ELLISVILLE, Miss. (WDAM) – Mississippi Congressman Mike Ezell is reacting to the devastating fires in California.

Those fires, which began earlier this week, have destroyed about 10,000 structures and killed at least 10 people.

Ezell (R-4th District) said he’d like the government to take a more proactive stance on controlled burns in that state.

“We know how effective a controlled burn can be in Mississippi in preventing wildfires like this, so we need to take an overall look at this,” Ezell said.

“It’s a tragedy, our hearts go out to those folks who’ve lost everything, our prayers go out for them, and as the government, we need to do what we can do to help, but we also need to get a handle on how these things start.”

Meanwhile, Ezell will have some new responsibilities during the upcoming 119th Congress.

He’s been selected to serve on the Natural Resources Committee, where he will be vice-chair of the subcommittee on water, wildlife and fisheries and the subcommittee on energy and mineral resources.

“I’ll be working hard now on natural resources and working hard on transportation infrastructure,” Ezell said. “We’ve got so much oversight on some of these things going on and I’ll be jumping in, feet first, to try to do everything I can to make life better for folks.”

Ezell was in Ellisville Friday afternoon to attend a ceremony honoring Mississippi National Guard counter-drug coordinator Col. Robert R. “Bart” Bartran III, who’s retiring after 36 years of military and law enforcement service.

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