FEMA on Oct. 4 authorized the use of federal funds to help with the cost of fighting the Auburn Fire in Pennington county, on the north side of Rapid City, South Dakota, that is threatening 500 homes.
Around 1,000 people were ordered to evacuate due to the Auburn Fire, FEMA said. As of Oct. 4, the day it started, the fire had burned 250 acres.
FEMA Acting Regional Administrator Tammy Littrell approved the state’s request for a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) after receiving the request on Oct. 4 and determining that the fire threatened such destruction that it would constitute a major disaster.
The authorization makes FEMA funding available to pay 75 percent of the state’s eligible firefighting costs under an approved grant for managing, mitigating and controlling designated fires. These grants do not provide assistance to individual home or business owners and do not cover other infrastructure damage caused by the fire.
Fire Management Assistance Grants are provided through the President’s Disaster Relief Fund and are made available by FEMA to assist in fighting fires that threaten to cause a major disaster. Eligible items can include expenses for field camps; equipment use, repair and replacement; mobilization and demobilization activities; and tools, materials and supplies.
With the FMAG authorization, additional funding is made available through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) Post Fire for the mitigation of wildfire and related hazards, such as flood after fire or erosion. Some eligible project types include defensible space measures, ignition-resistant construction, and hazardous fuels reduction.
Source: FEMA
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