Congressman Cliff Bentz visits Redmond smokejumpers, talks wildfires and redistricting

REDMOND, Ore (KTVZ) -  Congressman Cliff Bentz was in Redmond Friday, speaking with smokejumpers from the Redmond Air Center. While there he took questions from KTVZ News.

The Republican representative toured the smokejumpers facility, and asked questions about this year’s fire season and how crews are prepared to respond.

The smokejumpers told the congressman they've been able to quickly put out over 100 fires this season.

"There was a lot of concern with the reductions in force that occurred early in the year that groups like this would be left short," Rep. Bentz told us. "I've been assured that they have enough people to do their job."

While the smokejumpers assured Congressman Bentz they have what they need for the rest of this season, he said he'll check with federal agencies to confirm.

Representative Bentz also answered questions about how changes in Texas and California could impact the state.

The congressman is the only federal Republican Representative from the state of Oregon.

Congressman Bentz told KTVZ, "I would be interested and curious. Why is the party in power? the Democrats would want to change what they’ve already done, which is to basically make four of the six congressional districts part of Portland, and so how they could redistrict to make that any more favorable to Democrats is unclear to me."

While Oregon hasn't seen a formal redistricting petition, the state Legislature will return for a special session beginning next Friday focusing on transportation funding.