The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will reimburse California for costs associated with hiring more firefighters and controlling raging wildfires sweeping through Southern California.
News of the fire management assistance grants broke on Tuesday, and by the evening the White House issued a statement from President Biden confirming the move. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The measures were confirmed on Wednesday in an announcement detailing some details about the grants.
The funding will provide federal reimbursement of up to 75% of “eligible firefighting costs” incurred by the state, as well ca It seeks to strengthen firefighting power and extinguish forest fires that have killed at least two people and forced thousands to abandon their homes. Eligible costs include expenses for field camps, equipment, materials, supplies, and mobilization or demobilization efforts attributable to firefighting.
Hundreds of homes are expected to burn in the wildfires
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) logo next to an image of a California firefighter battling raging wildfires that have struck the southern part of the state. (AP/Getty)
“My administration will do everything we can to support the response,” Biden said Tuesday announcing news of the grant. “I am frequently updated on wildfires in West Los Angeles. My team and I are in contact with state and local officials, and have offered any federal assistance needed to help extinguish the terrible Pacific Palisades Fire.”
Former NFL quarterback shows wide scope of California wildfires: 'A lot worse than people think'
The firefighter shortage in California has been an ongoing problem for several years in California. Before news of the FEMA grant came out, the Los Angeles Fire Department had to ask all off-duty firefighters in the area to volunteer to help. the US Forest Service This summer boosted California's staffing levels for the first time in five years, but the overall number of federal wildland firefighters is still vastly dwarfed by what it once was even though the state has seen an uptick 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 into Wednesday with little sign that it will soon be under control with thousands evacuated.
Meanwhile, in October, the US Forest Service announced the end of prescribed burning to control wildfires as a result of staffing shortages.
California's decision to end prescribed burns came after Biden's opposition to a bipartisan bill aimed at streamlining the implementation process. forest management projects, Such as prescribed burns, in California. In a statement issued last September explaining opposition to the bill, the Biden administration said that some provisions worked to undermine the bill Critical environmental protection.
Plane passengers react to Los Angeles wildfires: 'This is pure devastation'
Forest Service firefighters conduct a prescribed burn on the grounds of the High Desert Museum, near Bend, Oregon. The prescribed burn is part of a massive effort on wildlands across the West to prepare for the fire season that follows the worst on record.
FEMA grants aimed at bolstering the state's firefighting force amid raging wildfires have begun based on requests from California. FEMA noted that at the time of the applications, wildfires had burned more than 700 acres of private and public lands around the Pacific Palisades, San Fernando Valley and Santa Calerita Valley areas.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) added that more than 45,000 homes The area is threatened by constant fire.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
An agency spokesperson told Fox News Digital that its regional office is in constant contact with local authorities in California, and that the agency has also deployed a FEMA liaison officer to the region to help monitor the evolving situation. The spokesman added that the agency is urging residents to listen to local officials and has provided them with a phone number to send text messages if people need safe shelter.
