of the largest fires burning," he said. "Firefighters are on edge right now."

He said the bill contains funding to boost federal firefighter salaries by up to $20,000 per year, which would help to fill the many firefighter vacancies. There's also money to bury power lines underground, fireproof homes and reduce the risk of fires through controlled burns and other mitigation efforts.

"During the course of my career, my wife has been evacuated from our house five different times, and I was not home; I was out on a fire," he said. "But we've had friends, we've had other firefighters, have actually been on the fire line, and they get a call that their home had actually been lost, and that has been one of the situations that have happened in California on this Dixie fire."

All of the Senate's 50 Democrats, including California's Dianne Feinstein, and 19 Republicans, voted to approve the infrastructure deal this week. Feinstein said in a statement that the bill "will allow us to rebuild our infrastructure [and] ensures that federal firefighters battling horrific wildfires receive a competitive salary."

Senators who voted against the infrastructure bill, all Republicans, said passage would increase the national debt. Some also complained that it was tied to an even bigger spending package Democrats are prepared to pass on a party-line vote that addresses more partisan priorities such as childcare and family leave.

Roper said he hopes Congress will be able to deliver the wage increases and other resources necessary to help battle the increasingly fierce fires devastating so much of California.

"So that's not a magic wand, but it's the best thing we have going for us today," Roper said. "This is a national issue that needs a national solution."

Roper is traveling the state to talk to different firefighters, officials and people at different wildfire scenes. He's listening to see what everyone might need so he can help respond with intel or resources to the best of his ability. Roper said if the legislative packages become law, some of the money might be used immediately, but other wildfire funds that need more evaluation and implementation might take a year or two before Californians reap the full benefits.