The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will reimburse California for the costs associated with hiring more firefighters and controlling the raging wildfires that have ravaged Southern California.
News of the grants to help manage the fire broke Tuesday, and by evening the White House had released a statement from President Biden confirming the move. FEMA confirmed the measures on Wednesday, in a statement that provided some details about the grants.
The funding will provide federal reimbursements of up to 75% of “eligible firefighting costs” incurred by the state, as California is trying to strengthen its firefighting forces and extinguish wildfires that have killed at least two people and forced thousands from their homes. Eligible costs include the costs of field camps, equipment, materials, supplies, and mobilization or demobilization efforts attributable to firefighting.
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The FEMA logo next to a picture of a California firefighter battling a wildfire in the southern part of the state. (AP/Getty)
“My administration will do everything it can to support the response,” Biden said Tuesday, announcing news of the grant. “I am frequently briefed on wildfires in West Los Angeles. My team and I are in contact with state and local officials and have offered all federal assistance necessary to contain the horrific Pacific Palisades fire.”
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California’s firefighter shortage has been an ongoing problem in California for several years. In the wake of news of FEMA’s support, the Los Angeles Fire Department was forced to request that all off-duty firefighters in the area volunteer to help. The US Forest Service this summer increased the number of personnel in California for the first time in five years, but the total number of federal wildland firefighters is still significantly reduced from what it was, despite the state seeing a jump in the number and severity of wildfires in recent years, according to San Francisco Chronicle.
Firefighters in California are battling a blaze that started Tuesday morning and continued Wednesday with little sign of being under control as thousands of people were evacuated.
Meanwhile, in October, the US Forest Service announced the end of prescribed burning to control wildfires due to staff shortages.
California’s decision to end prescribed burns follows Biden’s opposition to bipartisan legislation aimed at streamlining the enforcement process forest management projects, like prescribed burns, in California. In a September statement explaining opposition to the bill, the Biden administration said certain provisions served to undermine key environmental protection.
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Forest Service firefighters conduct a prescribed burn on the grounds of the High Desert Museum, near Bend, Oregon. The prescribed burning is part of a massive effort in wildlands across the West to prepare for the wildfire season that follows the worst on record.
FEMA grants aimed at bolstering the state’s firefighting efforts amid wildfires were initiated following a request from the state of California. FEMA indicated that at the time of filing, the wildfires had burned more than 700 acres of private and public land around the Pacific Palisades, San Fernando Valley and Santa Calrita Valley.
FEMA added that more than 45,000 homes the area was threatened by a fire that is still going on.
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A spokesperson for the agency told Fox News Digital that their regional office is in constant contact with local authorities in California, and that the agency has also sent a FEMA liaison officer to the area to help monitor the situation. The spokesman added that the agency is urging residents to listen to local officials and has given them a phone number to text if people need a safe shelter.
