Lawmakers will hold a hearing Friday on data throttling during the Mendocino Complex Fire after Santa Clara County’s fire chief said his department’s firefighters were put in danger when Verizon slowed the speed of their wireless transmissions while they were battling the blaze.
The Select Committee on Natural Disaster, Response, Recovery, and Rebuilding, led by Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, and Assemblywoman Monique Limón, D-Santa Barbara, will hold the hearing to probe wireless provider policies for restricting cell phone plans during emergencies like wildfires.
Santa Clara County Fire Chief Anthony Bowden said in a federal court filing this week that the department’s throttled service made it difficult to coordinate where machinery and staff were sent, which could have had a “devastating effect, including loss of property, and, in some cases, loss of life.”