No matter how many times you’ve seen it, nothing can prepare you for the devastation you find in the aftermath of a wildfire.

Nothing.

I’ve visited the Forest Service’s Incident Post in Quincy as fire crews battled the raging Dixie fire in 2021.

And I toured what’s left of the Pacific Palisades and Altadena neighborhoods that were hit worst by this winter’s fires. What I’ve seen is heart wrenching.

Car wheels melted into the sidewalk. A sea of embers and ashes, interrupted only by chimneys and fireplace mantels where family photos once rested. In some cases, brick sidewalks and doorways that once led to baby cribs and kitchen tables, that now lead to nowhere

No one could walk away after seeing what I’ve seen, year after year in California, and still deny the threat of climate change.

We have to do more. That begins with listening to our climate scientists and working to reduce emissions to protect our planet in the long term.

But reducing emissions alone won’t save your house or keep your neighborhood from burning down.

As long as massive wildfires continue to burn, we’ll see those same greenhouse gases pouring out into the atmosphere — just as we did in 2020, when wildfires alone emitted enough to wipe out nearly 20 years of California’s emissions reduction progress.

This isn’t a choice between addressing short-term wildfire risk and combatting climate change. We must do both.

It may seem like an impossible task in our current political environment, but whether it’s political division in Washington, or wildfires raging in Los Angeles — Californians can’t afford to wait.

Since January, I’ve convened a bipartisan group of senators from Western states willing to work toward a comprehensive wildfire bill that could pass both chambers of Congress.

It’s been hard, but I’ve been driven by that image I have of the Californians who would do anything they could to save their homes, their property, and their families.

That’s why, I was proud to announce our Senate version of the Fix Our Forests Act.

It starts with a basic premise: The status quo isn’t working. Wildfires are getting worse. To protect our communities, we have to reassess how we prevent and mitigate wildfires.

That means increasing the speed and scale of our prevention and mitigation efforts, while making sure no one exploits this crisis to compromise our natural resources.

We’ve worked to make sure our Senate bill will protect both communities close to forests AND those in non-forested, urban areas like Los Angeles and Santa Rosa.

Here’s how:

Our bill would allow us to responsibly speed up the removal of hazardous fuels from our forests that serve as kindling for mega wildfires. Think dry branches, leaves, and dead and diseased trees that can pile up and spread fires very easily.

It would make it easier for land managers and utilities to build “fuel breaks.” These strips of thinned out trees can serve like a gap in a long line of falling dominos which can allow firefighters to gain a foothold or even stop a growing wildfire in its tracks.

It would help neighborhoods become more resilient to wildfires, with guidance to help Americans build or retrofit their homes with more fire-resistant materials and landscaping plans. And it would allow for prescribed burns to proactively clear hazardous fuel — just as Native American tribes have done for countless generations.

Finally, it would create the first-ever Wildfire Intelligence Center to streamline our wildfire preparedness and response — similar to what the National Weather Service does for storms.

These are exactly the types of tools firefighters and state, tribal, and local agencies have been asking for.

That’s why our bill is already supported by Gov. Gavin Newsom, CAL FIRE Chief Joe Tyler, California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot, and the International Association of Fire Chiefs, along with environmental groups like The Nature Conservancy, Audubon, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the National Wildlife Federation.

Of course, the Senate version of the Fix Our Forests Act may not stop every wildfire. Nothing could.

But if these measures can prevent just one more community from having to experience the same heartbreak felt by families in Santa Rosa, in Paradise, and now in the Palisades and Altadena, then our efforts will have been worth it.

Alex Padilla represents California in the United States Senate.