Officials are calling for a new state firefighting force in the wake of wildfires that scorched the Texas panhandle.

Texas officials and victims of the recent panhandle wildfires appeared before a five-member investigative committee in Pampa, Texas, on Tuesday to discuss the effects, state preparedness, and response to the wildfires, reported The Texas Tribune.

The committee included two members of the public — local land owners James Henderson and Jason Abraham — as well as state Reps. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock), Ken King (R-Canadian), and Todd Hunter (R-Corpus Christi), according to The Texas Tribune.

“This is not a Panhandle problem. This will have statewide effects,” said King, chair of the committee, according to The Texas Tribune. “We must do what we can to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

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Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, told the panel members that the state should establish a firefighting aircraft division in the wake of these fires. Kidd suggested that the state could establish its own firefighting airforce at a cost of $50 million for the endeavor. She said the state could use other options, such as private contracts, until the firefighting aircraft division could be fully established.

Emmet Webb, owner of Brazos River Helicopters, said that he had assisted firefighters with his own private helicopter and that the state of Wyoming already had one state-owned helicopter to help battle its own wildfires.

Abraham and other attendees expressed skepticism at the notion of the state being responsible for the firefighting aircraft division.